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30th
Anniversary Roe v Wade Service Assembled
for the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice By
Rev. Mark Stringer First
Unitarian Church of Des Moines 1/12/03 Reading
“Women
Know” We
women know when it is or is not the right time to
bring a child into the world. We
use our heads and our hearts to see clearly the pros
and cons of our three choices: parenting, placing
for adoption, or having an abortion. We
know better than anyone else what we can and cannot
handle emotionally, physically, financially, and
mentally. We
have wisdom enough to know our own limits and
strength enough to admit them. We
act out of compassion when we wait to have a child
until the time when we can give it the kind of life
every child deserves. We
act out of love when we consider what we would be
taking away from the child or children we already
have if we brought another child into our family
now. We
take care of our spiritual well-being each in our
own way, trusting our faith to provide: Infinite
Love, Complete Understanding, and Boundless
Compassion Women
throughout all time and throughout the world have
made the decision to have an abortion, whether or
not abortion was safe and legal. Women have risked their own lives to
avoid bearing a child they could not adequately care
for. Women
in the past drank teas made from parts of plants
known to cause abortion.
In desperation, some inserted long, thin
objects into their cervix, and others douched with
poisonous liquids to cause an abortion.
Some methods cost women their lives. Childbirth,
miscarriage, and abortion are all part of women’s
lives. Women
of childbearing age from every generation,
occupation, income level, race and religion have had
abortions, including great-grandmothers,
grandmothers, mothers, great-aunts and aunts,
sisters, daughters, best friends, teachers,
ministers, doctors, and daycare workers. And
when others use TV commercials, billboards, bumper
stickers, speeches, and sermons to make us feel
guilty about having an abortion. We
women know the truth:
That given certain circumstances abortion is
the most morally responsible and loving choice we
can make. Sermon As
I begin my remarks today, I must confess something
to you. I
am 35 years old, which means I have never known an
America where women did not have the right to legal
and safe abortions. Perhaps this is why I have often thought
to myself that the Roe v. Wade decision would never
be in danger of being overturned.
I simply have not been able to imagine an
America where women would not have the right to
choose. You
may think I am naïve…and you are probably right.
Certainly after researching for this sermon
and being forced to read some of the writing on the
wall, I’m beginning to see that I probably have
been naïve…or at least painfully unappreciative
of the battles that have been fought not only to
bring us to the Roe v. Wade decision, but to protect
the reproductive rights that the landmark ruling
established. So today, I want to share with you some
of what I have learned and why I have begun to
change my perspective on my responsibility to do my
part to insure that a woman’s right to choose her
own reproductive fate should never be denied. When
I was asked to offer a sermon for this service, I
knew that I had to say, “yes.”
I had to say “yes” because soon after I
began serving as the minister of this church, about
18 months ago, I discovered that I had become the
minister of a church that historically had been a
real thorn in the side of the Des Moines anti-choice
movement.
I knew this not because the members had told
me, or because I had researched it.
Sure, I could have guessed that this would be
the case, since Unitarian Universalism is a
religious movement devoted to protecting the
inherent worth and dignity of all individuals and to
advancing freedom of belief, and all of the UU
churches I have attended have had members who have
done their part to see that the reproductive rights
of women are protected. But, I didn’t have to
guess. l
learned of the pro-choice history of this
church…and many of you from other faith traditions
gathered with us today …because one of the people
who has worked to eliminate reproductive choice in
this town told me about it. This
woman actually came to my installation service here
just over a year ago. She sat in one of these very seats and
sheepishly looked around, seeing faces that she
recognized from the trenches of the abortion battle.
Why had she come? Well, this woman who had done more than
her share of working to eliminate reproductive
choice, this kind, bubbly woman, was my wife’s
aunt. She came to support her niece and nephew, and
I really respect her for coming. After the service,
she reflected about how the persistent effort by
those in the pro-choice movement had ultimately worn
her out. A staunchly conservative Catholic, she
felt that her faith called her to take a stand
against what she and others in the anti-choice
movement call “the right to kill an unborn
child.” More
than just her religious faith compelled her to fight
against choice, though.
You see, she and her husband are adoptive
parents who love their adopted daughter as their
own. To
imagine that this child, now a successful young
woman, could have been aborted was and no doubt
still is a troubling thought that sparked her
long-fought battle against abortion. But
at every turn in her crusade, she and her
anti-choice companions have been met by people who
would not be deterred in their efforts to see that a
woman’s right to reproductive choice was
protected. Some
of these battles were fought by people here in this
room. Some were fought by people no longer with
us. So
as we are together today to acknowledge the 30 year
anniversary of Roe v. Wade, I am proud to have the
opportunity to carry on the legacy a full generation
in the making…a legacy crafted not only by the
people in this church, but by all the people of
faith in Des Moines who have done their part to
defend the right that each woman in this country has
to secure a safe and legal abortion. For
without this persistent effort…without vigilance
in conveying the real facts of the matter, the
people working so hard to eliminate reproductive
choice--people like my wife’s aunt, people like
some of our elected officials and governmental
appointees, people who are driven by what believe
are noble, faith-inspired, conscientious
instincts--might have been more successful.
They might have deterred more women from
making their own reproductive choices.
They might have been able to impose their own
religious ideologies on people of all faiths and to
restrict a woman’s right to choose what happens to
her own body. So
what are the facts of the matter? The
movement to legalize abortion came about not as a
careless whim eventually okayed by bloodthirsty
justices of the supreme court.
It was, simply put, a compassionate attempt
to help prevent botched abortions.
A few statistics I uncovered this week: --In
1965 illegal abortion led to an estimated 5,000
deaths a year and over half of those who died were
women of color.
--Now,
of the 1.6 million abortions performed in the US
each year, only 6 result in the mother’s death.
--You
may find it interesting to note that in Mexico,
where abortion is illegal--yet performed at the rate
of 1.5 million times a year--140,000 women die each
year from botched abortions. There
are some in the anti-choice movement who oppose the
Roe v Wade decision because, they say, it made it
possible for women to choose abortion at any time.
But this myth of “abortion on demand” has
little to do with the decision as it was articulated
in 1973. Roe
v. Wade was actually a compromise ruling, adopted by
a 7 to 2 majority of a conservative court.
The decision said: --states
may not regulate abortion in the first trimester --states
may regulate abortion in the second trimester only
to safeguard women’s health; and --states
may regulate abortion in the third trimester to
protect a viable fetus, except when the woman’s
life or health is in danger. Roe
v Wade, therefore, did not establish abortion on
demand, as though women could then decide to have an
abortion at any time in their pregnancy.
In fact, the Roe decision made it more likely
that women having abortions would do so earlier in
their pregnancies. In 1973, only 38% of abortions were
performed at or before eight weeks of pregnancy.
Today, 91% are performed during the first 12
weeks and just over 96% take place during the first
15 weeks. Opponents
of Roe v. Wade also contend that religion and the
Bible oppose abortion.
At the risk of making an all too obvious
point in a world where religious extremists
throughout time have been inflicting violence on
those who view matters of faith differently than
they do, we don’t all hold the same religious
beliefs. Followers of the Jewish faith, to name
just one example, are explicitly taught that life
begins at the moment of birth…not before.
Therefore, in cases where a mother’s life
is in danger, termination of her pregnancy is not
merely permitted, but required. Clearly
Jews should not be held accountable to others’
religious dogma.
In fact, to do so would be to go against the
teachings of their own faith.
But
even if we could assume for a moment that we all
adhere to the Bible as the one true source of divine
revelation, there is no certainty that we would see
eye to eye. For
while people will often quote the Bible as though
its authors speak with clarity and assurance, this
is simply not the case in many matters, including
abortion. Bible
passages can be interpreted numerous ways,
especially on complex moral issues.
In fact, some of the same passages quoted by
the anti-choice movement could be interpreted by
those in this room as proof that God would want
abortion to be a safe and legal option for women. Of
course, people are free to interpret scripture as
they see fit. And I would not want to contend that
my or anyone else’s personal take on the mystery
and origins of our shared existence is any more
valid than the next person’s.
But I always reserve the right to protest
whenever I believe people are being forced to accept
one group’s interpretations of an ancient text as
unequivocal truths.
Of
course, the descriptor “pro-choice” is an
affront to many people who oppose abortion.
What choice does the aborted fetus have, they
ask? Why
do you use “choice” when you should be calling
yourselves “pro-abortion.” Let’s
get real. I
contend that there are few in this country…if
any…who are truly pro-abortion.
Furthermore, I find it difficult to believe
that any woman, faced with an unwanted or untimely
pregnancy, would consider having an abortion with
joy. Of
all the women I have known who have had abortions, I
can safely say that none of them relished the idea.
It was a difficult choice made at a difficult time.
Indeed, abortions often, if not always, are
accompanied by feelings of grief and loss…and
sometimes even shame.
Frankly,
I am troubled by the title “pro-life” for those
who oppose choice…as though the decision that a
woman who is considering abortion faces is simply
for life or against life…in other words, for life
or for death. But
let’s be clear about this. A woman deciding
whether or not to end a pregnancy is making a choice
between life and life. Her
choice is against potential life or against existing
life. There
are no easy answers in these circumstances and no
completely good choice to be made.
No woman would ever desire to be faced with
this choice, yet the choice is one faced by millions
each year. That’s
why I think the discussion should not really be
about women seeking abortion, as if it is a
procedure that women desire.
This discussion should be about freedom:
Freedom for women to follow their own
inherent moral conscience and to make tough
decisions in difficult circumstances; Freedom for
women to have access to safe and legal medical care;
Freedom for women to disregard the easy answers of
people who wish to impose their biases as law and to
belittle the struggles that every woman who has ever
considered abortion must face.
Freedom. Now
freedom is a word we hear a lot these days.
Curious that we should be hearing the word
freedom so much when there seem to be so many
threats to our freedom all around us.
Some examples: --The
Patriot Act threatening our civil liberties.
--An
attorney general who, it would seem, prefers a
police state to the democratic justice system he has
been entrusted to defend. --A
House and Senate controlled by members of the
Republican party, a party which, despite the fact
that a majority of Americans favor some form of
choice for women, has had anti-choice policies in
its platform since 1980. --A
number of seats on the Supreme Court soon to be
vacated and likely to be filled with justices who
may seek to restrict a woman’s right to choose.
--The
recent appointments of opponents to reproductive
choice to positions in the federal government that
do not require public hearings or even disclosure. One example is the pending appointment of
anti-choice gynecologist W. David Hager to a Food
and Drug Administration panel that oversees
reproductive health medicines.
Hager reportedly refuses to provide
contraceptives to unmarried women, opposes emergency
contraception, and described recommendations to use
condoms for disease prevention as “almost
malpractice.” Certainly,
there are dark clouds looming over all of us who
believe that a woman’s right to freely choose what
happens to her own body is far more important than
the political and religious ideology of a bunch of
mostly white men and the people who blindly trust
them. But
those dark clouds do not have to be permanent
fixtures in our lives. Each of us does have a chance, and I
contend, a responsibility to work for and protect
the reproductive freedom that so many of us have
come to take for granted.
Each of us has the chance, if not the
responsibility, to do our best to clear the skies of
these clouds and to keep them clear for those who
will follow. A
great place to begin would be for us to continue
efforts to educate those of my generation and
younger who do not know what it is like to live
during a time when abortion is illegal.
We haven’t seen what it is like to have to
travel out-of-state, or worse, to have to sneak
around to find renegades willing to break the law in
often times less than safe and or sanitary
conditions. We
don’t have the memory of when coat hangers were
the closest thing to medical tools for some
desperate women.
And we don’t have the memory of the tragedy
of botched abortions or the medical after-effects of
illegal abortions.
My
generation needs to hear the stories of people who
know what it is like to live in a country where a
woman’s right to choose is restricted.
We need to hear the perspectives like the one
shared by a doctor who has performed abortions, who
said, “I
respect these people who have picketed outside my
office for 25 years, in and out of snowstorms.
Obviously they believe in what they are doing
and are very persistent.
At the same time, I have taken care of many
of their wives and children and even some of the
people on the picket line who suddenly find
themselves in a very different situation than they
ever thought possible….I know what would happen if
these picketers outside my office were successful
politically—a lot more tragedy, a lot more deaths.
I saw what it was like when it was illegal.
Look—we have saved tens of thousands of
lives, maybe hundreds of thousands.” We
need to keep reminding all of the anti-choice
crusaders out there that as long as there have been
pregnancies, there have been abortions, and that
regardless of the restrictions placed on a woman’s
reproductive rights, there will continue to be
abortions. The
question that we should all be asking then, is do we
want these women… The
choice, at least for the time being, is ours…may
we defend the right to keep that choice ours. We
can help to ensure choice by working to increase
access to family planning, and by supporting
responsible sexuality education, prenatal care, and
legal abortion.
After all, don’t we all believe that every
child should be a wanted child? Today
we acknowledge and celebrate a generation of
faithful reproductive choices, choices made possible
by the Roe v Wade decision, choices that are the
right of every woman.
May we do all we can to insure that the next
generation has these same choices.
May we do all we can to, “keep abortion
safe and legal, and pray that no one we love ever
needs one.” Facts
gathered from sources provided by the Religious
Coalition for Reproductive Choice.
For more information visit their website at
www.rcrc.org.
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