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December 4, 2009 Religious Denominations Support
Maintaining The undersigned religious and religiously affiliated organizations urge the Senate to support comprehensive, quality health care reform that maintains the current Senate language on abortion services. We believe that it is our social and moral obligation to ensure access to high quality comprehensive health care services at every stage in an individual’s life. Reforming the health care system in a way that guarantees affordable and accessible care for all is not simply a good idea—it is necessary for the well-being of all people in our nation. The passage of meaningful health reform legislation will make significant strides toward accomplishing the important goal of access to health care for all. Unfortunately, the House-passed version of health reform includes language that imposes significant new restrictions on access to abortion services. This provision would result in women losing health coverage they currently have, an unfortunate contradiction to the basic guiding principle of health care reform. Providing affordable, accessible health care to all Americans is a moral imperative that unites Americans of many faith traditions. The selective withdrawal of critical health coverage from women is both a violation of this imperative and a betrayal of the public good. The use of this legislation to advance new restrictions on abortion services that surpass those in current law will serve only to derail this important bill. The Senate bill is already abortion neutral, an appropriate reflection of the fact that it is intended to serve Americans of many diverse religious and moral views. The bill includes compromise language that maintains current law, prohibiting federal funds from being used to pay for abortion services, while still allowing women the option to use their own private funds to pay for abortion care. American families should have the opportunity to choose health coverage that reflects their own values and medical needs, a principle that should not be sacrificed in service of any political agenda. We urge the Senate to support meaningful health reform that maintains the compromise language on abortion services currently in the bill. Respectfully, Catholics for Choice United Church of Christ Justice and Witness Ministries Statement December 7, 2009 M. Linda Jaramillo Choice for Everyone For several weeks, we offered our Witness for Justice weekly opinion focused on health care justice. We shared various perspectives encouraging our elected leaders in the House of Representatives to consider access to health care as a moral issue. What we meant was that it is a moral issue for everyone – not just some. Sadly, in the final hours of the debate on November 7 when the historic vote was taken, Congressmen Stupak and Pitts persuaded the House that the only way to pass the health care reform bill was to limit women’s access to reproductive services. These two men from Michigan and Pennsylvania used a narrow religious moral argument to convince their colleagues, citing the opinion of “religious leaders” as their premise. They do not speak for all religious leaders and people of faith. They do not speak for me as a religious leader with a deep Christian conviction to justice, fairness, and self-determination. We join the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, whose 40 participating organizations represent more than 10,000 religious leaders and millions of people of faith who believe that abortion must be safe, legal, and accessible. We joined the leaders of Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Interfaith organizations on November 16 to appeal to the Senate to consider all religious perspectives with this statement: The United Church of Christ joins many other faith groups in applauding the House version of health care reform, which was passed on November 7, 2009, as a good step towards providing affordable health care for more Americans. However, we express our disappointment that the House bowed to pressure exerted at the last minute by attaching the Stupak/Pitts Amendment to the bill. The General Synod of the United Church of Christ has for 40 years supported the full range of reproductive health care for women, including access to abortion. And yet, once again, women’s health and well-being have been compromised away in the halls of Congress. We call upon the leadership in the House and Senate to boldly stand up for women’s reproductive health care rights and join the majority of religious Americans who believe that decisions around the termination of a pregnancy are a private matter between a woman and her physician. Knowing that women still earn an average of 70% of what men earn even after the Fair and Equal Pay Act passed 40 years ago. Knowing that women live longer than men and older women still receive reduced social security benefits because of lower wages. Knowing that women’s health care needs are still not met, I still hoped that this time – maybe this time it would be different. I hoped that all women – not just those who can afford it -- would have the choice about whether and when to have children. It’s not too late; there is still time to be heard. Go to the website of The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice to find out how you can be heard, http://www.rcrc.org.
12/04/2009 Religious Leaders and First Amendment Advocates Call on Senate to Ensure Full Access to Reproductive Health Services in Health Care Reform November 16, 2009 Washington, DC - Heads of Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, interfaith and First Amendment organizations today called on the Senate to ensure the final health care reform bill respects diverse religious beliefs. “It is now up to the Senate to keep health care reform free
of religious doctrine and restrictions that will prevent women from
making their own reproductive health care choices,” said Reverend
Dr. Carlton W. Veazey, President and CEO of the Religious Coalition
for Reproductive Choice (RCRC), which convened today’s news conference.
“We speak as people of faith who support religious freedom and
reproductive options,” said Reverend Veazey. “Women must
not lose access to abortion services they may need because of a small
but vocal group of anti-choice activists.” Data from a public opinion poll of registered voters done by the Mellman
Group for the Women Donors Network and Communications Consortium Media
Center in late August was released. They showed significant support
across religions for the more moderate Capps Amendment to maintain the
status quo. “There should be no Stupak-Pitts language in the Senate or conference
committee health care bills,” Reverend Veazey said. “Health
care reform is about expanding access to health care for all, not rolling
back women’s access to needed health services.” Individual Statements: Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice General Board
of Church and Society, United Methodist Church National Council of Jewish Women Americans United for Separation of Church and State No
Ideology in Health Care: November 2, 2009 Major Christian and Jewish denominations and millions of Americans disagree with this position and support a woman's right to make her own reproductive health decisions. This action by the House is an unacceptable denial of our constitutional right to live according to our own moral beliefs. As Congresswoman Barbara Lee noted in floor debate on the legislation, "We're a democracy, not a theocracy." Those who support access to all reproductive health services want health care reform. We feel keenly our moral responsibility to ensure the medical resources necessary for the health of all children, families and communities. But this cannot be done without respect for our nation's religious diversity. We call on the Senate to ensure that health care reform is freed of religious ideology and restrictions that will prevent women from making their own reproductive health care choices. Religious Leaders' Statement on Health Reform: We support "a health care system that is inclusive and respectful of diverse religious beliefs and decisions" regarding childbearing. Joint Statement of Religious Leaders on Stupak Amendment November 9, 2009 We come together to condemn the passage of the Stupak amendment, which if passed by the Senate will effectively deny coverage for abortion services to women covered by the new federal health care plan. We are appalled that religious leaders intervened to impose their specific religious doctrine into health care reform, not recognizing that women must have the right to apply or reject the principles of their own faith in making the decision as to whether or not abortion is appropriate in their specific circumstances. Further, we decry those who sought to use abortion as a way to scuttle much needed health care reform. We call on the President and the United States Senate to ensure that the final bill that passes does not include any specific prohibition on the use of federal funds for reproductive health care services. We pray for a renewed commitment to relational and reproductive justice for all. Signed: The Rev. Dr. Ignacio Castuera, National Chaplain, Planned Parenthood Federation of America The Reverend Debra W. Haffner, Executive Director, Religious Institute on Sexual Morality, Justice, and Healing Jon O’Brien, President, Catholics for Choice Reverend Dr. Carlton W. Veazey, President, Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice |
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