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Scriptural and Theological Grounding for Sermons about International Family Planning for Mother's Day

My Sisters’ Keeper
Genesis 4:9

As people of faith we are called to care not only for our immediate family or those in our community, but for our sisters and brothers throughout the world. Women and newborns throughout the world face dire risks to life and health due to inadequate or non-existent family planning services, risks that would be greatly reduced by increased U.S. funding for these services. During difficult economic times of our own it is easy to forgot how blessed we are compared to other parts of the world and the responsibility we have. We truly are our sisters’ keeper.

Created Equally
Genesis 1:27

Lack of family planning services disproportionately affects women, their lives, bodies, and well-being. We are taught in Genesis 1:27 that all humans were created (in Hebrew: B'Tzelem Elohim) in the image of the divine, equally, both men and women. Any and all systematic discrimination against women denies that fundamental truth, which guides our work in human rights in general as well as in women's rights.

One Human Family- The Tower of Babel
Genesis 11:1-9

Humanity is divided by so many languages, so many borders, it is easy to forget that we are all one human family, the children of God. We have a responsibility to care for each other, to remember all that connects us and ties us together, not that which divides us. That responsibility extends to the responsibility to give aid and help when we can to address dire situations, which the plight of pregnant women around the world most certainly is. The recent earthquakes in Haiti and Chile have reminded us of this need to care for those outside our borders—a need we can continue to address by calling on our government to fund the important work of saving women’s and infant’s lives.

Who hears the cries of Hagar, the cast out woman?
Genesis 16:1-11
Genesis 21:9-20

Two different times, while pregnant, and with her newborn son, Hagar is cast out and abandoned. Yet God hears her, God sees her suffering. As funding for needed services is drastically cut, have we not cast out pregnant women around the world, just as Hagar was cast out? God hears their cries for help; do we?

The Jewish Tradition (from the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism)

The guiding principle of sexuality in the Jewish tradition is “Kedoshim tih’yu”—“you shall be holy,” which means that sexuality is linked to blessing, commandment, and God. We cannot fulfill that mitzvah, that commandment/worthy deed without seeking to preserve our health and well-being, the integrity of our bodies and minds, and considering our future in all decisions we make.

Maimonides, the great Jewish scholar and teacher, taught that ensuring the health and well-being of the community is of critical importance. When members of a society at large are ill, our responsibility expands to ensure that medical resources are available at an affordable cost. These notions of health care are directly related to family planning and reproductive health care, without which many members of a community cannot thrive and be well.