Dear Friends,
I’ve been told that clergy should stay out politics. But I believe it’s really the other way around. It’s politicians who should stay out of religion! The separation of church and state outlined in our nation’s constitution is designed to protect the religious liberties of every citizen. Today’s Supreme Court decision, overturning the constitutional right to safe and legal abortions recognized by the 1973 Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade, is an infringement on the moral decision-making women should have the freedom to make. That such an intimate decision would be taken out of the hands of women and their family members, friends, doctors, and clergy is shocking. Whenever religious beliefs are imposed upon another person against their will, something essential to the fabric of our democracy is badly damaged and the belief that life begins at conception is for most people a personal faith statement.
Abortion has always been complex and difficult topic; a fact that the Episcopal Church has recognized in a series of statements. Episcopalians affirm that all human life is sacred and we are committed to the care of every life, including the lives of children, mothers, and those who choose to have abortions. While there may be a tragic dimension to abortion, no one I know who has obtained an abortion did so thoughtlessly or frivolously. It has never been a mere convenience or a form of birth control. I am also old enough to remember that before legalized abortion, there were so-called “back-alley” options that exposed women to grave risk and took the lives of countless women who did not have access to safe medical care.
For many years now, certain Christian groups have vehemently (and even violently) opposed a woman’s right to choose whether or not to have an abortion. Politicians repeatedly invoked God and the Bible (which does not condemn abortion) to buttress their arguments. The hypocrisy of their “pro-life” arguments is revealed in their opposition to gun safety legislation, vaccinations, and providing health care resources that would actually save lives. I confess I haven’t thought a lot about abortion in recent years because I did not believe Roe v. Wade would be overturned. I did not believe that even as other nations around the world were making broader provisions for legal and safe abortions, our country would take a step in the other direction. Even more reprehensible is the fact that abortion may not be a legal option in some states, even in cases of rape, incest, or when the mother’s life is at risk.
Make no mistake about it. People with status and financial resources will always find ways to terminate unwanted pregnancies. It will be poorer people with fewer resources and less access to health care... people who find it hard to travel across state lines... people who find it hard to visit a doctor’s office during work hours... who will be the most affected.
In the words of Presiding Bishop Michael B. Curry, “As Episcopalians, we pray for those who may be harmed by this decision, especially for women and other people who need these reproductive services. We pray for the poor and vulnerable who may not have other options for access. We urge you to make your voice heard in the way you feel called but always to do so peacefully and with respect and love of neighbor.”
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Faithfully,
The Right Reverend Dean E. Wolfe, D.D.
Rector