Lafayette area Episcopal clergy: Access to reproductive healthcare essential
EDITOR'S NOTE: The following was submitted by clergy serving Lafayette area Episcopal churches.
The abortion debate in the United States has often been spelled out using unfortunate and even tortured dichotomies: pro-life versus pro-choice, liberal versus conservative, Christian values versus secular rights, bodily autonomy versus the sanctity of life.
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These dichotomies are unfortunate because they suggest that abortion is a strictly either/or issue or that the values and assumptions are simple and straightforward. The dichotomies have become tortured both because they ignore the various values at stake (such as rights, sanctity, autonomy, health, and the like) or because they are hypocritical. In our current political environment, for instance, being “pro-life” on abortion rarely extends to being substantially “pro-life” about universal access to healthcare, maternity care, family leave, childcare, or access to quality education (let alone about access to housing, a basic income, the death penalty, or gun violence).
Conversations around rights tend to neglect the corresponding duties that go with them or fail to take seriously the value or sanctity of life more generally.
We write this as ordained Christian clergy serving in The Episcopal Church. Our Church teaches that all human life is sacred, and, in baptism, we commit to honoring the dignity of every human being. As our Church has acknowledged and reaffirmed over the past decades, there is something tragic about every abortion and this requires the concern and compassion of the entire Christian community.
At the same time, we insist that access to healthcare, including reproductive care, is an essential part of any person’s dignity and worth as a human being. These are not mutually exclusive. Indeed, legislating against abortion will not create a “culture of life,” but rather increase suffering in a myriad of ways.
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It will put the lives of mothers at risk. It will create additional strain on already struggling families. And it will disproportionately affect people of color and the poor. Studies have shown again and again that the best way to reduce the number of abortions is not to make abortion illegal but to instead provide comprehensive sex education, access to birth control, access to health care, food, and housing.
As such, we are gravely concerned about the possibility that the U.S. Supreme Court will soon overturn Roe. V. Wade and other decisions affirming access to reproductive healthcare and to safe abortions. We are also concerned that, should this happen, our own state legislature will rush to create laws further restricting these rights in Indiana.
We believe that equitable access to healthcare, including women’s reproductive healthcare, is essential to respecting the dignity and worth of every human being; and we urge our state and federal lawmakers to make compassionate decisions that work for the well-being of every citizen.
The Rev. Andrea Arsene, St. John’s Episcopal Church, Lafayette
The Rev. Dr. Gretchen Freese, St. John’s Episcopal Church, Lafayette
The Rev. Dr. Bradley Pace, St. John’s Episcopal Church, Lafayette
The Rev. Dr. Hilary Cooke, Chapel of the Good Shepherd, West Lafayette
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Area Episcopal clergy: Access to reproductive healthcare essential
