"Faith & Freedom" Newsletter

Summer 2005

IRCRC steps into the future with dedication, enthusiasm, and... a plan!
Although not yet a year old, the Indiana Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (IRCRC) already has several major accomplishments, including the sponsorship of three major public events and participation in important state and national advocacy efforts.

Having successfully gotten the new organization off to a great start, the Board of Directors held several meetings in the spring to develop a plan for the future.

With an emphasis on “visibility, leadership and service in a faith-based context,” the three-year plan defines specific goals and activities for the group and helps to identify what is needed to accomplish those goals.

The major goals of IRCRC for 2005-2006 are:

• Co-sponsor a booth at the Tippecanoe County Fair with Planned Parenthood (see below).
• Establish a Membership/Outreach Committee to reach out to congregations, organizations, and individuals. n Establish a state-wide All-Options Clergy Counseling service beginning with a training session in the fall (see below).
• Sponsor a workshop or conference in the fall (see below).
• Sponsor a Lobby Day and/or Prayer Breakfast during legislative session.
• Review school sex ed curricula.
• Support the Truth for Youth initiative and the Health Access and Privacy Alliance.
• Sponsor an annual dinner in the spring.

Other goals include publishing two newsletters and establishing an Indianapolis chapter. All of these plans will require more funds as well as the commitment of many people who are willing to roll up their sleeves and get involved. Please use the enclosed envelope to send in your generous donation and indicate your membership interests. You can help turn these goals into accomplishments!

Help spread the word! IRCRC-Planned Parenthood Booth at the Fair, July 16-23, 2005
In partnership with Planned Parenthood of Indiana, IRCRC is co-sponsoring a booth at the Tippecanoe County Fair from Saturday, July 16 to Saturday, July 23. Volunteers will work in 3-hour shifts: 1-3pm, 3-6pm, and 6-9pm. We hope to have two IRCRC volunteers and two PP volunteers for each shift, especially in the busy late afternoon and evening hours.

Please contact IRCRC today at (877) 441-5797 (toll-free) or e-mail info@ircrc.org and sign up for one or more shifts. This is a terrific opportunity to reach out to the community!

Also, all volunteers are encouraged to come to a pre-fair training session. A “Night of Enlightenment” will be held Monday, July 11 at 7pm at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 17 S. 7th St., Lafayette.

Deciding who's "in" and who's "out" (How big is our circle?)
by Kaye McSpadden, President
What do you think the purpose of religion is? Some seem to think its purpose is to divide and exclude. Consider the following:

• During the presidential campaign last year some Roman Catholic priests said they would refuse communion to people who voted for pro-choice candidates. Some even said pro-choice Catholics should be excommunicated.
• In May, a Catholic priest in Minnesota refused communion to over 100 parishioners who came to church in rainbow-colored sashes to show support for their gay friends.
• Recently a Baptist church in North Carolina kicked out nine people because they voted for John Kerry last fall, a pro-choice candidate.

While these groups certainly have the right to conduct their religious affairs as they choose, I believe they are only hurting themselves. As they turn away one group of people after another, their circles of acceptance get tighter and tighter. They will get smaller and smaller until eventually the only people left will be the priests and ministers—the only members judged to be worthy.

We in IRCRC have a fundamentally different idea about religion. Although we include many different faiths, we share a common ideal that the purpose of religion is to bring people together, not separate them.

As philosopher Joanna Macy said, “A central theme in every faith is... to break through the illusion of separateness and realize the unalterable fact of our interdependence... Thus do we begin again to reconnect. That indeed is the meaning of religion: to bond again, to re-member.”

Recently, a letter to the editor appeared from a leader of the local “Right to Life” organization in response to my guest column about child abuse (see below). Unable or unwilling to discuss the issues raised by the column, she dismissed IRCRC altogether by stating that it could not really be a religious organization.

I wonder what the clergy from the Episcopal, Baptist, Church of the Brethren, United Methodist, Jewish and other faiths who are IRCRC members would say about that.

Although we in IRCRC draw upon various faith foundations with different theological beliefs and worship styles, we share common ideals and commitments:

• We are dedicated to the principle of religious liberty—no one group has the right to impose its beliefs upon others.
• We will work to create a society that fosters mutual respect and understanding, not discord.
• We will engage in thoughtful discussion, not shouting and name-calling.
• We value honesty—people have a right to know the facts and make informed decisions.
• We value the health of women, children, and families. Providing information and access to family planning services helps to build strong, healthy families.
• We value the right of people to make their own decisions about their reproductive health.There are many different ideas about the morality of birth control, abortion, sterilization, and other reproductive issues. Such decisions are best made by individuals without the interference of government or outside religious groups.

We hope you will find yourself inside this circle of ideals. Our circle is large and growing larger all the time—we are people who care about the health and future of teenagers, we are people who want to help prevent unintended pregnancies and thus reduce the number of abortions, we are people who care about the health care needs of low-income families, and we are people who want to make sure that girls and women who face a crisis pregnancy receive compassionate, honest and helpful counseling.

We will strive to find common ground and bring a healing perspective to discussions on reproductive health. Grounded in our faith and in the spirit of love, we heed the words of Edwin Markham:

He drew a circle that shut me out,
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
But love and I had the wit to win,
We drew a circle that took him in.

IRCRC signs on to Truth for Youth
Comprehensive sex ed helps keep kids safe

A wealth of evidence shows that “abstinence only” sexuality education programs are unsafe and ineffective. They have been shown to perpetuate biased and inaccurate messages about contraception, gender roles and sexual orientation. Youth who have been taught abstinence-only programs and asked to take “virginity pledges” break their vows at high rates, and when they do, they have increased risk of pregnancy and contracting sexually transmitted diseases because they are less likely to use condoms.

On the other hand, research shows that not only does comprehensive sex ed not encourage sexual behavior, it actually delays intercourse and increases contraceptive use by its participants.

Despite this medical and scientific evidence and the fact that most citizens are in favor of comprehensive sex education for youth, the federal government and the state of Indiana continue to pour money into abstinence-only programs for public schools.

IRCRC supports several state and national efforts advocating for comprehensive sex education, including the Truth for Youth Initiative in Indiana. An IRCRC committee will begin reviewing public school sex ed curricula this fall. Also, IRCRC is interested in helping congregations establish effective sex ed programs for their youth and is planning a fall conference on this topic.

Information and resources on comprehensive sexuality education

• Truth for Youth https://www.advocates.ppin.org/ongoing_campaigns.cfm
• Advocacy initiatives for comprehensive sex ed (Sexuality Information & Education Council of the U.S.) www.siecusdc.org
• Information and resources on sex ed www.communityactionkit.org
• Report on Federally Funded Abstinence-Only Education Programs, prepared for Rep. Henry A. Waxman, Dec. 2004 www.democrats.reform.house.gov/Documents/20041201102153-50247.pdf
• “Families are Talking,” young people and families speaking out in opposition to the federal government’s new sex ed website. www.familiesaretalking.org
• Faith Matters: Teenagers, Religion & Sexuality by Steve Clapp, Kristen Helbert, and Angela Zizak. From the Lifequest “Growing in Faith” series. 2003. Based on a ground-breaking survey of religious teens, this book advocates for comprehensive sex education and argues that faith-based institutions are in a “unique position” to offer these programs to their youth. Can be ordered online for $15+SH at www.churchstuff.com/faithmatters.html.
• Teenwire -- an online source of accurate sexuality information for teens, provided by Planned Parenthood. www.teenwire.org
• Apply Our Hearts to Wisdom: A Guide to Faith-Based Comprehensive Sexuality Education. Basic information and annotated guide to nine different faith-based curricula, published by Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. 49 pages. Available free in pdf format or in hard copy for $15. www.rcrc.org/get_involved/clergy_choice/clergy_resources.htm
• Our Whole Lives. A comprehensive sexuality education curriculum developed by the United Church of Christ and the Unitarian Universalist Association. Used in various faith and secular settings. Includes units for grades K-1, 4-6, 7-9, 10-12, and adults. www.uua.org/owl/what.html
• Sex, Etc. Comprehensive sex ed website and award-winning newsletter by and for teens, sponsored by Network for Family Life Education of Rutgers University. www.sexetc.org

Mark your calendar! IRCRC Fall Conference
IRCRC Fall Conference “Faith-Based and Secular Comprehensive Sexuality Education: Information and Resources for Congregations, Teachers, Youth Workers, and Parents” Tentative date: Sunday afternoon, September 18, 2005
Tentative location: Indianapolis
Contact IRCRC or check www.ircrc.org for updated information later this summer

In Appreciation
IRCRC thanks the following congregations for providing meeting space for various meetings and events:
Temple Israel, West Lafayette
Trinity United Methodist Church, Lafayette
Unitarian Universalist Church, Lafayette

IRCRC plans all-options clergy counseling
Women and their families who are dealing with unwelcome or problem pregnancies often have religious, spiritual, and theological questions and look for supportive pastoral help to answer these questions. To help meet their needs, the IRCRC will work to establish All-Options Clergy Counseling for Indiana.

Carefully following guidelines established by the national RCRC, training sessions will be offered in which all options are explored, including parenting, adoption, and abortion.

All Options Clergy Counseling is many things: it is emotional, relational, medical, financial, and legal in nature. It is also, at the core, spiritual. The conversations that take place during an All Options training are shaped by participants’ various understandings of God. The unspoken questions of the counselees are: Will God still love me? Will God forgive me? Therefore, how clergy speak about God is central to All Options counseling.

The decision of whether or not to continue a pregnancy is an extremely complicated one for many women. During the workshop, clergy learn more about those complexities. To engage in this work is to accompany women as they decide whether to bear a child in accordance with their own faith and beliefs, and then support whatever choice is made.

The first training is expected to be held sometime this fall. All clergy who are interested are encouraged to contact IRCRC. We will keep you updated.

"As we look ahead to an uncertain future, the one thing we can be certain of is that women will continue to face difficult decisions, and we people of faith will continue to be moral leaders and advocates for those who need our help. May we always keep in our mind’s eye the faces of real people who struggle to make the best decisions they can in the face of profound moral complexities. And may we always have before us, first and foremost, the well-being of women, children, and families, and the vision of a just and compassionate society.” —Rev. Carlton Veazey, in Between a Woman and Her God: Clergy and Women Tell Their Stories, a Sourcebook for Legislators, Clergy, and Activists. Available for free download in pdf format at www.rcrc.org, or in hard copy for $10.

In response to a recent community and state focus on child abuse, IRCRC President Kaye McSpadden submitted a guest column to the Lafayette Journal & Courier. It was published on May 5, 2005. An excerpt is printed below.

To get handle on child abuse, work to limit unintended pregnancy
Years ago when she was quite young, one of my children said, “Mother’s Day is when mothers are supposed to be nice to their children!” I smile when I remember those words, but for some children, that might be a genuine, heart-felt wish. As recent events have forced our community and our state to recognize, Mother’s Day may be just another day of pain and anguish for abused children.

Child abuse is a complex problem. As we struggle to find solutions, we should remember that an important first step in preventing child abuse is preventing unintended pregnancies. According to a report by U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, children who result from unintended pregnancies are more likely to be abused and neglected. This point is emphasized in “Healthy People 2010,” a comprehensive plan developed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to address our nation’s health needs, which outlines a frightening list of problems faced by children who are the result of unintended pregnancies, including being more likely to suffer from abuse and neglect.

In recognition of the serious problems caused by unintended pregnancies, Healthy People 2010 establishes a goal of reducing unintended pregnancies from 49 percent of all pregnancies to 30 percent by 2010. The plan to reach this goal includes public education and increasing access to reproductive health care services and contraception.

Unfortunately, however, some groups are taking us in a different direction. Consider the following developments, all of which undermine the goal of reducing unintended pregnancies:

• Barriers to obtaining emergency contraception
• “Abstinence-only” sex education
• Assaults on clinics and the people who use them
• Refusal to provide pharmacy services

Most of these developments result from political pressure exerted by religious groups who believe they have the right and duty to impose their beliefs on everyone else. However, in this country we cherish religious liberty. In response to these pressures, people of faith are joining together in the Indiana Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (www.ircrc.org) to work for healthy families, foster reproductive health and protect religious freedom.

However, this is not just about religious freedom, as important as this ideal is to us all. This is also about real people, including the smallest of our children.

Can anyone read about the recent tragedies without asking how child abuse can be prevented? And can anyone seriously doubt that helping women to plan and space their pregnancies appropriately will help?

So, as we try to find ways to address this heart-wrenching problem, we should not ignore the fact that opponents of reproductive rights, who are trying to prevent access to services that would lessen the number of unintended pregnancies, are not helping. Let’s strive to find effective measures that will ensure that Mother’s Day will be a happy day for all children and their mothers in the future.

Planned Parenthood continues fight for patient privacy
In early June a Marion County Judge denied Planned Parenthood’s request to delay the Indiana Attorney General’s attempt to seize medical records of 73 juvenile patients.

In March, Attorney General Steve Carter requested records of eight juvenile patients to investigate whether Planned Parenthood clinics are following the law by reporting cases of children who are having sex before the age of 14. Planned Parenthood complied with this request.

However, the initial request grew to an attempt to seize 73 more records in what Planned Parenthood’s CEO Betty Cockrum called an “unprecedented fishing expedition.”

Pledging to protect patient privacy from “unwarranted government intrusion” and the trust that is “the foundation of our relationship with the women and men who choose Planned Parenthood as their provider of vital health services,” Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction against the Attorney General. Planned Parenthood officials are planning to appeal the recent court decision.

Cockrum assures the public that Planned Parenthood follows the law regarding reporting patients under 14 to child protective services for further review. “We take very seriously the law regarding the report of abuse and neglect. We assist local law enforcement on many occasions to protect young people at risk.”

The Indiana Attorney General’s actions may be seen as part of a recent national trend of governmental assaults on patient privacy and family planning clinics. Earlier this year the Kansas State Attorney General sought medical records of women who had late-term abortions. Last year, federal courts blocked then-U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft’s attempt to get medical records of women who received late-term abortions.

The Indiana Attorney General’s actions could have serious and chilling effects on Planned Parenthood’s efforts to serve the health care needs of Hoosiers. For one thing, the state has threatened to cut off Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood, which would be devastating to the many patients who rely on those funds for their reproductive health care.

For another, the prospect of losing confidentiality might prevent hundreds of patients, especially young people, from seeking the vital services they need. Planned Parenthood helps to prevent more unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections among young people than any other agency in the state.

IRCRC members are encouraged to support Planned Parenthood in its efforts to help Hoosiers in need of reproductive health care services. For more information go to Planned Parenthood’s website at www.ppin.org.

Facts at your fingertips

• In 2004, Planned Parenthood of Indiana served over 108,000 patients.
• It reached over 25,000 individuals through education programs.
• About 95% of patients seek pregnancy tests, Pap tests for cervical cancer, birth control, and testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections.
• Only 4.5% of Planned Parenthood clients seek abortion services.
• Only three of the 40 Planned Parenthood health centers perform abortions.
• Planned Parenthood is the only health care provider for many women who have nowhere else to go for affordable, professional care. Rural and poor women are especially vulnerable.

Your support will help build IRCRC
Join other Hoosiers of faith and work to safeguard reproductive choice, protect religious freedom, and bring compassion and understanding to discussions regarding reproductive health. Your generous donation and membership support will help to build new programs such as All-Options Clergy Counseling and educational events for congregations. Also, you will be joining with other mainstream people of faith to let government leaders and policy makers know that the “religious right” does not speak for you. Please send in your donation today.

What if your pharmacist refused to fill your birth control prescription?
In an attempt to stop women from preventing unintended pregnancies, some pharmacists across the country have refused to fill prescriptions for emergency contraception and other birth control pills. The reason? Contraception conflicts with their moral beliefs. In some states, including Indiana, legislators are supporting laws that would explicitly grant pharmacists the right to refuse to dispense drugs on moral grounds.

Restricting access to birth control prescriptions is discrimination that deprives access to basic health care. Some states have recognized this and are taking action to require pharmacies to fill any legal prescriptions for birth control, like Illinois Governor Blagojevich’s emergency rule. At the federal level, several senators and representatives have introduced bills that would safeguard access to contraception.

IRCRC is helping Planned Parenthood to gather information on refusal to fill prescriptions in Indiana as well as pharmacy policies and practices regarding access to contraception. A letter to the editor that appeared in May from a West Lafayette pharmacist declared that “there is nothing in the pharmacists’ code of ethics that states I must fill any and all prescriptions” and that in fact, she would refuse to fill prescriptions for “abortifacients,” an apparent inaccurate reference to emergency contraception (see below).

Access to medical prescriptions is an important cornerstone in the nation’s health care system. Pharmacies should have the duty to meet the needs of patients. A pharmacist should not have the right to determine someone else’s health care based on his or her religious beliefs. Patients should come first.

For more information on this topic go to the website of the National Women’s Law Center at www.nwlc.org/details.cfm?id=2185&ion=health. Also check out www.fillmypillsnow.org.

Government continues to drag heels on Emergency Contraception
Despite the recommendation of many medical, scientific, and health care professionals, the FDA continues to refuse to allow over-the-counter sales of Emergency Contraception (EC).

EC is a concentrated dose of ordinary birth-control pills that reduces the risk of pregnancy up to 89 percent if taken within 72 hours after unprotected intercourse. It is safe and effective and does NOT cause abortion— it is not RU-486 and it will not interrupt an already established pregnancy. Studies show that access to EC does not lead to increased or earlier sex among young people.

Nevertheless, in an apparent and inaccurate belief that EC is an “abortifacient,” many pharmacies do not stock it, many Catholic hospital emergency rooms do not offer it to rape victims, and a growing number of pharmacists are refusing to fill prescriptions. Helpful resources include:

• For more information go to www.backupyourbirthcontrol.org
• Also, check out the RCRC paper “Emergency Contraception: A Sound Moral Choice” at www.rcrc.org/pdf/EC-formatted.pdf
• Take action! Contact the FDA at http://prochoiceaction.org/ campaign/fda_ec_otc_1_7_05.
• Sign onto an RCRC letter at www.rcrc.org/get_involved/ legislative_action/FDA_letter.htm.

IRCRC takes action
Last year the federal government’s first ever National Protocol for Sexual Assault Medical Forensic Examinations failed to include mention of EC as an appropriate treatment for sexual assault victims. Along with hundreds of other health, advocacy, and faith-based organizations, IRCRC signed onto a letter urging that the Protocol be amended to include information about EC.

Supreme Court to hear parental notification case
In a surprising and potentially ominous move, the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review New Hampshire’s parental notification law. The law had been overturned by the Court of Appeals because it did not have a health exception, which had seemed to be settled law. The case will be argued near the end of 2005 and does not deal with the legality of abortion, but with how much flexibility states have in making it harder for women to get abortions. The case will shine the spotlight not only on the issue of parental notification laws, but also on the importance of who sits on the Supreme Court. One or two vacancies are expected within the next year or so.

The RCRC points out that diverse religious denominations have taken official positions against mandatory parental involvement laws as potentially dangerous to young women. Such laws do not further family communications and may hurt minors. In families where abusive relationships or other problems prevent good communication between parents and their teenage daughters, state-mandated discussions can worsen existing problems. For battered teenagers and incest survivors in particular, mandatory parental involvement laws increase the risks in an already dangerous situation. For more information go to www.rcrc.org/get_involved/legislative_action/parental_notification_and_consent.htm.

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE— 2005 State legislature passes bills that are an assault on reproductive health and rights (but it could have been much worse)

The November election set the stage for what could have been a disastrous Indiana General Assembly session for reproductive health issues. As it turned out, the session was bad, but it could have been much, much worse.

The Health Access and Privacy Alliance, of which IRCRC is a member, tracked a total of 17 bills, only three of which were pro-family planning. Several bills were designed to regulate abortion clinics despite a lack of evidence of the existence of health or safety problems. On the contrary, Indiana’s nine first-trimester abortion clinics have an enviable complication rate of less than 0.5%, according to the Indiana State Department of Health.

Another bill would have changed Indiana law to protect pharmacy personnel from reprimand or job loss if they refused to dispense contraceptives of any kind. In other words, an employee could keep his job while refusing to do it.

Yet another bill required each Indiana school corporation to include instruction regarding human fetal development in its high school health education curriculum, including descriptions and photographs of each stage of fetal development and health consequences of early termination of pregnancy. In a state that does not require school corporations to teach sex education, this would be a needless misuse of both state and local education resources, and could potentially result in a curriculum designed solely as anti-choice propaganda.

A particularly objectionable bill would have made it a felony for a woman to take drugs while pregnant. Testimony from substance abuse providers and health advocates convinced legislators that treatment, not punishment, was the better solution to the problem and the bill was killed in committee. A positive outcome of the bill was a commitment among health advocates and legislators to bring forward a bill in the next session to address the problem through treatment for pregnant women abusing drugs and/or alcohol.

In the end, four of the original seventeen bills passed in both houses and were signed into law (see below).

(Thanks to Sue Errington, HAPA Chair, and HAPA Secretary Lindsey Mintz, for providing this legislative update.)

Bills passed by 2005 legislature related to reproductive health

• SB 76 amends current “informed consent” law to require abortion providers to inform the pregnant woman about the availability of ultrasound and technology to “hear the heart tones” of the fetus as part of her consultation at least 18 hours before her abortion. Since Indiana abortion clinics already use ultrasound and in early abortions there is nothing to hear, this politically motivated bill has no medical value. Rather it is a transparent attempt to impose feelings of guilt on women who have already made the decision to have an abortion.
• SB 268 declares that human cloning is against public policy. It prohibits the state, a state educational institution, or a political subdivision of the state from using resources to knowingly participate in human cloning activities.
• SB 568 requires that the Indiana State Department of Health create a licensure and regulation process for both abortion and birthing centers. The state has until December 31 to promulgate regulations. It is unknown whether the regulations will be reasonable or whether they will be written to shut down abortion clinics. Once the regulations are drafted, they will be posted for public comment, probably in late summer. At that time IRCRC will submit comments and encourage our membership to provide citizen comments.
• SB 572 requires the state to apply for a Medicaid expansion waiver to pay for family planning services and supplies for certain low-income women up to two years following the birth of a child. Unfortunately, anti-choice forces amended this Medicaid extension to forbid coverage of any birth control form that might prevent a fertilized egg from implanting in the uterus, specifically an IUD or emergency contraception. Nevertheless, passage of this bill is a true success story for women’s reproductive health. If Indiana’s application is accepted, this expansion of Medicaid family planning will improve the health and well being of Indiana mothers, babies, and families while saving the state money.

Facts at your fingertips

• HAPA, the Health Access & Privacy Alliance, is a coalition of 23 Indiana organizations whose mission is to promote reproductive rights. Members include the League of Women Voters of Indiana, the National Association of Social Workers/Indiana Chapter, Planned Parenthood of Greater Indiana, Indiana Civil Liberties Union, and IRCRC.
• In the “2005 Report Card on Women’s Reproductive Rights” issued by NARAL Pro- Choice America, Indiana received a grade of F and a state ranking of 38. n Coalitions and organizations are important, but individual contacts to legislators are even more important—it’s up to us as individuals to make sure our elected officials know they have pro-choice constitutents!
• To learn who your representatives are in the state legislature, go to www.vote-smart.org.
• The Indiana General Assembly’s website is a powerful tool for tracking legislation, learning about your legislators, and even watching the legislature while in session! Go to www.in.gov/legislative.
• To learn more about Indiana law relating to reproductive rights, state health statistics, and other information relating to our state, see the “Indiana” section on IRCRC’s website at www.ircrc.org/resources.html.

Voices of Faith
(Are you surprised to learn that many religious groups support reproductive rights? Read more at www.rcrc.org.)

The Episcopal Church
We express our deep conviction that any proposed legislation on the part of national or state governments regarding abortions must take special care to see that the individual conscience is respected, and that the responsibility of individuals to reach informed decisions on this matter is acknowledged and honored.

Presbyterian Church (USA)
We do not wish to see laws enacted that would attach criminal penalties to those who seek abortions or to appropriately qualified and licensed persons who perform abortions in medically approved facilities.

United Church of Christ
...upholds the right of men and women to have access to adequately funded family planning services, and to safe, legal abortions as one option among others.

Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA)
The YWCA of the USA has an unwavering commitment to reproductive rights for women.

Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism endorses the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision on Roe v Wade and deplores all attempts, legislative and judicial, to dismantle it.

Catholics for a Free Choice
As Catholics, we are committed to asking hard questions about life and searching for basic principles of justice. Our commitment to reproductive rights and health is rooted in a commitment to the dignity and rights of women. We will continue to put ourselves on the line, to raise the moral and ethical dimensions of reproductive issues, and to insist that women be respected as their own moral agents.

“Sacred Choices” film available from IRCRC
A 57-min. documentary based on former Catholic priest Dan Maguire’s book of the same title is available in both DVD and VHS formats for loan from IRCRC. The film shows that, contrary to popular belief, major religious groups (including Christian, Jewish, and Islamic) are not anti-choice. The film is appropriate for adult and youth programs and discussion groups.