Religious leaders, organizations react to Supreme Court arguments on Mississippi abortion law

The same divisions among Texans in general were as evident among leaders of different faiths on Wednesday as they responded to arguments in the Supreme Court as it opened a challenge to an abortion law in Mississippi.

The First Unitary Church of Dallas was one of the first churches to promote activism around the 1973 Roe vs. Wade case that legalized abortion. Rev. Daniel Kanter, known for his support for abortion law, said in a statement that a “public health crisis” could arise if judges uphold Mississippi law.

“Everyone needs to understand that the potential consequences of this fall for all Americans are enormous. If Roe is knocked over, 41% of women of childbearing age would see the nearest abortion provider nearby. This is a public health crisis that our country and our communities cannot afford, “Kanter told The Dallas Morning News.

“As a believing person, I believe that we have to take into account the lives of the people we meet every day in our families, churches and communities, and as this case calls us to love our neighbors without being on ideologically narrow-minded positions”, he said.

Rabbi Nancy Kasten, chief relationship officer at Faith Commons, a Dallas-based inclusive faith organization devoted to promoting the common good, says a decision to overthrow Roe would be based on political power.

“The attack on abortion is not motivated by a desire to protect fetuses. If anti-abortionists really want to protect fetuses, they should also be determined to ensure that those fetuses receive medical care, food, shelter, and education. This attack was used by people with a specific political agenda to mobilize voters and gain political power, ”she said.

Rev. Erin Walter, acting executive director of the Texas Unitarian Universalist Ministry of Justice, says she is concerned about the attacks on Roe v. Wade, because “attacks on abortion rights are attacks on the health system and human rights, freedoms that each of us should cherish and defend.”

“As a minister in the diverse state of Texas, I am particularly concerned that attacks on Roe v. Wade endanger the lives of blacks and indigenous peoples, coloreds, young, poor or undocumented people. Many faith communities strongly support abortion law as we support people’s right to make choices about their own bodies and families, and we need those strong, loud voices of faith now. This is a crucial moment, lives are in danger and we must develop a spiritual practice by coming up and saying loudly and proudly that believers support the right to abortion, ”she said.

Opponents of abortion

After 50 years of Roe, Dallas’s religious outlook is strong, with other groups hoping the case will be lifted.

Dr. Robert Jeffress, the senior pastor of First Baptist of Dallas, expressed hope that Roe will be overthrown in a statement Wednesday.

“It appears that the Supreme Court is on the verge of abolishing or seriously restricting the imaginary right to murder an unborn child,” he said. “In 1857, the Dred Scott Supreme Court said that African Americans were nothing more than property to be bought and sold – a decision that was overturned by the Fourteenth Amendment. It’s time for Roe v. Wade to join the Dred Scott case on the ashes of history. ”

Bishop Edward Burns of the Catholic Diocese of Dallas posted a statement Wednesday on the Dallas Morning News which he later tweeted. Burns says he and his “brother bishops in the United States” will pray that the Supreme Court will act to protect unborn children.

“The right to life for the unborn is the primary and fundamental concern from which society’s respect and dignity for every human being emerges. Every human being is created in the image of God from the moment of conception. All life is sacred, especially the unborn, who are the most vulnerable, ”he said.

Burns wasn’t the only Catholic bishop of Texas to express concern over the fall of Roe on social media. Bishop Michael Olson of the Diocese of Fort Worth wrote on Twitter Tuesday, urging people to “pray for clarity in presenting arguments and wisdom in deliberating a just judgment.”

The Catholic Pro-Life Community, a Diocese-affiliated organization known for praying outside of abortion clinics in the Dallas area, says it is praying for an outcome that sustains life.

“The Pro-Life Catholic community continues to pray for our lawmakers, and especially for our Supreme Court justices. … We pray that they will decide to allow states to reinstate or prohibit abortions, which will save the lives of millions of babies and protect women and men from the pain and guilt they have endured from an abortion experience, ” said Geralyn Kaminsky the executive director of the association.

Other religious voices

Outside Texas, other faith leaders urged believers to pray for a fall.

Brent Leatherwood, acting president of the Ethics and Religious Freedom Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, asked, “What is good when it is bad?”

“On several points, be it the faulty reasoning of Judge Harry Blackmun in his Roe statement or the irrelevance of the standard of profitability, it should be clear that the precedent in the field of abortion is completely detached from the constitution.” he said in a statement.

The commission filed an amicus brief in the Dobbs v Jackson case earlier this year.

The National Council of Jewish Women, Catholics for Election and Muslim Lawyers marched, among other things, in front of the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

During the “Abortion is Essential” rally, Sheila Katz, CEO of the National Council of Jewish Women, said that people of all faiths do abortions.

“Spoiler alert: Jews have abortions. Christians have abortions. Muslims have abortions. People of faith and people without faith have abortions, ”she said.

“For too long this country has allowed a small but noisy group from the religious right to dominate the narrative about abortion and religion, claiming that access to abortion is a violation of religious freedom. So do we ask them? Whose religious freedom do you want to protect? “

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