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Related: About this forumReligious Leaders Pressure Obama To Improve Access To Safe Abortion Around The World
Members of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice
CREDIT: Flickr via Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance
By Tara Culp-Ressler on May 14, 2014 at 2:40 pm
More than two dozen faith leaders are pressuring President Obama to ensure that U.S. foreign policy doesnt prevent women around the globe from accessing safe and legal abortion particularly in the extreme cases that are typically exempted even under harsh abortion bans. The religious figures say that maintaining womens access to safe abortion care in cases of rape, incest, and life endangerment is a moral imperative.
The leaders of groups like the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, the Interfaith Alliance, the United Church of Christ, the National Coalition of American Nuns, the Methodist Federation for Social Action, and the National Council of Jewish Women have signed onto a letter asking the president to clarify his current policy related to foreign aid. They point out that confusion surrounding the existing law is denying rape victims the access to the health care they need.
Although we come from different religious traditions, we are united in our belief that women and girls who face sexual violence and rape deserve meaningful access to the full range of reproductive healthcare options, including safe abortion, the faith leaders write.
Right now, the Helms Amendment prohibits federal assistance from funding abortion services abroad. Helms technically has exceptions for women who need abortion care as a result of rape, incest, or life-threatening health issues but thats not actually how it ends up working in practice. Health workers are confused about what exactly the policy requires, and theyre also afraid of breaking the law and losing all their funding. Thats essentially resulted in a total ban on abortion services, and a gag order on any medical information related to ending a pregnancy.
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2014/05/14/3437934/religious-leaders-safe-abortion-abroad/
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Religious Leaders Pressure Obama To Improve Access To Safe Abortion Around The World (Original Post)
rug
May 2014
OP
okasha
(11,573 posts)1. Good for them.
Now let's see a similar move to ensure access to the whole range of reproductive services for American women.
AtheistCrusader
(33,982 posts)2. Any idea how many people this represents?
I couldn't find a ballpark guess. Curious.
rug
(82,333 posts)3. The RCFRC was formed 40 years ago in response to Roe v. Wade.
http://rcrc.org/
The Interfaith Alliance has 185,000 members.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interfaith_Alliance
The UCC has one million members.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Church_of_Christ#Membership
The National Coalition of American Nuns has between 500 and 2,000 members.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Coalition_of_American_Nuns
No numbers on the Methodist Federation for Social action.
http://mfsaweb.org/
The National council of Jewish women is 120 years old.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Council_of_Jewish_Women
The Interfaith Alliance has 185,000 members.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interfaith_Alliance
The UCC has one million members.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Church_of_Christ#Membership
The National Coalition of American Nuns has between 500 and 2,000 members.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Coalition_of_American_Nuns
No numbers on the Methodist Federation for Social action.
http://mfsaweb.org/
The National council of Jewish women is 120 years old.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Council_of_Jewish_Women