Here are thoughts on the Supreme Court decision on abortion from the Unitarian Universalists’ Side with Love team.
Earlier today, the Supreme Court of the United States handed down its decision in the Dobbs v. Jackson case. The final opinion effectively overturned Roe v. Wade and eliminated federal protections for abortion. Each state will now be able to independently regulate abortion, with at least 26 states poised to entirely ban abortion care beginning immediately.
We weep for the millions of people and families that will be harmed–physically, spiritually, financially, and emotionally–because of this decision. We mourn that this ruling rolls back many decades of advances for reproductive health, rights, and justice. And we sit with the numbness, despair, and anger we feel knowing that white Christian nationalist misogyny has won the day.
Protest Friday evening at the Charlottesville Federal Courthouse
Blue Ridge Abortion Fund (our social action beneficiary for June) invites everyone to gather for protest at 7:30 this evening (Friday June 24) at the Federal Courthouse.
A Zoom vigil will be hosted by All Souls Church in DC tonight.
Tonight we will gather from 7 to 8 pm EST for a time of collective comfort. Rev. Bill Sinkford, Rev. Kathleen Rolenz, and Rev. Rob Keithan will be present from Portland GA. Rev. Louise and Traci will be present from the DMV. Join us for shared meditation, prayer, silence, and poetry.
While we’ve suspected this day was coming for years, its arrival is still cause for concern, grief, and anger. We know that people at All Souls, and in Unitarian Universalism overall, have different beliefs, experiences, and feelings about abortion. That’s OK! The goal of Unitarian Universalist organizing for reproductive justice is that all people can make decisions and access healthcare according to their own values, which includes both having children and not having children. The reproductive justice framework also affirms that everyone has the right to bodily autonomy, and to raise children in safe and sustainable communities.
With this broader framework in mind, it is all the more important that we recognize the larger context. The assault on abortion access, on transgender equality, on voting rights, on racial justice generally—these are all interconnected. They are part of an extremist ideology that divides people into worthy and unworthy, with race, gender, and gender identity as key variables in who should have access to resources. This kind of thinking was explicitly rejected by our Unitarian and Universalist ancestors, and we must join with other people of faith and goodwill across the country in rejecting this oppression today.