HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Disciples For Choice (DFC) wishes a Happy Holidays to all Disciples, all Christians, and all people of faith as we celebrate this holy season of light and peace. May the lights of freedom continue to burn brightly as we work together to dispel the darkness of oppression, fear and ignorance.

Please consider a end-of-the-year gift to DFC's major partners in the pro-faith, pro-family, pro-choice movement: the Disciples Justice Action Network and the Religious Coalition for Religious Choice.

To make an online contribution to the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC),
PLEASE CLICK HERE.

To make an online contribution to the Disciples Justice Action Network (DJAN),
PLEASE CLICK HERE.

Together let us keep the lights of freedom burning brightly. Happy Holidays!

The Medical Right Threatens Reproductive Freedom

The smallest possible handful of extremist medical organizations is tenaciously attempting to deny reproductive rights based on radical medical opinion. These “medical” organizations want to determine your health care rights, based on their interpretation of Scripture. We call this group the “Medical Right” and their aggressive campaign against reproductive freedom is both fanatical and dangerous.

To read the full report on this growing danger,
PLEASE CLICK HERE.

Faithful Struggle for Reproductive Freedom

"Faithful Struggle for Reproductive Freedom" is a video on the Clergy Consultation Service on Abortion compiled from excerpts of Dorothy Fadiman's documentary From Danger to Dignity, with an introduction by Reverend Carlton W. Veazey, President of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice.

To watch the video, PLEASE CLICK HERE.

To order a copy of this video to show to you community or school group or congregation, please call 202-628-7700 or e-mail RCRC at info@rcrc.org.

To download a discussion guide for this video,
PLEASE CLICK HERE.

To learn more about the Clergy Consultation Service on Abortion,
PLEASE CLICK HERE.

Catholic Hospitals to Follow Plan B Law

HARTFORD, Conn. - Roman Catholic bishops in Connecticut have agreed to let hospital personnel give emergency contraception to all rape victims, reversing their decision days before a new state law requires it....

Church officials had said the treatment was tantamount to abortion and had been considering legal action, but they took a step away from that position Thursday, in a joint statement by the Catholic Bishops of Connecticut and leaders of the Catholic hospitals....

To read more, PLEASE CLICK HERE.

Verizon Reverses Itself on Abortion Messages

Reversing course, Verizon Wireless announced yesterday that it would allow an abortion rights group to send text messages to its supporters on Verizon’s mobile network....

Last week, Verizon rejected a request from the abortion rights group, Naral Pro-Choice America, for a five-digit “short code.” Such codes allow people interested in hearing from businesses, politicians and advocacy groups to sign up to receive text messages....

“The decision to not allow text messaging on an important, though sensitive, public policy issue was incorrect,” said Jeffrey Nelson, a spokesman for Verizon, in a statement issued yesterday morning, adding that the earlier decision was an “isolated incident.”

To read more, PLEASE CLICK HERE.

Philadelphia Court Defends Right to Dispense EC without Parental Notification

Feminist Daily News Wire
September 27, 2007

On Friday in Philadelphia, the 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously that a city health clinic did not violate the rights of a 16-year-old girl by giving her the emergency contraception she requested, or the rights of her parents by not notifying them....

"The Constitution does not impose an affirmative obligation on [the] defendants to ensure that children abide by their parents’ wishes, values or religious beliefs," states the ruling, adding that her parents "failed to plead facts that would establish that the Center inserted itself into Melissa’s decision by preventing Melissa from consulting her parents."

To read more, PLEASE CLICK HERE.

Three GA07 Resolutions of Special Interest to DFC

At the 2008 General Assembly of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) meeting in Fort Worth, TX, there were three resolutions of particular concern to Disciples for Choice.

The first, Resolution 0730, was an item for reflection and research entitled Concerning the Ethical Provision of Health Care in a Religiously Pluralistic Society. This resolution seeks to deal constructively with the "increasing trend among health care institutions and individual health care providers not merely to arrive at their own particular decisions and set of values, but further to act in ways which impose these decisions and values upon others, thereby manifesting a lack of respect for the free exercise of conscience by patients and constricting the health services made available to the general public." In response this situation, Resolution 0730 calls upon the church to affirm "the healing ministry of Jesus Christ" within the context of "the First Amendment protection of freedom of religion and the democratic values that unite our citizens," and to "accept for reflection and research The Provision of Health Care in a Pluralistic Society, a document produced for study in communities of faith by the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice.

The second, Resolution 0725, was a sense-of-the-assembly resolution on abortion. Entitled "Proactive Prevention: Seeking Common Ground on the Issue of Abortion," the resolution called upon all manifestations of the church to, among other things, repent of "the sin of vilifying" people based on their views on reproductive choice, engage in "age appropriate health and sexuality education paired with Christian spirituality for adults and youth," support women "who have had abortions or who face difficult decisions regarding pregnancy," advocate "for pregnancy counseling and adequate health care for women and families," and work to provide "affordable daycare facilities in underserved neighborhoods, college campuses and other areas where children and families, have the greatest need."


The third resolution of interest to DFC was Resolution 0724, a sense-of-the-assembly resolution on children's health care. This resolution called upon our congregations, regions, general units, and constituency groups to (1) “address issues of children's health care, Biblically and theologically,” (2) “educate themselves, their communities and their elected officials on children's health care nationally and locally,” and (3) “advocate for immediate action to ensure health and mental health care for every child in America in 2007 as a first step to adequate health care for all."

DFC supported this resolution for two reasons: First, the strong belief that "adequate health care for all" should include reproductive health care and therefore would potentially enhance the possibilities that adequate reproductive health care would become more universally available; and second, a better health care system for our children would help create a situation in which more options are available to women--especially poor women--when making informed decisions about possibly terminating a pregnancy."

To read these and all GA07 resolutions, PLEASE CLICK HERE.

Breaking the Silence on Sexuality in our Churches

At a time when rifts over sexuality issues are widening, the National Black Religious Summit on Sexuality is bringing together African American, Latino, and Gay and Lesbian Christian leaders to build inclusive congregations. I invite all RCRC supporters to attend this Summit--a spiritual, emotional and intellectual experience that increases understanding, acceptance, and love of all God's children.

The 11th annual National Summit will meet July 11-13 at Howard University School of Divinity in Washington, DC. More than 500 adults, many of them pastors and religious educators, and 200 youth are expected to attend the event, the largest gathering of African American and Latino church leaders and members to address sexuality issues from a religious and spiritual perspective.

PLEASE CLICK HERE to download registration forms.

Reverend Carlton W. Veazey
President and CEO
Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice

RCRC Releases Guidelines for Ethical Health Care

Disciples For Choice has endorsed In Good Conscience: Guidelines for the Ethical Provision of Health Care in a Pluralistic Society, a document produced by the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (see below). These guidelines are the basis of a resolution that will be presented to the upcoming General Assembly as a proposed study document.

The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC) released new ethical guidelines on providing healthcare in America. The guidelines, entitled In Good Conscience: Guidelines for the Ethical Provision of Health Care in a Pluralistic Society, seek to strike a balance between the beliefs and rights of providers and the beliefs and rights of patients. Alarmed by the increasing imposition of sectarian religious beliefs on health care access-especially access to reproductive health and humane end-of-life care-for millions of Americans, the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, representing mainstream denominations and faith traditions, is calling for all health care providers to implement the new guidelines. . . .

The new guidelines provide an alternative to sectarian restrictions imposed on health care, such as the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, among others. As an increasing number of health care institutions fall under the control of religious organizations that restrict services based on their own religious beliefs, guidance is needed for providers and patients. For example, all Catholic hospitals, where 1 in 5 Americans receive their care, refuse to provide a range of reproductive and end-of-life service. The implications for patients are enormous: they are denied treatment or medication even when it is legal and they can pay for it. There are also implications for the doctors and nurses at such hospitals.

Individual doctors, pharmacists, and nurses are also exercising a "religious or moral objection," refusing to provide essential services and often leaving patients without other options. . . .

To read the rest of this press release, PLEASE CLICK HERE.

For more information about the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice,
PLEASE CLICK HERE.

For more information about Disciples For Choice,
PLEASE CLICK HERE and HERE.

To read a resolution by the General Assembly of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) affirming the decision-making capacity and rights of women in matters of reproductive health care, PLEASE CLICK HERE.