REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE - A UUA statement

Edd Doerr notes that the the Unitarian Universalist Association have releases a statement issued  , approved by the UUA General Assembly in late June --- 2015 UUA Statement of Conscience - Reproductive Justice. ARL board member Ken Sandin was a delegate at the General Assembly in Portland, OR,  this year.

The UUA has long been supportive of reproductive choice and was involved from the beginning in 1973 with the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, on whose board I served from1973 until 2004.

By the way, in 1982 I was the author of the UUA General Assembly resolution on “Public Education, Religious Liberty and the Separation of Church and State”, which passed unanimously. Below are the relevant sections  ---

“Whereas, the constitutional principles of religious liberty and the separation of church and state that safeguards liberty and the ideal of a pluralistic society are under increasing attack in the Congress of the United States, in state legislatures, and in some sectors on the communications media by a combination of sectarian and secular special interests;

“Be it resolved: That the 1982 GA of the UUA  affirms its support for these principles and urges the Board of Trustees and President of the Association, member societies, and UUs in the US to:

“1. Defend the democratic, pluralistic public school, opposing all forms of direct and indirect public aid to support sectarian private schools, such as tuition tax credits or vouchers;

“2. Uphold religious neutrality in public education, oppose all government mandated or sponsored prayers, devotions, and religious indoctrination in public schools; and oppose efforts to compromise the integrity of public school teaching by the introduction of sectarian religious doctrines, such as ‘scientific creationism,’ and by exclusion of educational matter on sectarian grounds.

“3. Uphold the principle of judicial review, and oppose all efforts to deny the federal courts jurisdiction  over school prayer, abortion rights, or other church-state disputes.

“4. Uphold the principle enunciated by the US Supreme Court that all levels of government must remain respectfully neutral with regard to all religions.

“5 Uphold the constitutional privacy right of every woman, acknowledged by the Supreme Court in 1973 in Roe v. Wade and other rulings, to plan the number and spacing of her children and to terminate a problem pregnancy in collaboration with her physician, opposing all efforts through legislation or constitutional amendment to restrict that right or to impose by law a ‘theology of fetal personhood’; and

“6. Support all efforts to preserve and strengthen church-state  separation.”

[NOTE: In 1981 humanist leaders Edward Ericson and the late Sherwin Wine founded Americans for Religious Liberty. In 1982 was asked to be ARL’s executive director. ARL’s positions match those of the UUA resolution. All issues of ARL’s quarterly journal and other material may be accessed on our website – arlinc.org. ARL appreciates the support of all who share these positions.]