Talking Points on March for Women’s Rights
The Women's Division is devoted to helping women, children and youth. Women's Health Issues are about so much more than a women's right to choose.
That is the heritage of the organization and is at the center of program and financial planning for United Methodist Women. One of the primary reasons women and their families give for wanting abortions is that they cannot afford them. Work on behalf of low income families to promote living wages, health insurance for all, and access to contraceptive information and supplies are ways to keep women and families from having "unacceptable pregnancies." The Women's Division allocates funds to support national and international mission projects which include teen pregnancy prevention programs, adoption services, family counseling, youth centers, shelters for families suffering from domestic violence, and child care facilities just to name a few. Beyond that, many United Methodist Women offer their time as volunteers in similar programs within their own communities.
The Women's Division - made up of United Methodist Women from across the country - voted to participate in the March for Women's Rights and were following a denominational mandate.
The Social Principles of our denomination states: "Our belief in the sanctity of unborn human life makes us reluctant to approve abortion. But we are equally bound to respect the sacredness of the life and well-being of the mother, for whom devastating damage may result from an unacceptable pregnancy." The principles go on to say that there are tragic conflicts in life that may justify abortion and that the Church supports legal options.
Women's Division directors prayerfully considered and dialogued about the issue before making their decision. Their vote responds to the United Methodist Book of Resolutions mandate to "expand their health and wholeness public policy advocacy to include this critical issue of reproductive and end-of-life healthcare."
These mandates come from General Conference, the legislative-making body of the United Methodist Church.
Critics of the Women's Division will try to narrow the scope of this event, claiming it was an "abortion march."
In reality, the March for Women's Lives was about choice, justice, access, health, abortion, global issues and family planning. The Discipline is clear on our stance around women's health. My hope is that the denomination's members will read the entirety of the Discipline's text about abortion. Too often this is pulled out of context: "Our belief in the sanctity of unborn human life makes us reluctant to approve abortion. But we are equally bound to respect the sacredness of the life and well-being of the mother, for whom devastating damage may result from an unacceptable pregnancy. In continuity with past Christian teachings we recognize tragic conflicts of life with life that may justify abortion, and in such cases we support the legal option of abortion under proper medical procedures." In the words of Genie Bank, former president of the Division: "We marched for safe options, for access to contraception, for affordable health care for women throughout their lives, especially during the reproductive years, for effective and comprehensive sexuality education for our children."
We Pray for Those Who Disagree with Us
United Methodist Women's Work is so important. We know that women and children are suffering in our own cities, in Iraq, in Israel and Palestine, and in countless situations and countries around the world. We pray that those who disagree with us on one issue will join us on the others as we work for a peaceful world for women and children and as we try to live out Jesus Christ's ministries to the "least of these."