As Quakers, our core belief is that there is that of God in each of us. When faced with reproductive health decisions, we go to the Inner Light to seek discernment, going deep within, asking the Light about the right thing to do concerning abortion.
This is our spiritual journey. Government should not interfere with that spiritual journey.
In order to preserve the freedom of individual conscience and guidance of the Inner Light, we stand with those who hold that bodily autonomy and reproductive choice is a human right. Congress needs to ensure access to free reproductive health care including contraception and abortion.
Congress also needs to ensure quality, affordable child care, close the Medicaid coverage gap, provide access to prenatal and postpartum health care, ensure generously, paid family and medical leave, protect people who are pregnant in the workplace, and guarantee more assistance to families, including making the Child Tax Credit permanent.
Restriction on abortion is a first step in the denial of women’s rights in general, evidenced by the progression that is happening to make some forms of birth control illegal. The FCNL statement should include the broader sense of both reproductive rights and women’s rights.
Additionally, since overpopulation is a root cause of the depletion of natural resources, destruction of the earth, and climate-induced migration, access to contraception and reproductive choice should be expanded, not diminished.
While we agree that reproductive rights is an issue where we might not come to unity, what binds us together as a spiritual community is not uniformity of belief, but rather our sense of a common journey on a shared path, seeking the guidance of the Light. Our diversity strengthens us as we walk this path of love, compassion, and justice.