Back in December, I listened to the full oral arguments of a Supreme Court case for the first time. The case was Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization argued before the Court on December 1. The name of this case probably doesn’t sound familiar to you, but if you’ve seen or heard any bit of news this week, you definitely know something about this case.
As you may have heard, a draft of a Supreme Court decision was leaked on Monday night—that draft was the Court’s response to Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, though the main case name everyone’s talking about in response to this leak is Roe v. Wade, the 1973 case that declared women had a fundamental right to decide how best to manage their pregnancy, based on the right to privacy in the 14th amendment.
This amendment was passed after the Civil War as part of the Reconstruction Amendments to grant full citizenship and equal civil rights/protections to all recently freed slaves. For generations, slaves did not have bodily autonomy. They didn’t have the right to make decisions about their bodies, their lives, or their futures. The 14th amendment gave them those rights and codified those rights for all people, including the right to decide whether or not to continue a pregnancy.
I listened to the oral arguments of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization back in December because of what the outcome would mean for the right of people to access safe and necessary abortion care. Because every person’s situation is unique, every person’s experience of pregnancy is unique, and because every person’s experience of pregnancy is particular to them, they’re the only one that can decide what’s best for them in that situation.
As Baptists, one of our core tenants has always been freedom—a person’s freedom to decide how to read the scripture for themselves, to mediate their own relationship with the Divine, to be part of whatever congregation they chose. As Baptists, we’re called to protect the freedom of all people to decide what medical care is best for them.
As Christians, we follow the one who healed without stigmatizing anyone’s situation. Jesus was about loving and empowering people to live into the fullness of life God desires for them. Beloved, we can do no less. As Christians, we’re called to advocate for women to receive all the care they need including access to safe abortion care.
There’s still a lot to say. There’s a lot to process and a lot to feel, but there’s also a lot to do. Since December I’ve attended a conference and a few trainings for faith leaders to provide care for women and leadership to their communities about the many issues surrounding reproductive justice and dignity. One organization called SACReD (Spiritual Alliance of Congregations for Reproductive Dignity) just put together a 7-week curriculum for faith groups that want to have a deeper conversation about reproductive dignity. Just last week I attended a training on the curriculum and was hoping to put together a discussion group this summer.
So if you would like to have more conversations about this, whether taking part in a weekly discussion following a structured curriculum or just having a one-on-one conversation with me over a cup of tea, let me know. I’m here for you.
In Love
Pastor Annette