*For RealAbortionSolutions.org, FPL built a coalition of religious leaders who were already dedicated to common ground solutions to reduce abortions to support an ad campaign to raise awareness about this approach. So far, ads have run in 11 states and during the March for Life in Washington, DC.
Just as anti-abortion activists swarm into Washington on Thursday, President Obama may overturn a policy that bans federal funds to non-governmental organizations for use outside the USA for abortion and birth control services or referrals.
Or he may not.
Fox News says he will here. And CNN says he will here. But no one names a source. Terry Mattingly, who keeps a watchful eye on religion coverage at the Get Religion blog, thinks the mainstream media has fallen silent on a major story on the timing of the policy switch the same day as the annual March For Life — a march by those who oppose the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision to legalize abortion. But he doesn’t name a source for the prospect of a switch, either.
Still, anyone can see hundreds of thousands of marchers pulling into town. Many are Catholic and conservative evangelicals, such as the president of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod.
The ban has been the policy of Republican presidents since the Reagan administration announced it in Mexico City in 1984. Pro-Life activists say lifting it would clear a path to more more abortions.
March for Life activists are also concerned that Obama or the Congress will overturn the so-called “Conscience Rule,” signed by former President Bush last month.
That rule allows anyone in the health system — from a surgeon to a pharmacy cashier — to decline to offer a service or treatment that violates their personal conscience. (More on that here.) When Bush signed it, the Family Research Council called the rule “an early Christmas present to pro-lifers …”
But pro-choice activists also plan to make public statements this week. When the pro-life marchers arrive, they’ll find print ads (here) and radio ads (here) saying the real way to fight abortion is to reduce demand.
The ads are sponsored by RealAbortionSolutions.org, which proposes “legislation that would advance the goal of abortion reduction by addressing the root causes.” The ads, packed with baby pictures, call for supporting the health and welfare of pregnant women and new mothers and preventing unintended pregnancies. (However, the means of prevention may be off limits to those who see artificial contraception as another form of abortion.)
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The annual March for Life in Washington has long been a Republican/Christian right affair, with messages sent from the White House during Republican administrations and with the Family Research Council playing host to the affiliated Blogs for Life conference. This year’s March for Life, held on the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision, sees the introduction of new voices to the event: moderate and liberal religious groups that advocate reducing the number of abortions by means other than overturning Roe.
A coalition calling itself RealAbortionSolutions.org, organized by the politically progressive group Faith in Public Life, has bought ads in tomorrow’s Washington Examiner and Washington Post Express and on D.C.-area Christian radio to promote a more Democratic-friendly approach toward the “pro-life” cause. The ads promote what they call “solutions based on results, not rhetoric,” by expanding adoption, supporting pregnant women and new mothers, preventing unintended pregnancies, and other steps that avoid curtailing abortion rights. You can view and listen to the ads here.
Another progressive faith group–Catholics United–is holding a legislative briefing on Capitol Hill tomorrow to offer similar policy recommendations for reducing the abortion rate. Carrying a banner that says “Congress Reduce Abortion Now,” Catholics United allies will participate in the March for Life, distributing fliers to fellow marchers that propose “effective and results-oriented approaches to reducing abortion.”
This is the kind of pro-life, anti-Christian right activity that didn’t happen much before the 2004 election. Neither of these groups, Faith in Public Life or Catholics United, even existed until after that election. Such groups claimed to have impact in closing the so-called God Gap during the 2008 election, when Barack Obama made gains among many religious constituencies. Now, we’ll see if they have any affect on policy with allies in the White House and in control of Congress.
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*For RealAbortionSolutions.org, FPL built a coalition of religious leaders who were already dedicated to common ground solutions to reduce abortions to support an ad campaign to raise awareness about this approach. So far, ads have run in 11 states and during the March for Life in Washington, DC.
Tomorrow, Jan. 22, there will be “March for Life” and other anti-abortion rallies all across the U.S. Anti-abortion (or pro-life, if you prefer) groups are especially concerned right now that Congress will pass the Freedom of Choice Act, which would expand abortion rights. The abortion-rights lobby is hoping for a reversal of what they see as restrictive policies under the Bush administration. So there is the potential for increased polarization on the issue. Faith in Public Life and a coalition of “progressive evangelicals” are trying to find middle ground. They’re running print and radio ads condemning the high number of abortions but proposing a four-point solution: expand adoption; support pregnant women and new mothers; increase pre- and post-natal health care; and prevent unwanted pregnancies. The last one means stronger sex education, sure to be controversial. And note there is no mention of legal restrictions on abortions. So it seems unlikely firm pro-life groups will go for the “third way.” It seems more aimed at the public, which polls indicate favor keeping abortion legal but don’t like the high numbers.
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Religious and rights groups are calling on President Barack Obama to make good on his popular catchphrase “Change is coming!” by flooding him with letters requesting support and attention to special causes.
Several groups have already asked the new president to put into action his promise to unite people that traditionally have been in conflict.
Just ahead of the inauguration, several prominent evangelical and progressive leaders came together to issue a “common values” agenda covering divisive cultural issues such as abortion, gay rights, immigration reform, and torture.
In the letter sent to President Obama and congressional leaders, the formerly at odds partners offered “a shared vision and a plan for ending the cultural wars.”
Together the two sides called for the reduction of abortion by preventing unintended pregnancies, supporting pregnant women and new families, and increasing support for adoption.
Moderate evangelical and secular progressive leaders also called on the protection of the rights of gay and lesbian people to earn a living with an exemption for faith-based employers to refuse to hire on the basis of sexual orientation.
Other issues they agreed on include the unequivocal renouncement of torture by the government and support for an immigration reform that paves the way to an earned path of citizenship for most undocumented residents.
“The culture wars have been characterized by vilifying those who differ from us on provocative issues and treating them as traitors and threats,” said the Rev. Joel C. Hunter, senior pastor of Northland, A Church Distributed, in Florida.
“I believe we can end those wars by thinking of our differences as ways we can learn from each other and advance without compromising core values,” he said.
Pastor Joel Hunter has prayed with President Obama on several occasions, including during a private pre-inauguration service held at St. John’s Church across from the White House on Tuesday; over the phone on Election Day Nov. 4, before Obama was declared the winner, and at the closing of the Democratic National Convention.
The “Common Values” agenda was spearheaded by Third Way and also included the support of Dr. David Gushee of Mercer University, the Rev. Samuel Rodriguez of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, Dr. Ron Sider of Evangelicals for Social Action, Dr. Robert P. Jones of Public Religion Research, and Katie Paris of Faith in Public Life.
Meanwhile, International Justice Mission – a ministry that works to free those victimized by violent crimes such as sexual violence, trafficking, and slavery – is asking the Obama administration and Congress to make the public justice system more capable of protecting the poor and vulnerable.
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Human rights advocates and religious leaders are calling on President-elect Barack Obama to use his first hundred days in office to close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay and repudiate the policies of President George W. Bush on an array of issues ranging from detainee torture and rendition to warrantless wiretapping and signing statements.
But with the nation facing the deepest economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s, it is unclear whether human rights will become the top priority of the Obama Administration and its allies in Congress.
Nonetheless, such leading organizations as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the Center for Constitutional Rights, and Human Rights First are demanding that the President-elect take the lead in effecting speedy action.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) wants the Obama Administration to close the CIA’s secret detention centers permanently, apply to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) the rules used by the U.S. military to prevent coercive interrogation, close the Guantanamo detention center, repatriate or prosecute all detainees, and ensure that prosecutions are conducted in regular courts, not the “substandard” military commissions.
Kenneth Roth, executive director of HRW said, “Barack Obama must seize back the US leadership in global human rights squandered by outgoing President George Bush in Guantanamo Bay and other scandals.”
The group issued a 564-page report on the state of human rights around the world. The report charged that governments opposing basic rights, including those in Russia and China, had rushed to fill a vacuum left by the United States.
It blamed Bush’s “abandonment of long-held principles, including opposition to torture, in the U.S. war against Islamist militants,” but said Obama “could repair the damage once he takes office on January 20. “There is an enormous need for the Obama administration to redeem America’s reputation,” Roth added.
At the same time, a coalition of equally prominent groups issued a similar “Human Rights Call to Action” at a summit in Washington last week. It demanded that the Obama Administration put an end to “torture, arbitrary detention, and extraordinary rendition, including closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay and rejecting preventive detention models; ending surveillance abuses, attacks on dissent, and targeting of immigrant groups and other communities of color; and ensuring human rights, civil rights and civil liberties.”
The summit included the American Arab Anti Discrimination Committee, the American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International USA, the Center for Constitutional Rights, the Constitution Project, Human Rights First, Human Rights Watch, the National Lawyers Guild, the Partnership for Civil Justice, the Torture Abolition Survivors Support Coalition, the US Human Rights Network, and Witness Against Torture
Similar demands are being made by a number of religious leaders and organizations.
National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) is urging Obama to issue an executive order ending torture one of his first official acts in office. A letter to the President-elect, signed by close to three dozen prominent religious leaders representing America’s diverse faith traditions, said, “Such a step will help the United States to regain the moral high ground and restore our credibility within the international community at this critical time.”
The organization also joined a number of other groups in calling for “an investigation of torture policies and practices since 9/11.” Rev. Richard L. Killmer, NRCAT Executive Director, told us, “In order to create safeguards to make sure that torture does not happen again, it is important to understand what happened. NRCAT supports an independent non-partisan committee of inquiry with subpoena power and sufficient funding to do a thorough investigation and issue a comprehensive report.”
He added, “I think about my seven grandchildren. I can imagine that some day they will say that the United States used to torture, but we don’t do that anymore. The challenge for our nation is to develop sufficient safeguards so that we don’t torture anymore. We need to understand what happen so that those safeguards can be created.”
Another group of prominent religious leaders presented the Obama Administration with what it called a “Come Let Us Reason Together” Agenda. As part of a multi-issue declaration, the group asserted that “The use of torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment against prisoners is immoral, unwise, and un-American.”
Leaders of the group represent such organizations as Third Way, Public Religion Research, Evangelicals for Human Rights, Evangelicals for Social Action, the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, and Faith in Public Life.
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