RCRC challenges religious opposition to reproductive choice

The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC) was our Challenge the Gap beneficiary for the fourth quarter of 2013. They shared this report on how RCRC will use the grant they received from FBB. FBB members donated $9,025 to RCRC last quarter.

The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC) was thrilled to receive a grant from Foundation Beyond Belief for our forty years of organizing and policy advocacy in partnership with women and families fighting for reproductive justice and abortion access. As a multi-faith organization our vision has been, and will continue to be, building a faithful, spiritual, inclusive, and just movement for justice on behalf of all women and families.
 
The funding that RCRC received from Foundation Beyond Belief will help us to launch a bold new public education, media, and organizing campaign titled “It’s Time: Abortion, Religion, Sexuality and Justice.” This campaign will amplify our visibility to directly expose the religiously based attacks and insidious messages of our opposition.
 
RCRC’s role in the reproductive health and justice movement is unlike any other. Our legacy and future work directly challenge the mythology that the right wing holds the religious voice and moral high ground in relation to women’s reproductive freedom. That deeply entrenched narrative also furthers the dangerous assumption that the progressive left’s commitment to achieving full civil and political rights is morally and spiritually bankrupt. RCRC is uniquely positioned to be the bridge between our secular partners and progressive faith communities because we speak both languages: the language of faith and the sacred language of human and civil rights for all people.
 
What we know at RCRC is that the only way to reclaim the moral ground is to build so much momentum around a progressive reproductive justice theology that this ground becomes ours. The purpose of our campaign is to build an inclusive movement of faith and lay leaders, secular partners, and unaffiliated people of faith who are savvy and bold about taking on our religious opposition across the country. This is necessary work and it is our calling at RCRC.
 
We thank you for your generosity and for investing in our beloved community of religious and lay leaders who are deeply committed to continuing the struggle for reproductive justice and abortion access.

—Lisa Weiner-Mahfuz, Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice