Here We Are. Send Us! Part III
Sharing resources for a faithful response to threats of harm to Women Seeking Reproductive Healthcare
Thursday, June 5, 4:00 pm On line
Since January 20, the federal administration has acted quickly and ruthlessly to restrict reproductive rights, health care, and information. Hours after the inauguration, the president revoked Biden-era executive orders put in place to protect reproductive rights after Roe v. Wade was overturned. Then came a slew of anti-reproductive rights executive orders in rapid succession, including the pardon of 23 people who had attacked clinics, a promise not to enforce the FACE act that protects clinic workers and patients, a doubling-down on the Hyde Amendment, and a refusal to abide by the law that ensures individuals receive emergency reproductive health care. The president has reinstated the global gag rule and frozen millions of dollars in funding for Title X. Individuals whom he has appointed or nominated to Cabinet and Department leadership positions have clear anti-reproductive rights agendas.
All this in a post-Roe era where 13 states now have total bans on abortion and four others have bans after the sixth week of pregnancy.
There is no doubt about it—women seeking reproductive health care are being harmed.
So, what can people of faith do to stand with and for them? How can we help mitigate the harm?
Come to our next online “town hall” meeting to find out! Thursday, June 5, 4pm
We’ll be joined by an impressive panel of experts:
The Reverend Katey Zeh is a pro-choice ordained Baptist minister and CEO of the national organization Religious Community for Reproductive Choice. Religious Community for Reproductive Choice website
The Center for American Progress named her one of their top “justice-seeking faith leaders to watch” for her work on reproductive freedom. She has written for many outlets including the Washington Post, Sojourners, Religion News Services, and Religion Dispatches, and she regularly appears in the media, including The New York Times, The Atlantic, CNN, The Nation, BBC, NBC News, Newsweek, and The Christian Century. She is the co-host of the Kindreds podcast and the author of two books, A Complicated Choice: Making Space for Grief and Healing in the Pro-Choice Movement and Women Rise Up: Sacred Stories of Resistance for Today’s Revolution.
Lisa Margulies is an attorney and Vice President of Public Affairs for Planned Parenthood of Northern New England where she oversees public policy, advocacy, communications, organizing, and electoral activities. https://www.plannedparenthood.org/planned-parenthood-northern-new-england A Toll Public Interest Scholar while studying at University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, Lisa started her legal career as a public defender in Philadelphia and then worked on justice system reform across the country. Before becoming an attorney, Lisa taught mathematics in New York City Public Schools and worked in the field of human rights in Cambodia.
Abbie Strout-Bentes is the Executive Director of Safe Abortions for Everyone (SAFE) Maine, a nonprofit fund headquartered in Augusta that provides financial support to people seeking abortions, both Mainers and those “from away.” https://www.safemaine.org/ SAFE is a member of the National Network of Abortion Funds, a nonprofit that provides financial and logistical support to 100 funds around the country. Before becoming SAFE Maine’s Executive Director, Abbie worked at Mabel Wadsworth Center in Bangor. She is the original host of the podcast Reproductive Left and speaks openly about her own life experience receiving abortion care. She appears regularly in the Portland Press Herald and Maine Beacon and testifies frequently before the legislature in Augusta on issues related to reproductive justice and health care
The Rev. Dr. Marvin Ellison is an ordained Presbyterian minister, and the Willard Bass Professor Emeritus of Christian Ethics at Bangor Theological Seminary where he taught for more than 30 years. An alumnus of Union Theological Seminary (NYC), and a long-time friend to the Maine Council of Churches, Marvin was the featured keynote speaker at our Faith-Based Advocacy event in 2023. He is the founder of Maine’s Religious Coalition Against Discrimination and of the Maine Interfaith Council for Reproductive Choices. Marvin lectures and publishes widely on ethical issues related to human sexuality, health care, and economic justice, and is the author of six books. Until recently, he served on the Board of Directors of Planned Parenthood of Northern New England and helped to establish a chaplaincy program for the Planned Parenthood clinic in Portland.
This program made possible, in part, by a grant from the Lexington Social Justice Fund of the United Methodist Foundation of New England, and by generous gifts from individuals like you. Thank you!
