Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice
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The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC) is an abortion rights organization founded in 1973[1] by clergy and lay leaders from mainline denominations and faith traditions to create an interfaith organization following Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion in the U.S. In 1993, the original name – the Religious Coalition for Abortion Rights (RCAR) – was changed to the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice.[2]
Leadership[edit]
- President and CEO: Katey Zeh[3]
- Chair of the Board: The Reverend Dr. Alethea Smith-Withers, Pastor of the Pavilion of God (Baptist), Washington, DC
- Chair of the Coalition Council, Kate Lannamann, J.D.
State affiliates[edit]
The state affiliates and state networks of the Religious Coalition are involved in advocacy, education, community service, and implementing RCRC programs such as Clergy for Choice, All Options Clergy Counseling, and Spiritual Youth for Reproductive Freedom at the community and state level.[4]
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Kentucky
- Minnesota
- New Mexico
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Wisconsin
Member organizations[edit]
Coalition Council Members:[5]
- Rabbinical Assembly
- United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
- Union for Reform Judaism
- Women's League for Conservative Judaism
- Episcopal Church (United States)
- American Ethical Union National Service Conference
- Society for Humanistic Judaism
- Presbyterians Affirming Reproductive Options (PARO) of the Presbyterian Church (USA)
- Jewish Reconstructionist Federation
- Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association
- Central Conference of American Rabbis
- North American Federation of Temple Youth
- Women of Reform Judaism, The Federation of Temple Sisterhoods
- Women's Rabbinic Network of Central Conference of American Rabbis
- The United Church of Christ
- Unitarian Universalist Association
- Unitarian Universalist Women's Federation website
- Young Religious Unitarian Universalists
- Continental Unitarian Universalist Young Adult Network
- American Jewish Committee
- American Jewish Congress
- Anti-Defamation League
- Catholics for Choice
- Christian Lesbians Out (CLOUT)
- Church of the Brethren Women's Caucus
- Disciples for Choice
- Episcopal Urban Caucus
- Episcopal Women's Caucus
- Hadassah, WZOA
- Jewish Women International
- Lutheran Women's Caucus
- Methodist Federation for Social Action
- NA'AMAT USA
- National Council of Jewish Women
- Women's American ORT
- YWCA of the USA
Reception[edit]
RCRC is criticized as advancing a "theology of choice" in Holy Abortion, a 2003 book co-authored by United Methodist Michael J. Gorman, a professor at St. Mary's Seminary & University in Baltimore, Maryland.[6]
See also[edit]
- Evangelical and Ecumenical Women's Caucus
- List of abortion-rights organizations in the United States
References[edit]
- ^ Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice website, rcrc.org
- ^ RCRC website "About" section, "History"
- ^ Burns, Annelisa. "Seeing abortion access as a blessing". Christian Century. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
- ^ RCRC website "About" section, "Affiliates"
- ^ Coalition Council/ Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, "Coalition Council"Accessdate = 2013-10-25 Archived 2013-10-29 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Gorman, Michael J. and Brooks, Ann Loar, Holy Abortion, Wipf and Stock Publishers, Eugene, Oregon, 2003, 92pp.