Planned Parenthood’s Clergy Advocacy Board Condemns the Trump Administration’s Birth Control Rule
For Immediate Release: Oct. 6, 2017
WASHINGTON, DC — The Clergy Advocacy Board of Planned Parenthood Federation of America condemns the Trump Administration’s fallacious attempts to use morality and religion to undermine access to contraception through the Affordable Care Act.
“We are religious leaders from a spectrum of faiths and denominations, called to serve as pastors to people making medical decisions. Our experience teaches that a woman’s health care is between her and her doctor. Politicians should stay out of these private conversations.
“As religious leaders, embracing the truth in faith alongside the truth in medical science, we believe that our households and families should be allowed to benefit from advances in modern day health care, contraception included. We are deeply troubled by the Trump administration’s agenda to curtail access to reproductive care, one step at a time. This attack is the latest example of a sustained campaign to impose negative and narrowly held religious perspectives into the private lives of Americans who embrace supportive faith teachings about family planning, and all who seek to exercise religious liberty and freedom of conscience in their personal lives.
“Our various faith heritages bring us to teach that the Divine Presence enters and blesses all our relationships, separate and apart from our becoming parents. We affirm that God graces each of us with a conscience that includes the capacity to set the course of our lives and families. All this speaks to why, from the earliest days of the family planning movement in the United States, clergy from a wide spectrum of faiths have embraced family planning as a moral good.
“Too many families today are facing financial challenges and crises. Every individual should have the religious freedom and freedom of conscience to choose and consistently use the contraception that works best for them.”
Background on the Planned Parenthood Federation of America Clergy Advocacy Board:
Building on the long history of faith leaders taking an active role in reproductive health care, the Clergy Advocacy Board has been working with Planned Parenthood at the national and state levels to further the goal of full reproductive rights and freedom for all women and men for more than two decades. Its members, who are dedicated clergy and faith leaders from different denominations and communities throughout the U.S., lead a national effort to increase public awareness of the theological and moral basis for advocating reproductive health.
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Planned Parenthood is one of the nation’s leading providers and advocates of high-quality, affordable health care for women, men, and young people, as well as the nation’s largest provider of sex education. With more than 600 health centers across the country, Planned Parenthood organizations serve all patients with care and compassion, with respect and without judgment. Through health centers, programs in schools and communities, and online resources, Planned Parenthood is a trusted source of reliable health information that allows people to make informed health decisions. We do all this because we care passionately about helping people lead healthier lives.