Religious divides to fore on court ruling
Praise and lament for the overturning of abortion rights filled sacred spaces as clergy across the United States rearranged worship plans or rewrote sermons to provide their religious context – and competing messages.
Some Americans are sad or angry in the wake of the Supreme Court’s seismic decision. Others are grateful and elated.
At St Paul Cathedral in Pittsburgh, the Very Reverend Kris Stubna discarded his planned homily and focused on the decision, calling it ‘‘a day of great joy and blessing’’. He said the overturning of the 50-yearold Roe-versus-Wade ruling was the result of prayers and efforts of many. ‘‘This law violated the very law of God, that every life is sacred,’’ he said. ‘‘A person cannot support abortion and still be a faithful member of the church.’’
Stubna’s comments would be considered divisive by some since US Catholics disagree on abortion. Supporters include high-profile members like President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi who face communion restrictions as a result.
‘‘SCOTUS just dealt a terrible blow to women, to girls, to all childbearing people, to freedom,’’ said Rev Jacqui Lewis, senior minister at Middle Collegiate Church, a multicultural Protestant congregation in Manhattan. She mourned the overturning of Roe, expressing deep emotions during a service, saying: ‘‘It took safe legal abortions off the table, opening the door for states to rush in and crush reproductive justice. We are reeling.’’
Most adults from Buddhist, Hindu, historically Black Protestant, Jewish, mainline Protestant, Muslim and Orthodox Christian faiths support legal abortion in all or most cases, according to a Pew Research Centre study. Catholics are split on the issue while most evangelical Protestants, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons want it to be illegal.
Rev Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, views the ruling as a moral and spiritual victory. He told his California congregation at New Season that now is the time for an unprecedented adoption movement.
‘‘We’re gonna adopt babies, but we’re gonna adopt moms . . . who have abortions because they can’t afford to have a baby,’’ he said.
At the Episcopal Church of Our Saviour in Secaucus, New Jersey, Rev Fletcher Harper said: ‘‘Outlawing abortion is a sinful act that perpetuates male domination and the subjugation of women. It extends the coercive power of the state into a place where it should have no business.’’
‘‘Outlawing abortion is a sinful act.’’
Rev Fletcher Harper
Pride parades kicked off across the United States yesterday with glittering confetti, cheering crowds, fluttering rainbow flags and newfound fears about losing freedoms won through decades of activism.
The annual marches in New York, San Francisco, Chicago and elsewhere took place just two days after one conservative justice on the Supreme Court signalled, in a ruling on abortion, that the court should reconsider the right to same-sex marriage recognised in 2015.
‘‘We’re here to make a statement,’’ said 31-year-old Mercedes Sharpe, who travelled to Manhattan from Massachusetts. ‘‘I think it’s about making a point, rather than all the other years like how we normally celebrate it. This one’s really gonna stand out.’’
In Chicago, the city’s first Black woman and openly gay mayor, Lori Lightfoot, called the top court ruling a ‘‘momentary setback’’ and said yesterday events were ‘‘an opportunity for us to not only celebrate Pride, but be resolved for the fight. We will not live in a world, not in my city, where our rights are taken from us or rolled back.’’
In San Francisco, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who rode in a convertible holding a gavel and a rainbow fan, said the large turnout was an acknowledgement that Americans support gay rights. ‘‘Even in spite of the majority on the court that’s anti our Constitution, our country knows and loves our LGBTQI+ community,’’ she said.
As anti-gay sentiments resurface, some are pushing for the parades to return to their roots – less blockslong street parties, and more overtly civil rights marches.