Catholic Leaders Urge Continued Funding for Planned Parenthood
As a matter of faith, conscience, equality, and dignity, we, the members of Women-Church Convergence (W-CC) rebuke and condemn efforts to curtail access to critical healthcare with the current move to defund Planned Parenthood. As a Catholic-rooted, feminist coalition committed to social justice, we stand in solidarity with the millions of Catholic women—in the U.S. and around the globe--who use and need the services and care provided by Planned Parenthood for their cancer screenings, access to contraception, and other critical health care.
The core of the Catholic faith prizes justice and fairness for all of creation. It is therefore not an option to ignore the rights and voices of women. Women deserve safe and accessible healthcare. Our faith teaches us that healthcare should not simply be the providence of those with means; nor should healthcare be dependent on the whims of a market. Rather, healthcare is a human right and reproductive healthcare is integral to healthcare. Cutting off federal funds from Planned Parenthood for health care reduces the ability of individual women to access needed health care. It perpetuates racial injustice and gender-based violence by disproportionately targeting women of color and restricting access to reproductive freedom. Women’s health is both domestically and globally undervalued and underfunded, and these efforts to defund Planned Parenthood—following the reinstatement of the Global Gag Rule and its disastrous consequences—would further prove that women’s lives are not valued by this administration and our elected representatives in Congress.
As individuals endowed with the will, grace and power of our creator, women deserve equal protections and rights; our voices must be valued and our lives must be held sacred. Planned Parenthood and similar health clinics are at the forefront of preserving our rights and health. No one, politician or bishop or otherwise, should be allowed to usurp a woman’s ability to properly follow the commands of her conscience or deny her autonomy by restricting access to healthcare. We demand that Congress listen to the majority of U.S. Catholic voters that support women’s access to responsive and appropriate health services provided by Planned Parenthood. Congress must respect women and reject all efforts to defund Planned Parenthood and similar health clinics.
Women-Church Convergence urges everyone to contact their Congressional representatives and express their support for the vital work of Planned Parenthood. Urge your Senators and Representative to maintain funding for the important healthcare services provided by these clinics.
The lives of women lie in the balance.
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Contact:
8th Day Center for Justice
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A Critical Mass: Women Celebrating Eucharistc
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DignityUSA
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Catholics for Choice
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Catholics for Choice Canada
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Chicago Women-Church
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Loretto Women's Network
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Louisville Women-Church
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National Coalition of American Nuns
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Roman Catholic Womenpriests
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SEPAWOC
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Sisters Against Sexism
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Women's Alliance for Theology, Ethics, and Ritual (WATER)
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Women-Church of the Wabash Valley
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Women's Ordination Conference
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Women-Church Convergence (W-CC) is a coalition of autonomous Catholic-rooted groups working to build just social and ecclesial structures with shared power for everyone, especially women and those whom church and society marginalize. Women-Church Convergence amplifies diverse feminist, faith-filled voices. We create spaces in which all can live out their vision of full inclusion in church and society. Our commitment to feminist ministries and our social justice values lead us to act boldly in the world for the benefit of all.