wfn.org | Lawson for Reproductive Choice

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS" by SUSAN PEEK on Aug. 11, 1991 at 13:58 Eastern,
about FULL TEXT RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (3455 notes).

Note 3455 by UMNS on Feb. 26, 1997 at 16:02 Eastern (5580 characters).

SEARCH:   Lawson, choice, abortion, freedom, United Methodist

Produced by United Methodist News Service, official news agency of
the United Methodist Church, with offices in Nashville, Tenn., New
York, and Washington.

Contact:  Joretta Purdue                101(10-21-31-32-71B){3455}
          Washington, D.C.  (202) 546-8722           Feb. 26, 1997

NOTE TO EDITORS: A photo of Lawson is available upon request.

Civil rights leader advocates
human rights in reproductive choice

     WASHINGTON (UMNS) -- The Rev. James M. Lawson, a leader in
the 1950s and 1960s civil rights movement and minister of Holman
United Methodist Church in Los Angeles since 1974, lifted the
banner of reproductive choice here Feb. 25.
     "The nation has not yet decided that women are endowed with
certain unalienable rights -- endowed by their creator -- that
among these are life, liberty and pursuit of happiness," he said.
     Lawson, keynote speaker at a convocation of the Religious
Coalition for Reproductive Choice held in conjunction with the
Pro-Choice Public Education Project, accused the country of
continuing to oppress women. 
     Would men put up with a lack of choice if they bore the
children? Lawson answered his own question with a resounding "no!"
and said that while God gave the responsibilities for reproducing
life to women, some men can not deal with that.
     "God expects of us the pursuit of justice," Lawson declared.
He made clear that his understanding of justice includes
reproductive choice.
     He said ordinary people striving to make the country a better
place are the source of freedom in a land made up of colonies that
were founded with established churches that jailed, expelled or
executed people who differed.
     Lawson himself was jailed more than once. A pacifist and a
three-year missionary in India, he is credited with organizing the
desegregation of Nashville, Tenn., through civil disobedience and
teaching the passive technique to Freedom Riders.
     In his speech here, Lawson railed against current proponents
of a religious dogma "that demands that all the rest of us accept
the dogma whether we can stomach it or not."
     He said "an assault" on American minds and hearts, "funded by
big money," has worked for 30 years "so that abortion is on the
agenda rather than universal health care."
     So many of the people who would deny abortion are the same
people who do not want to care for children who are living, he
declared.
     "We should demand a public policy that ... provides a
guaranteed living wage for every family in the nation," Lawson
said. "Over half of the poor people in our society are people who
work."
     He urged a quality education for every child. Such an
education, he said, would include teaching about health and human
sexuality, calling it a good gift of God.
     Lawson's speech was the message in an interfaith worship
service that included blowing a ram's horn; prayers in Hebrew,
Spanish, Twi and English; liturgical dance; a dramatic
presentation; and a number of hymns.
     The convocation was the third in the Faithful Witness for
Choice campaign. The first two convocations were held at the 1996
Republican and Democratic conventions.
     Offering the prayer for women who are immigrants and seek
refuge was the Rev. Ignacio Castuera, minister of the North
Glendale [Calif.] United Methodist Church.
     Castuera, who spoke with press representatives earlier, was
born in Mexico, where choice was not possible, he said. Many there
risk and sometimes lose their lives having abortions, he
explained.
     "The best ethical decisions are made with full freedom," he
said. That freedom to make decisions is what he wants for all
women, now and in the future, including his three daughters, he
added.
     Castuera serves on the national clergy advisory board of
Planned Parenthood.
     Rabbi Shira Stern, spiritual leader of the Monroe Township
Jewish Center, Spotswood, N.J., said the Hebraic laws contained in
the Talmud put Jews under a religious obligation to have
abortions, including late-term abortions, under certain
circumstances.
     She expressed opposition to changes that would interfere with
freedom to exercise her religion.
     The Religious Coalition president, the Rev. Katherine Hancock
Ragsdale, an Episcopal priest, said people need to understand that
reproductive health and choice are in jeopardy.
     The majority of people in this country are pro-choice, she
said. They are doing their voting on other issues, because they do
not really understand that choice is at stake, she continued.
     "Where there is general apathy and cynicism about the
political process, the zealots rule the day," Castuera said,
adding "That's part of the reason we have the kind of Congress
that we have."
     Between their press conference and the evening convocation
Castuera and others rushed to the Senate Gallery in the Capitol to
witness the vote on a bill releasing money for foreign family
planning assistance. The money had been held up by anti-abortion
legislators although funding abortions overseas has been
prohibited by law for years.
     The bill passed the Senate by a roll call vote of 53-46.
President Clinton had certified in January that withholding the
money was increasing the demand for abortions. The bill passed the
House of Representatives Feb. 13 with a vote of 220-209.
     World population more than doubled between 1950 and 1990 and
is expected to continue growing.
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