The New York Times has published a glowing article in praise of Christian and Jewish ministers who conduct “blessings” of abortion clinics in America.
A Baptist minister, a Presbyterian pastor, and a Jewish cantor walked quietly through an abortion clinic where they “blessed the exam tables and their stirrups, the boxes of disposable gowns and the cushioned chairs in the recovery room,” the Times notes approvingly in Friday’s article.
“Through a ritual blessing of the year-old clinic,” the piece states, the faith leaders “wanted to show that religion could be a source of support for abortion rights.”
“You all are blessings to those who come to you for care during some of their most vulnerable and sometimes painful moments,” said the Rev. Katey Zeh, an ordained Baptist minister, to staff members gathered in the clinic’s waiting room.
The story failed to mention whether the three also blessed the scissors inserted into the base of the baby’s skull, the saline solution that scalds the child’s flesh, the suction machine used to aspirate the chopped-up body parts, or the forceps used to grab at the baby’s limbs to rip them out, one by one.
During the blessing of the new clinic, 27-year-old Ramsie Monk “wept as one of her colleagues described her grief over the end of legal abortion in West Virginia,” the article states.
“Being in abortion care, you have a target on your back for so many reasons,” Monk said, adding that she stopped going to church because she felt hostility from other members when they learned about her job at the abortion clinic.
Rev. Jim Lewis, an Episcopalian priest, said he believes his faith requires him to work with “people who are outcast,” including women who are shamed for having abortions.
“We had a serious repression of the real gospel message that looks after people who are being beaten up,” he said of the stigma surrounding abortion.
While uncommon, the blessing of abortion clinics has been going on for years. In 2017, more than 20 religious leaders of different faiths assembled to bless the opening of Planned Parenthood’s massive new abortion clinic in Washington, DC, praising its “sacred work.”
“In almost every message to our staff, I talk about our doing sacred work,” said Dr. Laura Meyers, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington. “This confirms the sacredness of the work we do.”
The event was organized by the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, and included “leaders from different Christian denominations, a rabbi, abortion providers, a Planned Parenthood patient, Hindu priests, an Imam over Skype, visual art, and a liturgical dance.”
A number of Christians participated, offering “progressive voices” to counter the orthodox Christian understanding of abortion as the sin of murder.
“I’ve been a Christian longer than I’ve been an abortion provider,” said celebrated pro-choice activist Willie Parker. “Women have been made to think that this is some evil place, where God is not.”
Parker denounced those who would criticize women for making “sacred decisions,” referring to the choice to abort their children.
“Our answer to the curse is to bless,” he said.
“The conservative voices are big,” said Rev. Dr. Christine Wiley of Baptist United Church of Christ. “It drowns out the progressive voices, but it’s not that progressive voices aren’t there.”
Dr. Serina Floyd, the medical director at Planned Parenthood, said that “patients express shame, guilt, or fear about how God will perceive them.” Underscoring the importance of a change in perception, Floyd said: “Now I can tell patients that this is a blessed space.”
Floyd says she looks forward to telling patients that “those of faith also support your decisions.”
Rev. Christine Wiley, an African American, tied her support for Planned Parenthood to the historic struggle of blacks in the U.S. “African Americans have been used to a sense of adversity and oppression, so this is just another thing,” she said. “We’ve been in worse places than this.”
At the blessing ceremony, the group sang “This Little Light of Mine,” a hymn taken from Christ’s words to his disciples, “You are the light of the world” and his call to them to provide light to those around them.
They did not, however, sing another hymn inspired by Christ’s words: “Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers, that you do unto me.”
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