Hey, Kansas. You and I don’t know each other very well. I moved here only five months before the pandemic took over our lives, and we didn’t have a chance to get acquainted. Although it has been almost nine years since I last posted on this blog and the biographical facts need updating, I invite you to scroll through. It’s still a good introductory representation of me—a queer, Black, Christian, woman engaged in professional ministry. I plan to be here for a while, so we will have plenty of time to go deeper.
As a newly-arrived pastor in a new town, I was advised by several colleagues to give myself time to settle in, before deciding where to get involved. There is plenty of opportunity here and only so many hours in a day. Sometimes, the calling comes right through the door, presents itself, and cannot be ignored. That happened to me last week.
On Friday, the Kansas House voted 86 to 38 in favor of HCR 5003:
A PROPOSITION to amend the bill of rights of the constitution of the state of Kansas by adding a new section thereto stating that there is no constitutional right to abortion, and reserving to the people the ability to regulate abortion through the elected members of the legislature of the state of Kansas.
Kansas, you and I need to talk. This is not the right move for us. I do mean “us”, because for all my newness, I am here now and I am a part of you.
I am neither a medical nor legal expert. My area is people. I have sat with people while they wrestled with whether or not to have an abortion. I have journeyed with people as they lived with whichever choice they made. The continuous legal wrangling has no impact on their decision; they ultimately choose what is best for them in their current circumstances. The ongoing debate, however, does add mental and spiritual anguish. We, “the people”, need to treat each other better than that.
Perhaps we start by admitting that there is more at stake here than the regulation of a medical procedure. “If we lived in a culture that valued women’s autonomy and in which men and women practiced cooperative birth control, the abortion issue would be moot.”1 So, let’s talk about autonomy.
Kansas Christians, I am talking directly to you now, especially those of you who consider yourselves progressive and social justice minded. A person’s bodily autonomy, no matter their sex or gender identity, is sacrosanct. I am reminded of the gospel story about the woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years (Mark 5:25-34). She had spent everything in pursuit of healing and was only getting worse. Then she heard about Jesus. She went and found him. She said to herself, “If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.” She did and she was. Jesus noticed, and they had a conversation. She told him her story—everything that had led up to that moment; how she had done what she needed to do to care for herself, to take care of her body. And Jesus blessed her for it.
How can we be a blessing to those whose bodies are deemed in need of regulation? I call on my siblings in Christ to have this conversation, in your own spaces and with other religious communities. Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg wrote a piece titled “The right-wing Christian movement shouldn’t control the abortion narrative”. Progressives and liberals need to speak, type, and write ourselves into the story. Otherwise, our silence will speak for us.
We are called to care for one another. That care includes advocating for one another’s rights over our own bodies. Let us educate ourselves on the available resources, such as those provided by Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, and make ourselves known as supporters and allies. Let us prepare ourselves. Assuming the measure does get onto the ballot, we have a good year and a half of work ahead of us. So, let’s get ready.
[1] Christiane Northrup, M.D., Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom (New York: Bantam Books, 1998), 383.
Image by Bruno /Germany from Pixabay
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