Christian & Pro-choice?

On Thursday, Feb 10, the "pro-life" group Youth Protecting Youth (YPY) wants to revoke our student society's support for women's reproductive choice.

The policy states that the UVSS supports women's reproductive freedom to abortion, and that it opposes new laws restricting abortion in Canada.

While YPY claims this is a violation of their conscience, we want our student society to support choice because it is an issue of gender justice. Being pro-choice is not necessarily pro-abortion; it just means women should be allowed to choose, free from coercion.

We have potlucks every week, we go to protests and workshops together, we lead Bible studies, and we have an email listserve. Check out our home page or contact us for more information.

No. We don't know anyone who believes abortion is a wonderful, fun thing. And we don't all even agree on the issue and ethics of abortion itself. What we do have consensus on as a group is this: regardless of what we personally believe about abortion, we have no right to impose that belief on others.

Reproductive freedom is an issue of gender justice, and so we are pro-choice. In other words, women should be free to choose.

This is an incredibly complex question, and we certainly don't have consensus or any answers.

We do believe that all life is sacred, and we oppose its wanton destruction (for instance, we oppose the destruction of old-growth rainforest, and imperialist war).

However, banning abortion (as it used to be) creates incredibly hazardous conditions for women. The fact is, women have always had abortions, and will have them whether they are legal or not. This is an issue of oppression. It's also an issue of basic health and safety, since illegal abortions kill women.

The question is whether you believe women have the moral agency to make a difficult decision about what is in their wombs. The alternative is that the State or religion can once again coerce women into subservience.

Even if you want to protect a fetus, you can still be pro-choice. Just don't have an abortion.

We are absolutely not against Catholics or any faith tradition for that matter. In fact, some of our most active members are Catholic students, and our two national coordinators are both Catholic.

SCM is ecumenical - that means Christian, but not just one denomination or church. So we've got evangelicals (ie. Pentecostal and Baptist), Catholic, Quakers and mainline protestants as members.

The fact is, not everyone agrees with every single policy of their religious institution. (Just as not every SCMer will agree on abortion).

As a radical Christian movement, we believe the message of the Gospels is against oppression, not against sexuality or women's rights. We may exist on the margins of the church, but we're still Christian.

In fact, we have used stories and examples from the scriptures to explain our position. While we probably couldn't win an argument with a Biblical fundamentalist, we still draw inspiration from scriptural teachings.

The following is an excerpt from an SCM pamphlet (Stop Homophobia in the Churches):

The texts of the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament represent an important part of many religious traditions. But it is far from being simply a book on "right" moral conduct.

The Bible is a library of books written at different times in history and in very different contexts. As such, it is used by many as a source of wisdom, inspiration, liberation and hope in the face of hopelessness.

The texts of the Bible have always been interpreted in various ways. Interpretation is the soul of the Biblical tradition; it is its inner life.

Unfortunately, the Bible has been misused and abused by some who claim to have the definitive interpretation. It has been used to justify witch-burnings, homophobia, slavery, the Crusades and residential schools.

When the Bible becomes a tool to demonize and persecute people, Jesus' prophetic teachings on the Reign of God (liberation) is lost.