Category: Reproductive Justice

Celebrating Our Members

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As we kick off this new year at Faith in Women, we first want to take this opportunity to celebrate the amazing contributions of our supporters in 2017.  In December we asked you to participate in a year-end engagement survey to let us know about the work you have done in your communities to advance and advocate for reproductive health and rights in Mississippi–and we were blown away by what we learned from the responses!

Supporter Activities

Over the past year, our supporters have engaged in all kinds of activities, including:

  • Supporting the sexuality education work of Teen Health Mississippi that improves the lives of teens and young adults  
  • Contacting state and federal representatives about issues that impact marginalized communities, including immigration, police violence, Medicaid expansion, and the Affordable Care Act (ACA)
  • Championing pro-choice women running for elected office  
  • Attending lobby visits coordinated by Planned Parenthood Southeast
  • Conducting and presenting research on advocacy to academic conferences

We are amazed at the breadth and depth of the work you all do on a daily basis to make Mississippi a more just, compassionate place for women and girls.

Partnerships with Organizations 

At Faith in Women we know that working across justice movements is critical for long-term, sustainable social change, so were pleased to learn from all of you about how you support many other like-minded organizations through financial giving and volunteering, including:

About Our Members 

Our survey was helpful in learning more about the individuals who participate in our programs. Here are a few key pieces of data that we thought were most important to share:

  • Nearly all (88%) of our supporters identify with a particular faith tradition or spiritual practice
  • 56% of our membership participates regularly, either as leader or attendee, in a particular faith community
  • 31% of respondents identify as spiritual or religious but do not affiliate with a specific faith community at this time

Why is this important? Because it reinforces what we know to be true–that people of faith, even in Mississippi, want to see a more just world for women and girls. And while the majority of our members identify as people of faith or faith leaders (we are called Faith in Women, after all), we also have some members who do not personally belong to a faith tradition but still support the work we do to create spaces that allow for nuanced conversations and advocacy regarding faith and reproductive health, rights, and justice.

Responding to the Survey

One thing we heard loud and clear–you all want more! More opportunities to connect with each other locally, more in-person events to learn about issues, and more web-based activities to join. We’ll do our best to make this happen!

As we finish our planning for 2018, we will be prioritizing the program and education areas that our members most requested of us in the coming year:

  • Abortion in Mississippi
  • Reproductive Healthcare
  • Prevention of gender-based violence
  • Women’s economic security
  • Networking opportunities

Thanks to all of our members for a justice-focused year. We can’t wait to see what we accomplish together in 2018!

Faith in Women Presents

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An Evening with Dr. Willie Parker

 

Later this month Faith in Women will host Christian reproductive justice advocate Dr. Willie Parker for an evening conversation entitled “Called to Courage: Because of My Faith, Not in Spite of It” in Jackson, Mississippi.

Dr. Parker, an obstetrician/gynecologist who provides abortion care in some of the most underserved areas in the South including Mississippi, published his first book Life’s Work: A Moral Argument for Choice, part-autobiographical and part-theological, in which he carefully and thoughtfully weaves together his moral grounding as a medical provider and a Christian helping women in need of his care during their reproductive journeys. You can read an excerpt of his book here.

“I learned a black-and-white faith, but I am not a black-and-white person.” 
–Dr. Willie Parker, Life’s Work

 

Event Details

Our time with Dr. Parker will build on conversations that Faith in Women hosted over the summer during our first ever virtual book club in which faith leaders and people of faith across the state of Mississippi read Life’s Work together and explored their own moral questions related to reproductive justice in community with one another. One of the book club participants commented:

“It was really helpful to hear other people’s perspectives, especially since I am very new to learning about Christian perspectives in favor of reproductive health and abortion care. It’s such a controversial topic that I don’t always feel comfortable bringing it up with other Christians but knowing that this group consisted of people who opted in to reading and discussing the topic made it a safe place to voice questions.”

Interviewing Dr. Parker is Katey Zeh, a strategist, writer, and educator who works with nonprofits and faith communities on organizing for social change. She holds a Masters of Divinity from Yale University and is the author of the forthcoming book Women Rise Up, which will be published by the FAR Press in March of 2018. 

Zeh and Parker are friends and colleagues in their work on the board of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. Expect their conversation to be rooted in faith, justice, and a shared understanding of the sacred worth of women.

Registration Information

This event will be by invitation-only. If you would like to request admission, please contact a member of our staff.  Pre-registration is required for all attendees.

 

 

August Partner Highlight: Moore Community House

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Moore Community House

Our summer blog series features some of our partner organizations working in the reproductive health, rights, and justice movement. This month we highlight Moore Community House. 

Moore Community House, a mission agency of United Methodist Women, served as the first organizational “home” for Faith in Women back in early 2015. Read on to learn more about how Moore Community House is transforming our state through building stronger communities for women and their families. 

Mission

Moore Community House (MCH) strives for flourishing Mississippi communities through their work to create economic security for women by providing affordable child care and job training. 

Brief History and Programs

Since 1924 MCH has been working to better the lives of families living on Mississippi’s coast. Located in East Biloxi, the organization has its roots in serving the children who worked–or whose parents worked–in the seafood factories at a time when there were no labor laws to protect workers or to prevent child labor abuses.

Today MCH has two major programs:

Early Head Start allows low-income parents to return to work while their children receive high-quality early child education from infancy through preschool. Their program covers a wide-variety of services including nutrition, counseling, school readiness, and employment. Early Head Start also works with pregnant women to make sure they stay healthy throughout their pregnancy, birth, and delivery. 

Women in Construction (WinC) provides career training for women in trade skills that will help them earn living wages.  Since 2008 more than 400 women have completed the pre-apprenticeship program, and just recently MCH received a $3.5 million federal grant to expand this initiative significantly over the next four years!

Supporting Faith in Women

Faith in Women owes its start to Carol Burnett, Director of Moore Community House. Seeing a need for progressive women-centered advocacy within the Mississippi faith community, Carol developed the idea to build a grassroots network of faith leaders and people of faith working in support of Mississippi women and their reproductive health. The idea quickly took root under the leadership of Ashley Peterson, becoming the Faith in Women network that we know today and operating under its own 501(c)3. Carol now serves as our Board President, guiding the vision of Faith in Women alongside WinC Program Director Julie Kuklinski and WinC Instructor Simone Agee.

Opportunities to Connect

There are a number of ways you can get involved with the work of the Moore Community House. Visit their website to make a donation, read up on recent news, or follow them on Facebook. To learn more about the Women in Construction program, you can follow their blog.

June Partner Highlight: RCRC

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Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice

This summer we will be featuring a number of our partner organizations working in the reproductive health, rights, and justice movement. The first organization in our partnership series is the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC).

Brief History of RCRC

RCRC has its roots in the Clergy Consultation Service, which was a network of mostly Protestant ministers and Jewish rabbis that helped connect women with affordable, compassionate abortion services in the years prior to the Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade when the procedure was illegal. In 1973 members of these clergy networks formed a coalition, then called the Religious Coalition for Abortion Rights (RCAR), to ensure that access to abortion remained available to all women who needed it.

Mission

Today the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (renamed in 1994) is “a broad-based, national, interfaith movement that brings the moral force of religion to protect and advance reproductive health, choice, rights and justice through education, prophetic witness, pastoral presence and advocacy.” RCRC’s programmatic work includes engaging scholars in creating new theological frameworks, organizing and mobilizing in southern states, and training faith leaders to provide pastoral care to those struggling with complex reproductive decisions.

Connection with Faith in Women

In 2015, Faith in Women members participated in the RCRC’s Pastoral Care Training for Reproductive Decision-Making and Loss, a valuable opportunity for helping faith leaders and spiritual caregivers understand the complexities of reproduction and everything that encompasses. RCRC staff spent a full day with half a dozen Mississippi clergywomen and clergymen from small towns and larger cities across the state, on how to serve as a compassionate presence for the women and families in their communities as they discern their reproductive destinies and grieve reproductive losses of all kinds.

The experience was a rare safe space to explore difficult topics like infertility, stillbirth, unplanned or traumatic pregnancy, abortion, and adoption from a religious framework that offers compassion, love, and judgment-free support for women. By the end of the training, the pastors reported feeling stronger and more comfortable in their roles as caregivers for women making reproductive decisions. Faith in Women continues to be an ally of RCRC as we work together to increase the participation of people of faith in the movement for reproductive health, rights, and justice.

Photo Credit: Helen Parshall
Opportunities to Connect

Next month RCRC will be launching a web-based series called “Sacred Crossroads” hosted by Rev. Dr. Cari Jackson and Rev. Aaron Payson. These 30-minute videos will feature thoughtful and accessible conversations with clergy, practitioners, and scholars on a range of reproductive health, rights, and justice issues. The series will kick off with discussions around grief and reproductive loss. To be notified when the series launches, please follow RCRC on Facebook and Twitter (@rcrchoice). You can also sign up for their newsletter at rcrc.org.

May Resource Review: Books We’re Reading

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This month we are excited to pilot our first ever Faith in Women virtual book club! Some of our fantastic Mississippi-based faith leaders and activists are currently reading Life’s Work by Dr. Willie Parker. Together we’ll be engaging in some dynamic group discussions via video conference this week. To celebrate our latest endeavor, this month we’re highlighting five of our favorite faith + justice books for activists, clergy, and parents. (Don’t have time to pick one of these up? Not to worry! Check out our other posts on podcasts and documentaries we recommend.)

 

Sex + Faith: Talking with Your Child from Birth to Adolescence by Dr. Kate Ott

Does talking about sex with your children make you squeamish? It doesn’t have to! Written for parents and caregivers this book discusses how to talk about sexuality with kids at every stage of development. Readers will gain tools for incorporating faith values in their ongoing dialogue about sexuality in a way that is inclusive and supportive of sexual differences.

 

Reproductive Justice: An Introduction by Loretta J. Ross and Rickie Solinger

Have you heard the phrase “reproductive justice” but you’re not exactly sure what it means? This book serves as a primer for anyone wanting to gain a better understanding of the intersectional approach of reproductive justice. Written for scholars, activists, and everyone in between, Reproductive Justice covers the history of the term,  examples from the field, and strategies for taking action today.

 

Good Christian Sex by Bromleigh McCleneghan

If you’re looking for an exploration of sexuality from a Christian perspective that doesn’t hinge on extremes, consider picking up a copy of McCleneghan’s Good Christian Sex: Why Chastity Isn’t the Only Option–And Other Things the Bible Says About Sex. Pulling from the insight of theologians and practitioners, this book is a refreshing change of pace from other takes on the bible and sex. Her nuanced, thoughtful perspective will engage both your head and your heart.

 

The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander

The United States currently incarcerates over 2 million of our citizens in public and private prisons. Why do we imprison so many people–and why are so many of those incarcerated people of color? Alexander traces the legacy of segregation laws that shapes today’s legislation and feeds into our system of mass incarceration. Both a much-needed history lesson and a call for justice, this book dispels the cultural myth of “colorblindness” once and for all. 

 

Life’s Work: A Moral Argument for Choice by Willie Parker [Faith in Women Book Club Pick!]
When Dr. Willie Parker trained as an obstetrician and gynecologist, he never intended to become an abortion provider, but over time he realized that his Christian faith called him to help women in need of this particular form of medical care. Part memoir and part theological reflection,  Parker weaves together his faith, study of scripture, scientific training, and experience as an African American living in the South to make a moral argument for supporting women’s access to abortion.

Is there a book you’d like for us to feature in a future Faith in Women book club discussion? Would you like our help in starting a book club of your own featuring one of these books? Please send us an email. We’d love to hear from you!