Unitarian Universalists have been very clear in their stance on this issue as a moral one for women’s autonomy. Our principles and values hold that the decision to carry a pregnancy to full term should be made by a woman with her own health and best interests in mind, and should not be dictated by others. This position has been affirmed overwhelmingly at our General Assembly.
Listening to the outpouring of public opinion about this topic in the past few days, I am dismayed by the anti-abortion viewpoint. If people don’t want women to get an abortion, they should be pouring more energy into supporting pregnancy care and childcare. I’m not outraged that some women choose to end a pregnancy in their own bodies. I’m outraged that Black women in Michigan are 4.5 times more likely to suffer pregnancy-related deaths than white women. (This was reported by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services in 2018.) On Mother’s Day, that’s the kind of thing that we should be protesting about, and the kind of thing that policy makers should be addressing.
PRAYER:
Goddess of Mothers everywhere, Goddess of women and men and trans people and children, hear my prayer.
May pregnant women be affirmed in their full humanity. May those who carry these pregnancies be blessed, and may those who choose to end these pregnancies be blessed. May each woman make this sacred choice with her full mind and spirit, and may all those who love her support her in her choice.
Blessed be.
Rev. Andrew Frantz
May 5, 2022