Representatives from the Catholic, Methodist, LGTBQ and Jewish communities spoke about the importance of passing the measure
California – Today, interfaith leaders in support of Proposition 1 joined together to echo how important passing the measure is for the future of California. Prop 1, which will add the right to an abortion directly to the California State Constitution, has been endorsed by faith leaders and organizations across the state who want their congregations to understand the significance of this moment.
“It is no secret that the U.S. Catholic bishops have spent nearly fifty years and tens of millions of dollars bankrolling efforts to restrict abortion rights at the ballot box in states across the country,” said Shannon Russell, Director of Policy, Catholics for Choice. “But the bishops’ radical anti-choice views are wildly out-of-step with the majority of the people in their own pews: polls consistently show that a majority of U.S. Catholics support abortion access in all or most cases and opposed the overturning of Roe v. Wade.”
“Protecting the essential right for every person to make their own decisions about their own
bodies and the freedom to choose abortion care as health care is integral to our mission at the National Council of Jewish Women,” said Claire Lipschultz with the National Council of Jewish Women CA.
While existing law in California does provide protections for reproductive rights, a recent opinion from the United States Supreme Court puts those protections in jeopardy. Proposition 1 would enshrine the right to abortion care and the right to choose or refuse contraceptives into the California Constitution, protecting essential reproductive freedoms from political influence for generations to come.
“As a faith leader in my community, I have seen first hand the way stigma around reproductive rights and freedoms has caused serious harm to women and people across the nation and around the world,” said Rector Mike Kinman, All Saints Church in Pasadena. “At All Saints Church, we believe that abortion is healthcare and health care is a human right; and that is why we stand 100% behind Proposition 1.”
“Voting YES on Prop 1 shows the rest of the country that we will not stand for our rights being taken away,” said Yunuen Trujillo, Faith-Based Organizer and Founder of LGBT Catholics. “In California we protect reproductive rights and the right to privacy and we ensure that the most vulnerable among us continue to have access to essential reproductive health care that is safe and medically confidential.”
“This summer, the Supreme Court overturned decades of abortion protections and put millions of people in serious danger,” said Rabbi Ryan Bauer, Congregation Emanu-El. “While other states have gone further and criminalized abortion, California has the chance to enshrine reproductive freedoms by voting Yes on Prop 1. I urge voters to join me in supporting the measure.”
“I am here today standing in proud solidarity with this incredible group of faith leaders from across California to say: please vote YES on Proposition 1 to protect access to safe, legal abortion,” said Reverend Marcella Glass of Calvary Presbyterian Church. “As a pastor, I support access to reproductive health care and the fight for reproductive justice because of my faith – not in spite of it.”
For a full recording of the press conference, click here and use the passcode: %G@.Pn*8
