‘Overjoyed’ to ‘shock’: Faith-based advocates on both sides of abortion issue react to Supreme Court decision, vow to continue work
Sophie CarsonIn a landmark ruling Friday, the Supreme Court effectively overturned Roe v. Wade, which established the right to an abortion.
In Wisconsin, an 1849 law prohibiting abortion in the state except when necessary to save the life of the mother has taken effect.
The Journal Sentinel spoke to four faith-based advocates about their reaction to the decision, and how it will affect their work on abortion.
From a rabbi who has advocated for decades on abortion rights to a Lutheran pastor who oversees pregnancy resource centers, there's one common denominator: a commitment to continue their work undaunted.
More:Overwhelmed and uncertain, Milwaukee abortion clinic providers prepare for a post-Roe world
Rabbi Bonnie Margulis: 'We're back at square one'
Margulis is the chair of the Wisconsin Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. For nearly three decades she has worked to organize faith leaders around abortion rights issues.
The coalition works to "counter the narrative that if you are a person of faith, you are by definition anti-choice," Margulis said. It also provides clergy with tools to advocate on the issue.
Margulis on Friday said she was horrified and shocked at the decision.
“People are going to die. It’s a dark, dark, dark day for our country,” she said. “It’s a travesty.”
Margulis and the others on the coalition have been discussing how to revive a version of the Clergy Consultation Service on Abortion, a 1960s-era underground network of clergy that referred women to abortion providers they considered safe.
With abortion set to be outlawed in Wisconsin under nearly all circumstances, the coalition is researching how they could help fund out-of-state travel costs for Wisconsinites seeking abortions.
Between the costs for transportation, a hotel, the abortion itself and even lost wages and child care, traveling out of state for an abortion is "a huge undertaking," Margulis said.
For Margulis, who has dedicated much of her career to abortion rights advocacy in religious circles, the Supreme Court's decision means her work will continue with a renewed urgency.
"We're back at square one," she said. "It's going to be an uphill battle. But we're ready for it. We're going to do it, because we don't have any choice."
The decision has implications for Margulis' Jewish faith too. Her faith teaches that life begins at birth, she said.
"It interferes with my religious freedom for the government to tell me that life begins at conception. That's not what my faith teaches. And that's not something that the government should be deciding or telling me," she said.
The Rev. Cindy Crane: Overwhelming, 'life-threatening' effects
Crane is the director of the Lutheran Office for Public Policy in Wisconsin. The office is the advocacy arm of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, or ELCA, in the state.
The church teaches that abortion and contraception must be legally accessible.
"We have a kind of paradoxical stance. On one hand, we support life at all stages. And we also support reproductive rights. And we live with that creative tension," Crane said.
On Friday, she said it was shocking “that they would upend a decision that benefited women's health and benefited our human rights for so many years.”
Crane also said the church would advocate for abortion rights on a state and federal level.
The Wisconsin policy office doesn't typically advocate on abortion, instead choosing a handful of other social issues to focus its efforts on. But Wisconsin's six ELCA bishops and Crane found it necessary to speak out after the draft Supreme Court decision was leaked in early May.
They said the decision would have "overwhelming" and "in some cases life-threatening" effects. And they denounced violence against both anti-abortion organizations and people seeking abortions.
The bishops and Crane said they "firmly rebuke" the arson and vandalism at the Madison offices of anti-abortion lobbying group Wisconsin Family Action last month.
"We have disagreements, but we cannot allow them to explode into acts of violence against one another," they said in a statement.
Crane is especially concerned about how outlawing abortion in Wisconsin will affect those in poverty and people of color.
"What it means is that those who are people of means can afford to travel, can afford to pay for an abortion elsewhere," Crane said. "And those who are probably in most need will fall through the cracks."
Crane believes there should be more financial support for people seeking abortions, and that the church should prepare its pastors to care for people suffering after the decision.
The Rev. Robert Fleischmann: Time to 'come up with ways to help single mothers'
Fleischmann is the national director of Christian Life Resources, an agency affiliated with the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, or WELS.
The church, which is headquartered in Waukesha, is opposed to abortion.
“We’re happy for the lives that would be saved, but I think it’s time for the Christian and the pro-life community to step to the plate now and demonstrate love and concern for both the mother and the child,” Fleischmann said Friday.
Christian Life Resources operates pregnancy resource centers around the country, including four in Wisconsin, as well as a home for single mothers and their children in Milwaukee.
"If you make a decision not to terminate a pregnancy, what can we do to help you live with that decision?" Fleischmann characterizes the agency's approach.
Fleischmann has been trying to prepare the staff at the pregnancy centers for potential violence after the Supreme Court ruling, telling them to install security systems and surveillance cameras. One of the agency's centers in Michigan was recently vandalized.
"There's going to be a negative fallout, and I think it's going to be serious," he said. "But that doesn't change our resolve."
Fleishmann sees himself as inhabiting a kind of realistic middle-ground that isn't represented by many of the most prominent advocates on abortion.
The change in law won't change the number of people who want an abortion, he said. It'll just change whether they can access one.
"There's going to be a lot of women who are going to want to have abortions, who can't find it, who are going to be frustrated, who will be angry. Many will be deeply saddened. Many will get desperate," he said.
He's concerned that women will pursue unsafe methods of abortion.
"If I don't want the unborn child to die, I don't want the mother to die either," he said.
In the wake of the decision, Fleischmann expects "extreme reactions" from those on both sides of the issue. He also knows that not everyone will agree with the WELS stance on abortion.
But he hopes that people do find common ground over the importance of helping women in places where abortion is restricted.
"We should be pulling together our resources, working across the aisle, to try to come up with ways to help single mothers," Fleischmann said.
Mary McClusky: 'Overjoyed,' but work continues
McClusky is the assistant director of Project Rachel ministry development for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Project Rachel, a Catholic ministry for people struggling after abortions, was started in Milwaukee in 1984. It now operates in dioceses across the country. The Catholic Church opposes abortion.
The ministry trains priests, mental health and medical professionals to work with those affected by abortions. It also provides services such as pastoral counseling, support groups, retreats and referrals to licensed mental health professionals.
Those working with Project Rachel strive to listen to people without judgment, McClusky said.
"Most of us do this work because we feel great compassion in our hearts for women and men who suffer in this way," she said.
Often, much of the loudest anti-abortion voices are focused on impersonal questions of policy and theory, McClusky said.
In helping people process their personal experiences of abortion, Project Rachel fills a gap in the movement, she said.
According to McClusky, staff often hear from older women who got abortions before it was legal and have kept silent for decades.
On both sides, "the harsh rhetoric often seems to be very much about, 'how can I convince others that I am right,'" McClusky said.
"But instead, I think we need more of — how can we recognize the mother and the loss of her child that she grieves, and to give her a place so that she can be listened to?"
McClusky is "overjoyed" that the Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade, but she said Project Rachel's work will continue to be necessary.
"Now, those who are suffering from that grief and trauma about abortion, losing that child, now my hope is that they will see that the law of this country is recognizing the humanity of the child,” she said Friday.
She is concerned that with abortion in the news and the public spotlight, some could struggle with memories of their own abortions.
"But even sometimes the painful reminders can be sometimes the reason why somebody reaches out for help," McClusky said.
Contact Sophie Carson at (414) 223-5512 or scarson@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @SCarson_News.
