An Episcopal Response to address Women’s Health

Our Presiding Bishop, Michael Curry, gave this statement, from which we are  basing our plans to help address the institutionalization of inequality: 

"We as a church have tried carefully to be responsive both to the moral value of  women having the right to determine their healthcare choices as well as the moral  value of all life. Today’s decision institutionalizes inequality because women with  access to resources will be able to exercise their moral judgment in ways that  women without the same resources will not. 

This is a pivotal day for our nation, and I acknowledge the pain, fear, and hurt that  so many feel right now. As a church, we stand with those who will feel the effects  of this decision—and in the weeks, months, and years to come.” 

The Episcopal Church maintains that access to equitable health care, including  reproductive health care and reproductive procedures, is “an integral part of a  woman’s struggle to assert her dignity and worth as a human being” (2018-D032).  The church holds that “reproductive health procedures should be treated as all  other medical procedures, and not singled out or omitted by or because of  gender” (2018-D032). The Episcopal Church sustains its “unequivocal opposition  to any legislation on the part of the national or state governments which would  abridge or deny the right of individuals to reach informed decisions [about the  termination of pregnancy] and to act upon them” (2018-D032). As stated in the  1994 Act of Convention, the church also opposes any “executive or judicial action  to abridge the right of a woman to reach an informed decision…or that would  limit the access of a woman to safe means of acting on her decision” (1994-A054).