From praise to grief: How Christian denominations reacted to Supreme Court's abortion ruling
The Episcopal Church
Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, president of the House of Deputies for the Episcopal Church, both issued statements criticizing the ruling for reducing women's access to reproductive healthcare.
"While I, like many, anticipated this decision, I am deeply grieved by it," Curry wrote in his Friday statement. "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," he concluded.
In a separate statement, Jennings called the ruling "a blow to people of all faiths and none, who have cherished for nearly 50 years the hope of equal access to reproductive health care." She cited past General Convention resolutions that opposed state and federal legislation restricting women's reproductive rights.
Jennings called for Episcopalians to keep with the General Convention and support women "vulnerable to this act of Christian extremism" by peacefully protesting laws that "deny reproductive health care." She also called for "protecting clergy and lay leaders who will be caring for and counseling pregnant people in an ever-more perilous environment."
