June 18: Reproductive Justice

Buckman Bridge Unitarian Universalist Church

Join Us Tuesday

June 18th @ 7 pm

For The Final Class of

Reproductive Justice: Expanding Our Social Justice Calling

Congregational Study/Action Issue

Facilitators: Rev Pat Ray and Sarah Ritzman

As Unitarian Universalists, we are the inheritors of a 50-year history of reproductive rights advocacy of which we should be very proud. We also share a strong commitment to racial and social justice that is fundamental to our theology and modern identity. At the convergence of these interests, UUs are called to answer the chilling political debate on reproductive rights with calls for reproductive ‘justice’ and respect for the fullness of every person’s reproductive and sexual life. This curriculum was written to help prepare Unitarian Universalists to take on this call to action. If we are to succeed as reproductive justice advocates in our communities and in the larger world, Unitarian Universalists must be comfortable with our individual and collective identities, and know ourselves as partners with other organizations in the reproductive justice movement. Thus, this curriculum prioritizes the development of our theological understanding and conversational capacity rather than the provision of facts. The 2012 election and concurrent ‘war on women’, etc., is not as much a political argument over information, as it is a conflict of values about life, sexuality, and religious freedom. We must be prepared to respond to this conflict as progressive people of faith.

Week 6: Conclusion: Moving Forward

 Rooting us in our religious history and theological callings, this six-week curriculum outlines the distinctions between reproductive “health,” “rights,” and “justice”; opens awareness of reproductive oppressions; offers opportunities to learn about ourselves and each other as sexual and reproductive beings; and equips us to move forward, out into the world, with integrity and vision.