Written by Rev. Leslie Watson Wilson
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At the age of 14, in 1974, I had an abortion. It was a legal, safe decision involving me, my mother (who was on welfare with six children) and our God. Undoubtedly, my experience started my early support for abortion rights. In 1989, in Louisiana, I began lifting my voice publicly to fight for abortion rights because of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case Planned Parenthood v. Casey.
Today, I am a minister, a mother and a grandmother. My stomach has been in knots since the leak of the Supreme Court draft opinion in May that revealed a Court bent on destroying the legacy of Roe v. Wade and Casey and ruining the lives of people like the girl I once was. And now we have the ruling that those decisions areoverturned. Like so many people of faith who are in my life, I’m now reflecting and praying.
Many of us know that this was never a question about whether Roe v. Wade would be overturned, but when. Roe was always vulnerable to the long-term strategy of the Far Right. This is more obvious after the Court leaned further to the right during Trump presidency.
What’s more, the far-right likes to claim moral authority on the subject of abortion rights. They are profoundly wrong, from a moral and theological standpoint. For instance, a person’s decision to bear a child is part of a deep communion between them and their God. When any outside person tries to intervene in that prayerful conversation, they dismiss that person’s relationship with their God. They do not value that person’s decision made with God’s help. The ultimate moral authority, therefore, lies with those who have compassion, and do not interfere with a person’s faith.
That is the moral authority and compassion I see repeatedly among faith leaders fighting for reproductive rights. Faith activists and communities are in the thick of the fight to protect reproductive freedom. I was blessed to work for the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice on teen pregnancy. God blessed me to work with African American faith leaders on HIV/AIDS prevention — which reduced the need for abortion. I was blessed to work for NARAL to fight for clinic access, advocate for codifying Roe and elect a pro-choice president. I was blessed to work with the Black Women’s Health Initiative and the National Network of Abortion Funders, mobilizing low-income women to advocate for the repeal of the Hyde Amendment.
Yes, we had gains and setbacks with every election despite our efforts. Every Supreme Court nomination added weight to our mind, body and spirit — but we kept going. The core of my motivation is reproductive freedom, reproductive rights and abortion rights. It is also my motivation for every voter I register, educate, assist to the polls, train and encourage. And, it is at the core of who I am as an activist and organizer.
We need even more faith leaders and faith activists in this fight. We cannot let the far-right bully us with false claims to the religious high ground. In fact, faith leaders must stand beside vulnerable people in need of spiritual support at difficult moments in their lives. As faith leaders, we must assure people in need of care that we are mortal too. We must also trust that a personal relationship with God leads to the right decision. Faith leaders have a platform and position of authority. So, we need to say loudly and unapologetically that abortion care is health care. And it must remain legal and safe.
I am pro-faith, pro-family, pro-choice and pro-abortion. I will always be in this fight, ready to go wherever necessary. I truly believe that “what man intends for harm, God intends for good.” My fellow faith leaders should join me.
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Reverend Leslie Watson Wilson, People For National Director of African American Religious Affairs (AARA). Watson leads program planning and implementation for AARA. She helps engage more than 2,200 women and men from various Christian traditions across the country. Watson also helps build strong associations of progressive clergy, theologians, seminarians and ministry lay leaders. Together, they encourage African American churches and communities to become more civically engaged and promote social justice programs and policies.
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