Home

Current Programs

Phone 314 531 5010

Fax 314 531 5014

462 N. Taylor, Ste. 102

St. Louis, MO 63108

 Don't be silent!
Live Your Faith Aloud!

Urgent Item for Attention!

The Department of Health and Human Services is working on  disturbing new regulations that would restrict women’s access to reproductive health services including some of the most common forms of birth control.  The proposed regulations:

• PERMIT institutions as well as individuals to refuse to provide women access to contraceptive services and information.
• PERMIT health care providers to refuse to perform any service they deem morally objectionable - which raises critical questions about access to all health care services.
• REDEFINE pregnancy as beginning with fertilization of the egg - counter to the government's own longstanding policy, as well as that of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), which state that pregnancy begins with the implantation of a fertilized egg in the uterus.
 • REDEFINE abortion to include common methods of contraception which may work by interfering with implantation. Birth control pills and IUDs could be disallowed.
• CONFLICT with requirements of the Title X family planning program to ensure that women have access to a broad range of contraceptive options and that pregnant women receive non-directive counseling upon request.
• TRUMPS state laws that protect women's access to reproductive health care, including those requiring health insurance plans that provide drug benefits to include coverage of contraception; laws that require hospitals to offer emergency contraception to rape survivors; and laws that require pharmacies to fill patients' valid medical prescriptions.

A full version of the proposal can be seen at  http://docs.google.com/View?docid=ddds6mjz_0d4wxjhfc

We need you to tell your representatives that you do NOT support regulations that interfere with a woman’s access to all forms of reproductive health care.  Write to your Congressional Representative by visiting https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml.  Senator Claire McCaskill has already signed a letter to Sec. Leavitt that opposes the new regulations, but you can send her a note of thanks and encouragement  http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm?State=MO

These regulations are being proposed as a protection of individual conscience.  Make sure our elected leaders know that as a person of faith your conscience thinks that women should be given access to the unbiased information they need to make reproductive health decisions.  

Vote for candidates who support reproductive healthcare for all people!     General Elections are November 4, 2008.

What are nonprofit organizations (like congregations) allowed to do in an election?  Click here.

Is it okay for nonprofit organizations (like congregations) to lobby?  Click here.

   
Save the Date:  Lobby Day April 7, 2009

Write a Letter to Your Editor
Get the word out about reproductive justice. Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper.  Tell them:

• Missourians will not be tricked into banning abortion.

• People of many religious faiths support a woman's
  right and ability to make her own healthcare decisions,
  including whether and when to have children.

• The best way to reduce the number of abortions in
  MO is to provide better access to sex education and
  contraceptives.

• Religious Missourians do vote pro-choice!

Remember to sign your letter with your name, address, and phone so that the editor can verify your information.  Here are email addresses for some MO newspapers.

Want ideas on the ways you, your friends, your clergyperson, and your congregation take speak your Faith Aloud?  Download and share this list with everyone you know! 

Take Action