Church Of All Worlds Encyclical On Reproductive Rights

Church Of All Worlds Encyclical

On Reproductive Rights

Being a synthesis of the wisdom of several women in the CAW

who among them have lived all of the following salient experiences:

abortion, live birth, raising one's own child, raising another's child

through adoption or step-parenting, giving up a child for adoption,

miscarriage, successful birth control, and sterilization. The Church of

All Worlds supports a variety of spiritual experiences, knowing that

diversity brings richness and stability to organizations as it does to

ecosystems. Therefore, the writing of an "official position paper" is a

novel and difficult thing. Yet in light of the old axiom that a people

who will not stand for something will fall for anything, we feel

impelled to take a stand against the threat to deny women their right

to control their own bodies and the timing of their offspring.

One of the few pieces of "dogma" (if you can call it that) that the

CAW does hold is the sanctity of the Goddess. Fundamental to the

Goddess as Great Mother, the first and oldest, is the wonder of

reproduction. The miracle of a body producing Life, whether it is the

body of the Earth, of an animal, a plant, or a human being, is feminine

divinity manifest. The Goddess is sacred. So are Her all aspects of Her

fertility.

Yet today's cultures do not regard mortal women's reproductive

ability with anything approaching this sense of sanctity. Too many

women have been molested as children, raped as adults, beaten as

mothers, relegated to low paying jobs, denied birth control by

religious and political insitutions, and threatened with denial of the

right to terminate pregnancy. Prenatal care is often hard for poor

women to obtain and birthing is dominated by a gender that has never

experienced it. Mothers are frequently alone, poor, undereducated, too

young or otherwise inadequate to the monumental task of raising a

child. Social support for every aspect of human reproduction is

lacking in major ways.

If a woman wishes to terminate her pregnancy because of

poverty, ill-health, lack of emotional or financial capability, to

prevent her, thus forcing a child to compound and endure these

adverse conditions in life, is cruel in the extreme. The ill effects of

forcing incarnation into a body that is drug addicted, or where the

mother's life is threatened, are pronounced, but subtle harm is also

done when the body and psyche are formed in an environment flooded

with the biochemical and psychological effects of maternal fear,

anger, depression, resentment, rage, despair, horror and hate. In a

world already bursting with too many bodies, forcing a woman to bear

a child under adverse circumstances shows a violent disregard for the

sanctity of life and disrespect for the Goddess, women and the

environment. True "right-to-life" concerns the quality of existence,

before and after birth, as well as the health of the overall web of life,

already stressed by human overpopulation.

The presence of Life permeates all creatures, from the great

whale to the tiny germ. It animates the sperm and ovum as much as

the zygote. Life is created by the dance of the Lord and the Lady in

the photosynthetic trysting of the plants, and flows along the food

chain to the animals and beyond into the dark Earth again. The issue

is not Life per se but one of adequate life support. It is patently

obvious that if church and government were seriously concerned with

the right to life, the issues of gun control, nuclear weapons, the

waging of war and environmental degradation would be addressed.

Throughout history, laws governing the rights of women's

reproductive capacities show a consistent pattern with patriarchal

cultures and periods of military expansion. In Ninevah and Rome it

was a criminal offense for a woman to seek an abortion, but each

newborn baby was placed at its father's feet that he might choose to

raise it up, smash it with his foot, or order it exposed. Bearing and

raising children against their wills keeps women in a dependent

position and serves the continuance of patriarchal values, but the

freedom to manifest intelligent timing and a well-prepared situation

allows the woman to honor her responsibility as well as her health,

career goals, and emotional needs.

We, who revere life and all that it entails, individually and

collectively face and address these problems. It is our intention and

will to see the events of reproduction universally respected as sacred

and to enact the restoration of the sanctity of responsible reproductive

choice:

The process begins long before abortion becomes an issue, with

healthy, relevent and honest sex education for all persons, especialy

teenagers. Intensive research into safe and effective means of birth

control for both sexes must be funded and tested in humane ways that

do not exploit women, men or animals. Universal access to acceptable

birth control methods, regardless of socioeconomic status or age, is

essential, as are the information, support and means to avoid sexually

transmitted diseases. It is the sacred duty of both men and women to

prevent unwanted conception. The question of abortion can be largely

circumvented by the religious use of birth control.

Sensible counseling and high-quality, inexpensive medical

support for all aspects of pregnancy are essential. A pregnant woman

deserves unbiased comprehensive information regarding options

available to her. She has a right and a duty to be aware of the

immediate and long-term effects of diet and drug use, of the

importance of pre-natal care, of the availability of alternative birthing

procedures, of choices in child health, of parenting education and

childcare services, of accurate information on the adoption process,

and of the medical and psychological impact of abortion.

She deserves compassionate professional support that respects her

decisions and religious convictions, whatever they may be. To bring a

child into the world is a commitment of utmost responsibility. To

determine to terminate a pregnancy, whatever the underlying reason,

is also excruciatingly difficult. A woman who has discovered herself

to be pregnant deserves time and space without harrassment to

consider her course of action. She may wish to sort through her

options with her lover, priestess, Goddess, family and friends

Should she decide to carry through with her pregnancy and

become a mother, a woman deserves her community's unstinting

support in helping her arrange appropriate medical or midwife care,

make financial plans, get relationship or other counseling if desired,

and then raise the child in the best environment for both of them in a

celebration of the life brought into the world and of the courage of the

woman who chooses to do so in a responsible manner.

If she decides to continue her pregnancy and then give the baby

up for adoption, a woman has the right to counseling to help her

through the adoption process and to prepare her for the moment of

parting. She has the right to see, touch and hold her baby at birth if

she wishes, and both the birth mother and the child have the right of

contact with each other when later the child wishes to know his or her

biological ancestry.

If the decision is to terminate the pregnancy, abortion is best

completed as early as is possible, when the medical risk is low and

before the fetus becomes an independently viable life form. Research

into past lives, rebirthing and hypnotherapy indicates that a spirit

comes and goes from its growing body starting in the second

trimester, staying longer and longer towards the end of gestation. If

the mother feels this, she may make peace with the spirit of the

unborn through internal communication, ritual or meditation, and

perhaps explain her reasons for not continuing her pregnancy. Loving

support from her family and, where desirable, the humble presence of

the other parent, transform the abortion procedure itself into a solomn

and sacred act.

Women have the right to unimpeded early termination of

pregnancy that is affordable and relatively pain-free. Although it is

unfortunate when unwanted pregnancies occur, women should not be

punished by those who oppose abortion, view sexuality as inherently

sinful, and consider an unwanted child just punishment, an ethically

reprehensible stance.

For a woman who is certain that, for the balance of her present

lifetime, she does not wish to become a doorway for new life, her

reasonable options for preventing pregnancy include surgical

sterilization. Others, for whom the final removal of reproductive

capability is not appropriate, rightfully claim access to safe and

reliable birth control as a basic right. In summary: It is ecologically,

psychologically, spiritually and politically indefensible to bring

unwanted children into the world. We are pro-life, regarding the

quality of life for all beings to be of utmost importance. The Church

of All Worlds unconditionally supports the right of a woman to make

her own decisions regarding her ability to responsibly raise a child.

We declare and defend a woman's right to safe, effective birth control

and to a timely abortion whenever she should deem it necessary. We

work for the rights of women to maintain and expand their

reproductive options. Final draft compiled by Anodea Judith, priestess

and president of the Church of All Worlds, edited by Diane Darling.,

Editrix of Green Egg. Main contributors are Diane Darling, Anodea

Judith, Anna Korn, Willowoak Istarwood and Morning Glory Zell.