Dear President Obama and Secretary Sebelius:
As clergy of diverse faith backgrounds, we thank you for your decision on January 20, 2012 to
reaffirm the importance of contraceptive services as essential preventive care for women under
the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and to assure access under the plan to most
American women, regardless of religious affiliation.
We believe that contraceptive services are critical for women’s reproductive health and for
family health. According to the Guttmacher Institute, ninety-nine percent of sexually
experienced women in the U.S. have used birth control in their lives. We applauded the
recommendation of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in July 2011 that contraceptive services be
included in health insurance plans without co-pays or deductibles as a crucial step in meeting the
health needs of women.
We also thank you for applying the same rules on contraception services to religiously affiliated
employers that employ or serve people of diverse religious faiths and are engaged in activities
that extend beyond worship and inculcating religious values. We note that Secretary Sebelius
generously granted an exemption to religious employers that are devoted to worship and serve
and employ people of the same faith, and permitted other religiously-affiliated employers an
additional year to comply with the law.
We believe that all women deserve access to affordable birth control, regardless of their
employer, and we hope that, in the future, HHS will expand the same preventive coverage to
women across the board. As clergy, we are committed to upholding the important goals of
reproductive justice and health, empowering women and men to make decisions about whether
and when to have and bear children within their own moral and religious tradition, and assuring
them the means and ability to raise their children in a safe and healthy environment. Access to
reproductive health services recognizes a moral value embraced across the religious spectrum.
We thank you for your decision supporting the fundamental value of reproductive health to
women and families.
The signatories, all affiliated with the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC), are
endorsing this statement in their individual capacities. The RCRC is the national interfaith
coalition of religious and religiously affiliated organizations from fifteen denominations and
faith traditions, including the Episcopal Church, Presbyterian Church (USA), United Methodist
Church, United Church of Christ, Unitarian Universalist Association, and Conservative, Reform
and Reconstructionist Judaism.
Signed:
Rev. Dr. Marvin Marsh
First Baptist Church of Pottstown
Pottstown, PA
Rabbi Peter Stein
Temple Sinai
Cranston, RI
Reverend Steve Clapp
Christian Community
Fort Wayne, IN
Rev. Paul Britner
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Montgomery
Montgomery, AL
Reverend Aaron Payson
Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester
Worcester, MA
Reverend Loey M. Powell
Justice & Witness Ministries - UCC
Cleveland, OH
Rabbi Steven Jacobs
Temple Kol Tikvah
Woodland Hills, CA 91365