jeremy lindenfeld

 LA’s Female Faith Leaders React to the Overturning of Roe

Two months ago, the Christian right celebrated a judicial victory 50 years in the making, the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Within hours of the Supreme Court’s decision to allow states to restrict abortion, religious organizations weighed in on the loss of a constitutional right. 

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), headed by Los Angeles Archbishop José Horacio Gómez, released a statement thanking God for the court’s ruling and claiming that Roe v. Wade had “legalized and normalized the taking of innocent human life.” 

Gómez got the result he’d hoped for, but his archdiocese remains in a state dedicated to protecting and expanding reproductive rights. This dedication comes not only from non-religious reproduction rights advocates, but from a subsect of religious circles often ignored in the abortion debate: female faith leaders.

In the face of seismic legislative change driven by religion, not all pious people celebrating. While some want to push for even stricter laws in line with their interpretation of scripture, many view efforts to ban abortion as government overreach that dismantles the separation between church and state. Some fear that certain Christian denominations are unfairly prioritized in government decisions and that the overturning of Roe v. Wade is just the latest step in an ongoing process that will see the United States be governed by increasingly Catholic and Evangelical teachings. 

Rabbi Nancy Meyers, is coming up on her 19th year with Temple Beth David, a reformed synagogue near Long Beach. In her almost two decades as an ordained Jewish leader, Meyers has made her temple an inclusive space by hosting themed Shabbats that focus on social issues, including reproductive rights. When SCOTUS’s Dobbs decision came down, Meyers turned to Jewish scripture to inform her response.

“It’s a huge step back,” the 52-year-old Meyers says. “It’s painful, it’s very disturbing. There’s a teaching in the Talmud that says the first 40 days after conception, it’s mere water. It’s like nothing.”

For Jews, Meyers says, life does not begin at conception. In fact, until most of the fetus emerges at birth, they “are part of the woman’s body.” 

If the fetus poses any risk to the health of the mother, “even in the ninth month,” Meyers says, “you can literally cut that fetus up inside her because the fetus is considered a rodef, someone pursuing the woman with intent to kill her.” 

Even still, “abortion is not treated lightly in Judaism,” Meyers says. “It’s still significant, but women have a right to make that choice. The overturning of Roe v. Wade and the banning of abortions goes against Jewish tradition, Jewish values, and Jewish teachings.”

Like their Jewish counterparts, some female Muslim leaders like interfaith minister Tasneem Noor, 38, also lament the ruling.

“Roe v. Wade was very much in alignment with the majority of the Muslim schools of thought on abortion,” Noor says. 

Before moving to the United States at 15, Noor lived in India and Pakistan, two countries she describes as having far less separation of church and state than the U.S. “I don’t want to pretend like America’s the worst. I’ve lived in India, I’ve lived in Pakistan,” Noor says. “I know what it means for religion to be used in a way where there’s no alternative.” 

As an interfaith minister, Noor relishes interacting with diverse faiths. “All religions are beautiful,” Noor says. “They all have wisdom and values to offer.” But she fears the decision portends a dangerous preference for one religion over others. 

“Once you open the door, the path is right there to keep walking down,” Noor says. “It’s dangerous. Do I have a problem hearing references to God? Frankly, no, it doesn’t bother me. I’m not threatened by candidates talking about Jesus. But I think when the same courtesy is not afforded to other religions, then it hurts.”

For some, the dominance of certain religions like Catholicism in legislative discourse has borne fruit. Jeannete Gonzalez Seneviratne is the director of Caring for the Whole Person initiative with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, and says the overturning of Roe v. Wade “brought a new sense of hope and opened new opportunities to expand the work of the church.”

Seneviratne says that many people in the church did not expect to see this result in their lifetimes, but now that the door is open, the church will continue fighting for more “life-affirming policies.” Seneviratne, whose anti-choice stance comes both from her lifelong devotion to Catholic teachings and her personal experience, would like California to restrict abortion access. 

“As a mom and as a daughter,” Seneviratne says, “I would like to see a state that values the sanctity of human life.” 

Through her ministry, Seneviratne also advocates for increased social services for women such as housing assistance and mental health support to make the prospect of pregnancy more feasible. 

“Our office is working on resources to accompany women through crisis pregnancies,” Seneviratne says. “The overturning of Roe has provided a more expansive view of resources to support women to always choose life.” 

But other Christians, like the Rev. Dr. Kate Cress at St James Episcopal Church, are not as pleased with the direction of the country. “I don’t believe the government should interfere with people’s personal decisions,” Cress says. “Legislation is happening now that is guided by some other church traditions that I feel are an intrusion into a woman’s safety, autonomy and freedom.”

Though Cress is in favor of women making their own decisions when it comes to abortion, she finds it difficult to stomach personally taking that path. “I can’t imagine making that choice,” Cress says. “Maybe in the case of rape or incest, but that’s just my personal feeling. I want to support and accompany women, no matter what choice they make.”

In her time as rector, Cress has guided some of her parishioners through those experiences, which she describes as “some of the most agonizing moments of [her] life.” 

Cress also feels that the larger conversation around reproductive rights unfairly lumps religious institutions together into the anti-abortion-rights camp. “There is vast diversity, even within my denomination,” Cress says. “We are at the more liberal end of Christian tradition. I don’t resonate with unilateral Christian language that condemns groups of people. I don’t recognize that as the Jesus I see in community and in the stories of the New Testament.”