United Methodists will join April 25 ‘Women’s Lives’ march
April 20, 2004 By United Methodist News Service United Methodists will be among the participants in an April 25 “March for Women’s Lives” in Washington. A
delegation of 50 to 100 will march under the banner of the Women’s
Division, United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, according to
Julie Taylor, a division executive based in Washington. Leading
the Women’s Division delegation are Genie Bank of Lexington, Mich., and
Brenda Brown of Spring Lake, N.C., division president and vice
president; Joyce Sohl, the division’s chief executive; and Lois Dauway,
who heads the division’s Section of Christian Social Responsibility. According
to Bank, the division’s participation “recognizes the basic human right
to education and planning one’s family” and the responsibility of
women, not politicians, for their own family planning practices. The
United Methodist Board of Church and Society also is a co-sponsor of
the march, said Linda Bales, program director of the board’s Louise
& Hugh Moore Population Project. The agency supports advocacy
efforts for women’s health, such as the United Nations Population Fund,
which provides reproductive health services and HIV/AIDS prevention for
women. The
march is important, Bales said, “because we know that far too many
women around the world do not have access to basic health services,
including reproductive health services, and to essentials such as family
planning and economic justice.” A
24-hour prayer vigil, sponsored by the Religious Coalition for
Reproductive Choice — of which both the Women’s Division and Church and
Society are members — will begin at 10 a.m. on April 24. An
interfaith worship service will precede the march at 10 a.m. April 25
at the Capitol Reflecting Pool Area. Bank is a participant in the
worship service. Religious groups also will assemble in that area for
the noon march, followed by a rally from 1 to 4 p.m. on the National
Mall. Division
directors voted last fall to become one of the numerous co-sponsors of
the march, which is designed as a public demonstration in support of
reproductive freedom and other justice issues for women. The
Women’s Division cited the denomination’s Social Principles and
resolution on responsible parenthood — pointing to the fact that “tragic
conflicts in life” may justify abortion and that the church supports
those legal options — as one of the motivating factors for participating
in the march. “The
Women’s Division understands that certain groups will misinterpret
their action,” a division statement said. “In their board literature,
the division states that it has to work collaboratively with coalitions
to achieve purposes like the health and safety of women who choose this
option. ‘To work in coalition with an organization does not constitute
an endorsement or embracing of every aspect of that organization or the
establishment of some permanent relationship with coalition
partners/co-sponsors.’” Bales
said that while United Methodists may not agree with all positions of
other participating groups, “the basic premise for the march, saving
women’s lives, resonates with UMC positions.” Other
religious co-sponsors of the April 25 march include the American
Friends Service Committee, Catholics for a Free Choice, the Episcopal
Church USA, the General Synod, United Church of Christ,
Unitarian-Universalist Association of Congregations, the Union for
Reform Judaism and the National Council of Jewish Women. The
Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice is renting an Amtrak train
to carry participants from New York’s Penn Station to Washington and
back on April 25, Taylor said. Non-religious
cosponsors include the League of Women Voters, American Association of
University Women, National Black Nurses Association, National Education
Association and Older Women’s League. Principal
organizers of the March for Women’s Lives are the American Civil
Liberties Union, Black Women’s Health Imperative, Feminist Majority,
NARAL Pro-Choice America, National Latina Institute for Reproductive
Health, National Organization for Women and Planned Parenthood
Federation of America. News media can contact Linda Bloom at (646)369-3759 New York or newsdesk@umcom.org.
| 
Korean News
