Anniversaries

Good news is welcomed, as well as your sorrows.

Every January at Starr King Unitarian Universalist Church, we celebrate the anniversary to remember Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the incredible justice work he did and which, he made us aware, still needs doing. I invite you to join us in ongoing awareness of this work and with a message of hope by your presence in our larger community, at the location of Hayward City Hall at 9:30 A.M. on Monday 21 January.

We will listen to music, hear Dr. King’s words and put our feet into motion together around our short but important march. Another important marker this year comes the very next day; 22 January is the 35th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision of Roe v. Wade.

A whole generation of women and men have never lived in a time or a place where reproductive freedom in this country was not a reality for them, even though the economic aspect of access to reproductive health has become a continued point of erosion for some of these freedoms which we have come to take for granted. Over the years, Unitarian Universalist principles and values have led our Commission on Social Witness and our membership to develop resolutions and statements of conscience supporting our freedom of choice in reproductive matters.

As one of our ministers explains our religious viewpoint, “we believe that the test of any religious position is an individual’s own direct experience of the good, the holy and the true.” Even though we might look at the anniversary of Roe v. Wade as a time of celebration, many anti-choice groups are using this time as an opportunity to continue to work to overturn these laws. In California, work is in progress to gather signatures for a petition, for the third time, to attempt to pass a law requiring parental notification for abortions.

As was the case in the earlier attempts, if this proposition should be put on the ballot, it would cost Planned Parenthood alone millions of dollars in political response. I have joined Bay Area clergy as a member of the Planned Parenthood Golden Gate Clergy Advisory Board. I believe that this board will bring advocacy and greater awareness to our faith communities about reproductive health and education, and I feel proud to be a part of it. Let this New Year be a time to rededicate ourselves to continuing the important work of justice. We have a fabulous faith to serve as our guide.

Love, Katie