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Welcome to RCRC's Religion & Repro Learning Center page.
What is it?
The Religion & Repro Learning Center is an online venue for education, analysis, strategy development, and interdisciplinary resources to equip religious leaders, scholars, and social activists in support of reproductive freedom.
This innovative Learning Center brings into conversation leading experts in religion, justice movements, and a cross-section of academic disciplines, including history, law, ethics, and medicine, to help frame the learning.
Who is it for?
Everyone! Setting itself apart from some of our past educational initiatives, the Religion & Repro Learning Center has been crafted with the broader public in mind. While those in the fields of activism, ministry, academia, and healthcare will find materials that empower their work, anyone with an interest in learning more about these topics is welcome and encouraged to make use of the Learning Center.
For those who want to work for a society of justice and compassion—this is our fight.
Why did we build it?
The fight for reproductive freedom, human dignity, and justice requires justice advocates to be educated, equipped, and prepared. We must be:
- Educated about the implications of religiously-framed oppressive tactics used historically
- Equipped with the skills needed to cultivate a more just and compassionate society
- Prepared to engage in effective allyships, partnerships, and collaborations needed for social transformation
The Learning Center offers a program of course modules, small group discussions, skills practice groups, a library of resources for registered students, and a free webinar series for the public.
~ We will officially launch in early 2021~
Anyone, at any time, can access our materials from anywhere in the world.
Learn at your own pace.
Preview Our First Modules
Module 1.
History of Religion and Reproductive Ecosystem
Understand the evolution of the religious, medical, legislative and social ecosystem of reproductive healthcare and the holistic strategies needed for effective advocacy today.
Module 2.
Religious Literacy
and Identities
Expand your knowledge about diverse religious traditions, practices, and beliefs and their impact on decision-making of those who can become pregnant, along with institutions who seek to control all aspects of reproduction.
Module 3.
Compassionate Care for Reproductive Decisions and Loss
Strengthen skills to provide compassionate care for individuals facing reproductive decisions and losses in keeping with their (and not the care provider’s) values, resources and life experiences, and faith traditions.
Module 4.
Cultivating Compassionate Communities
Develop strategies to cultivate allyships for systemic change work across spiritual, workplace, school, or neighborhood communities.
Upcoming Webinars
Pregnancy Shaming in Religion and Culture
Tuesday, December 15, 2020, 4.00pm EST
FREE
Pregnancy shaming. It was done to Mary, the mother of Jesus, in the ancient biblical story. It is done today to countless individuals when they are pregnant and unmarried, have difficulty getting pregnant or carrying a pregnancy to full-term, choose not to have children, or choose to become pregnant or parent in ways that do not comply with prescribed religious or cultural expectations.
Join RCRC as we have a conversation among clergywomen Brandee Mimitzraiem, Shannon Sullivan, and Cari Jackson, with Katey Zeh as moderator, as they share their own stories of pregnancy-related shaming.
Clergy Consultation Service on Abortion: What Can We Learn?
Tuesday, January 5, 2020, 4:00 pm ET
FREE
As Evangelicals and Catholic Bishops have garnered considerable media attention and gained the support of state legislators and courts, common public perception is that a majority of people of faith do not and never have supported reproductive freedom.
We will introduce a cross-section of repro providers and advocates to the rich history of activism for reproductive freedom, led by the Clergy Consultation Service on Abortion prior to the Roe v Wade decision.
(registration coming)
Is the Prochoice Religious Community a Sleeping Giant?
January 2020
FREE
For more than 30 years, polling data has indicated that between 60-70 percent of Christians support the individual right to choose and access to safe and legal abortion care. Yet, despite this consistent polling, media reports, public opinion, and legislative trends reflect the opposite.
After the Roe v. Wade decision, 14 multi-faith denominations established RCRC. However, the presence of conservative factions within progressive religious denominations has grown and made many denominational leaders have become reticent to speak out. We examine whether there is a critical mass of people of faith who have not been activated and organized to advocate for reproductive freedom, and if so, begins exploring possible strategies to engage them.
(registration coming)
Adoption Industry: Hidden Narratives
February 2020
FREE
Attackers of reproductive freedom often urge that adoption is a preferable alternative to abortion. Yet, there are behind-the-scenes realities of adoption that run counter to reproductive freedom, often never discussed or glossed over at best. There are 8,000 adoption programs and agencies in the U.S.
(registration coming)
Abortion Wars Post-Roe
February 2020
FREE
While the issue of abortion has been debated in the U.S. across the centuries, not until the 1970s and 1980s did it take on a religiously polarizing approach. Not until these past four decades have religious groups have developed anti-abortion beliefs into a formidable movement: believing they have the right to withhold tax dollars for reproductive health care, protest, stalk, and even kill others who provide or seek abortion care, and seek elected office on anti-abortion campaigns while completely disregarding critical social needs.
(registration coming)