Contact:
Melanie Bui Larsen
Director of Communications and Outreach
press@rcrc.org
202.403.2220
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 7, 2020
RCRC Celebrates Win for Broader Progressive Movement and Turns an Eye Toward the Future
(Washington, DC) – Statement by the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC) on Joe Biden’s victory over incumbent Donald Trump in 2020 Election:
The country has spoken. Millions of Americans followed their hearts and voted their conscience, and Joe Biden has been named President Elect.
This is a win not just for Biden, but for the broader progressive movement as a whole and all of the values it stands for. This is a victory for compassion, love, and justice. Despite the widespread voter suppression, disenfranchisement, and intimidation, the disinformation campaigns, the dismantling of the U.S. postal system, and more, we still bucked the odds and prevailed—by over 4 million votes.
This couldn’t have been possible without the tireless efforts of grassroots organizers and activists out there on the ground, especially in the South and Midwest. It was their years of hard work that flipped states like Georgia and Pennsylvania. And it was their hard work that brought red states like Florida and Texas closer than ever to turning blue.
We also recognize all of the young people who turned out to vote and help shape the future of this country. It is clear that the energy and passion of the BLM protests this past summer were not a fad, as opponents claimed, but a reckoning in the name of justice.
This is a hard-won moment worth celebrating! Let us all breathe a sigh of relief, and rejoice.
Then, let us prepare to get to work. The fact that the U.S. found itself in this situation to begin with tells us what many already knew: there is a deep stain of racism and bigotry in the very fabric of this country. Trump is not the cause, but merely a symptom and a manifestation. And while the election of Joe Biden is a welcome relief, and will bring an end to Trump’s attacks on our democratic institutions and marginalized communities, one election cannot undo centuries of reproductive oppression and white supremacy. Nor will it change the reality that the Supreme Court and many state governments are now in the control of ultra-conservative political and religious zealots.
The road ahead of us is long and uphill. However, there is a way forward, and we are committed to seeing it through.
The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC) as it exists today evolved from an underground network of ministers and rabbis called the Clergy Consultation Service (CCS), which was formed in response to the deaths and injuries of women caused by unsafe abortions before the Roe decision. This group quietly but defiantly referred more than a hundred thousand women to safe, trustworthy abortion providers.
Today, RCRC and progressive clergy and congregations across the country are preparing to revisit those times in our traditions when people of faith stood together to advocate for reproductive freedom as a divine, sacred right that no judge, no law, and no government can ever take away.
We remain committed to fighting the patriarchy, white supremacy, and Christian nationalism that still plague this country—and contribute to reproductive oppression. We will fight so that every person may live with the dignity and freedom that they deserve.
We see the possibility for great change, and the chance to imagine a new kind of society we long to create. And we will build it together.
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The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice is a national community of religious organizations and faithful individuals dedicated to achieving reproductive health, rights, and justice. Through education, organizing, and advocacy, we seek to elevate religious voices wherever faith, policy, and our reproductive lives intersect.