The Supreme Court’s decision to ignore the precedents of the 50 years since the Roe v. Wade decision has cancelled federal protections of access to abortion as part of women’s health care. We Unitarian Universalists (UUs) in Central Appalachia are relieved that Judge Salango has ruled that their decision could not take effect in West Virginia. While not surprised, we deeply regret that WV’s Attorney General Morrisey is appealing Solango’s ruling.

The overwhelming majority of UUs in the nation think that abortion should be legal in most or all cases.  The Supreme Court’s decision will most hurt poor, working class, rural and minority women and their families, a large portion of Appalachia’s population.

Roman Catholic and evangelical Christian views of abortion tend to be most restrictive. Other Christian denominations, Jews and Muslims are much less so. The Supreme Court’s decision seems to come from a very conservative religious perspective, thus favoring some religions over others. It would seem that the Supreme Court’s decision violates the U. S. Constitution, which requires a separation of church and state.

Unitarian-Universalists are accepting of all religious views that do not violate the principles that guide our actions. The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade violates our principle of justice, equity and compassion in human relations and our principle that all people have a right to follow their conscience. It returns us to a time in this nation when all people in a religiously diverse nation were required to follow the dictates of the few or be punished.  We UU’s join the majority of Americans in calling for a nation that protects and defends all people’s right to follow their conscience in personal decisions.