What Is the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice?

The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC) is a nonprofit grassroots organization that advocates for reproductive rights among religious communities. The group aims to join clergy who advocate for women’s rights with supporters of human reproductive and sexuality education in order to help women of faith make informed reproductive decisions.

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The RCRC lists the reproductive rights views from leaders within different denominations of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. The faith perspectives from religious leaders on the RCRC site generally encourage a liberal approach to reproductive justice.

The group’s president, Reverend Harry Knox, is an Episcopal Christian and former member of President Obama’s faith advisory committee. “There is no more vital work to be done in this historic moment than stopping the rollback of women’s access to health care and self-determination. Women need more health care resources and options, not less,” Reverend Knox reportedly said in an article in Life News of his new position in 2012.

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Reverend Knox’s view of RCRC’s mission does not come unopposed. Reverend Paul Stallsworth of the United Methodist Church published a National Right To Life News Today article in 2014 saying that “RCRC’s language pertaining to abortion is always changing.” He also criticizes the group’s usage of the word “justice,” saying that the word does not “feature the remains of an aborted unborn child.”

The organization has 4 main areas of policy work – access to abortion care, access to contraception, access to sexuality education, and religious liberty. The RCRC had advocated for these policy areas in communities in 20 states including Minnesota, Illinois, California, and Kansas as well as launched a large social media campaign.

The RCRC equates the pro-choice ideology with the Bible’s encouragement of compassion.

.@RCRChoice so no chance of ever promoting standard birth control? #fetushate

— Mike Liberto (@kttphoenix) May 25, 2015

The RCRC also uses social media to comment on other issues beyond its stated policy work, including race relation tensions in Baltimore.

Now that's a good question: "Why do we applaud rebellion in film, but not in Baltimore's streets?" #BlackLivesMatter: http://t.co/LrVpzdKRAV

— RCRC (@RCRChoice) May 18, 2015

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