Clergy Shocks Community By Blessing Abortion Facility
Pro-life advocates have expressed strong disapproval following a religious ceremony conducted by three progressive female clergy members at an abortion clinic in Maryland. The clergy, consisting of a Presbyterian pastor, a Jewish cantor, and a Baptist minister, performed a ritual blessing over the clinic’s equipment, including exam tables and recovery room chairs, while burning incense. The ceremony was led by Rev. Katey Zeh, a Baptist minister and the founder of the Religious Community for Reproductive Choice, an organization known for conducting such rituals at abortion facilities.
Rev. Zeh and the other religious leaders praised the clinic’s staff, calling them “blessings” for providing care to vulnerable individuals. However, some women who had undergone abortions at the clinic expressed emotional uncertainty about their decision, with one woman writing in a recovery room notebook that “God will forgive me for my decision.” This reflection highlights the internal conflict that some women experience after an abortion.
Pro-life advocates, including Josh Mercer from CatholicVote, criticized the religious ceremony, pointing out the irony of religious rituals being used to justify abortion. They argued that, despite the left’s general opposition to religious expression, such ceremonies are being exploited to promote abortion, a practice that pro-life advocates consider morally wrong. Prominent pro-life speaker Obianuju Ekeocha condemned the blessing, suggesting that it was part of a larger moral and spiritual conflict.
The Religious Community for Reproductive Choice has conducted similar blessings at other abortion clinics since 2017, with a stated goal of rejecting what they view as the shame and stigma associated with sex, reproduction, and abortion. The group frames abortion as a matter of religious freedom, a perspective that has gained traction in light of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, with some activists arguing that abortion bans infringe on religious rights. Pro-life advocates, however, argue that human rights violations cannot be justified in the name of religious freedom.