RCRC Welcomes New CEO, Rev. Harry Knox!
Washington
, DC ? The Board of Directors of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC) is pleased to announce the appointment of Reverend Harry Knox as President and Chief Executive Officer of RCRC, the nation?s coalition of organizations from 15 denominations and faith traditions committed to reproductive rights and justice.
Reverend Knox is a national leader in the progressive faith community and a well-known advocate for reproductive and sexual health and justice. Reverend Knox was the founding director of the Human Rights Campaign?s Religion and Faith Program, where he supervised the creation of a national speakers? bureau that reached more than 10 million Americans monthly and was instrumental in creating a national network of 22 progressive state clergy coalitions. In February 2009, Rev. Knox was appointed by President Obama to the President?s Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Since 2011, he has been Interim Executive Director of Integrity USA, the voice of LGBT Episcopalians and their allies. He began his position at RCRC July 16, 2012.
?In the current climate of relentless attacks on abortion and birth control in the name of religion, our country needs the faith-inspired courage Reverend Knox brings to safeguarding and advancing women?s health and the dignity of all people. ?said Reverend Dr. Alethea Smith-Withers, Chair of the RCRC Board of Directors.
Reverend Knox says of his appointment: ?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. Young people are a priority for RCRC and we look forward to an expansion of engagement with youth and young adult leaders through our Spiritual Youth for Reproductive Freedom program. Church, temple or synagogue should be the first place people of faith and their families turn when facing difficult decisions about reproductive health. RCRC will continue to lead in providing faith leaders the resources they need to offer responsible guidance and support. I ask for the prayers of all those who care about reproductive justice as I begin this new role.?
Reverend Knox?s management and advocacy experience includes positions with the American Cancer Society; Equality Florida; Georgia Equality; and Freedom to Marry. He has pastored churches in Georgia and Texas. He was the recipient of the 2000 Cordle Award for Promotion of God?s Diversity and Lancaster Theological Seminary?s 2005 Robert V. Moss Medal for Excellence in Ministry.
US Supreme Court Upholds Affordable Care Act.
The Supreme Court?s decision to uphold the Affordable Care Act is a tremendous victory for women and their families, including the 50 million Americans currently without insurance.? As people of faith committed to reproductive justice, we see this as an affirmation of our continuing struggle to expand access to reproductive health care and a victory over a health insurance system that is a moral disgrace. This decision opens the doors to a more compassionate and just society.? We are prayerfully grateful that women can begin to achieve health equity for the first time.
In spite of the favorable decision by the Supreme court, we are concerned about continued efforts to repeal all or most of the law and the Roman Catholic hierarchy?s lawsuits challenging birth control coverage.? We urge President Obama and our elected representatives to support the law and to resist the Catholic bishops? pressure to remove the birth control provision. We will continue to mobilize the enormous religious support for the Affordable Care Act and full coverage of contraception and other women?s health measures as a matter of social justice and sound public health policy.
We are also concerned with the decision by the Supreme Court to allow lawmakers to refuse to expand the Medicaid program to ensuring access to affordable health care to low-income individuals. We take seriously the Divine charge, central to each of our religious traditions, to place a special priority on protecting children and those who are vulnerable and most likely to be excluded.? Medicaid is essential to the health and well-being of low-income women and their families. Women make up the majority of Medicaid beneficiaries and the expansion is the best path to keeping women and their families healthier.
RCRC Transitioning to a New Era? of Reproductive Justice!
Dear Allies and Supporters:
This is a time of much transition at the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice.? We bid farewell to our leader of the past fourteen years, Reverend Carlton Veazey. We are confident that he will continue his lifelong commitment to social justice, and that his retirement will be an active one.? It is a time to honor and reflect upon Rev. Veazey?s many contributions to RCRC, including his assistance in developing the organization?s new Strategic Plan.? You will undoubtedly see elements of the Plan emerging in our work moving forward, but here are some highlights:
The Council of Governors will be reconstituted as an Advisory Council, with a more active role in advancing the goals of RCRC, such as organizing denominational members to participate in RCRC?s campaigns and identifying issues where RCRC?s voice could make a meaningful contribution.
A broader and more diverse membership structure, which will seek to build the grassroots network of RCRC with individuals and congregations.? The Coalition will also maintain its longstanding denominational members.
Most importantly, RCRC will become an organization committed to advancing Reproductive Justice.? This means that the organization?s mission will include supporting the rights of individuals to have the children they want and to raise the children they have with adequate support, in addition to supporting the right of access to family planning and safe, legal abortion care. ?This is an explicit commitment to addressing the social justice issues that impede reproductive freedom, including racism, sexism, classism, homophobia and able-ism.
We know that we have a formidable task ahead of us, to both hold onto our gains and to defeat the seemingly endless efforts to deny individuals their reproductive freedom. We ask for your prayers of encouragement in our work and your support at this exciting time of transition.
Peace and Blessings to You!
Jill Morrison
Vice-Chair of the RCRC Board of Directors
Jill Morrison is Executive Director of the Women?s Law and Public Policy Fellowship Program and a Visiting Professor at Georgetown University Law Center .
Reverend Dr. Carlton W. Veazey Retires as CEO of RCRC
Reverend Dr. Carlton W. Veazey retired in December 2011 as President and CEO of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, after a 14-year tenure marked by an expansion of the Coalition and the development of a new reproductive justice focus.
Reverend Veazey, who is a minister of the National Baptist Convention U.S.A., is a nationally prominent religious spokesperson for reproductive and sexual health, rights and justice. He joined RCRC in 1996 and was named chief executive in 1997.
As an advocate for abortion rights, comprehensive reproductive health services, and sexuality education, Reverend Veazey articulated the moral and religious underpinnings of the pro-choice position, a perspective that is too often ignored or misrepresented in the public debate about reproductive issues. He was a chief spokesperson for that position with Congress, government agencies, religious organizations, advocacy organizations, and the media. Reverend Veazey is widely known for founding the Coalition?s celebrated National Black Church Initiative and its unique sexuality education programs for African-American youth and adults.
At the historic 2004 March for Women?s Lives, Reverend Veazey was a commanding presence in a white clerical robe, speaking with moral authority to the million-plus people in the crowd. They cheered when he said, ?The time has come for the religious people of this country?to proclaim with all our moral power that women?s rights are also civil rights and human rights.? As some in Congress fought against full coverage of reproductive health in the new health care legislation, Reverend Veazey told a rally that abortion ?is a God-given right,? a statement that received global media coverage and an unforgettable comment from a political commentator: ?To think that God might have favored and trusted women shifted the very ground of my being. For me, it was a completely new idea.?
Wherever he was, Carlton Veazey found a friend. He stopped to speak to people on the street , gave a taxi driver a $100 bill for a church program for needy families, and counted the leaders of the reproductive rights and women?s movement ? Gloria Feldt, Kate Michelman, Gloria Steinem?as friends. In his 15 years with the Coalition, Reverend Veazey was one of the most important religious voices in the country on reproductive justice. ?He showed that people of faith can ? and should ? speak up for women?s rights and human rights.
NMRCRC Director on the road, visiting rural communities.
As you can see from our special summer newsletter, the Religious Coalition is in an exciting period of change!? In my final year (2011) as one of two affiliate representatives to the RCRC Board of Directors, I had the great privilege to serve on the strategic planning committee.?? The new Strategic Plan will place the Religious Coalition as the leading religious voice for reproductive justice in the country.
I?m most excited about the renewed commitment to the affiliate network as part of the new Strategic Plan.? Although this will mean higher expectations for RCRC affiliates, it also means additional resources and support for the affiliate and grassroots network of the Coalition.
As part of that support, we are able to visit several rural communities this summer and fall. We need all of your support to make sure that our legislature doesn?t pass any of the anti-women, anti-family legislation we?ve seen in so many other states.? We?ll be visiting the northwest corner of the state in August and the North Central in September.? Please call or email if you would like to set up a visit with your congregation or a group of pro-choice friends!
NMRCRC is also a member of Raising Women?s Voices for Healthcare Reform.? Raising Women?s voices has a great presentation that is available at no cost to any group or organization that explains the benefits of the Affordable Care Act for women and families.? We?d love to show it to you!
For example, did you know that beginning August 1 of this year, all new insurance plans are required to cover women?s preventive health care without any additional costs, like co-payments? These include:
??well-woman visits;
??screening for gestational diabetes;
??screening for human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA testing for women 30 years and older;
??sexually-transmitted infection screening and counseling;
??human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) screening and counseling;
??FDA-approved contraception methods and contraceptive counseling;
??breastfeeding support, supplies, and counseling; and
??domestic violence screening and counseling.
Finally, check out our wonderful joint fundraiser with Santa Fe NOW.? If you can?t attend, please send a generous donation, we have several requests each month for help with housing and transportation for abortion care patients traveling to Albuquerque providers.? We?d hate to have to turn down anyone?s request for help.
Keeping the faith, for justice,
Joan Lamunyon Sanford, ?Director
A Conversation with Jessica Valenti:
?Sexuality, Feminism & Activism:
How we can battle back against the ??war on women?
and a screening of ?The Purity Myth?
Jessica Valenti, co-founder of the Web?s most widely-read feminist blog, feministing.com, and author of The Purity Myth, is coming to Santa Fe on September 22nd to participate in two events to help raise money for the Pro-Choice Safety Network Fund, which provides vital financial assistance for non-medical expenses like transportation, food, and childcare for low-income women having abortions in New Mexico. Jessica is a dynamic speaker and in inspiring voice of a new generation of young feminists.
Santa Fe Women?s Club, 1616 Old Pecos Trail
Saturday September 22, 2012, 7:00?9:00 pm,? Tickets $15
Meet the Author VIP Reception
Award-winning East African Restaurant, Jambo Caf?
3:00?5:00 pm, Tickets $100
Find out more at nmrcrc.org
Co-sponsored by Santa Fe NOW
NOWsantafe.org
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Source: http://nmrcrc.org/2012/08/nmrcrc-summer-newsletter-2012/
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