... on religious grounds!
From yesterday's APJ:
Church of Reality demands religious exception to South Dakota Abortion Ban Law
DATE: 03-03-2006
CONTACT: Marc Perkel -- (415) 987-6272 / (650) 873-3064 / marc@perkel.com
Does the Religious Freedom Restoration Act protect the Church of Reality from South Dakota's abortion ban?
The Church of Reality has today issued an edict declaring that South Dakota's ban on abortions violates the rights of its members to practice their religion and calls upon the state to provide an exception to the law for members of the Church of Reality to be able to get abortions, and to provide immunity from prosecution to health care professionals who would provide abortions to church members.
The Church of Reality has taken a strong pro-choice position when it comes to abortion, declaring that a woman has an absolute right to choose not to reproduce if she doesn't want to.
"This abortion ban is in direct conflict with several of our Sacred Principles," declares Marc Perkel, the First One of the Church of Reality. "Our religious freedom is at stake here."
...
It's about time! Perkel is one of the cleverest activists out there. CoR has secured a religious tax exemption and has shown up on the media radar every now and then. This move, however, could prove just what is needed in the religious "debate" on abortion (read: the Xtian theocrat dominionist totalitariantists' campaign to undermine the freedom of all Americans, starting with women).
More from the press release:
South Dakota Aborting Law Infringes on Religious Freedom of Realists
Edict Date: 03-03-2006
The decision of the State of South Dakota to ban all abortions puts a substantial burden on the sincerely held beliefs of the Church of Reality which believes that a woman has an absolute right to and early term abortion without any outside restrictions. The right of a woman to control her own reproduction is vital to the advancement of society which is necessary to advance the cause of exploring reality the way it reality is.
This law violates several of the Sacred Principles including but not limited to, the Principle of Freedom, Principle of Privacy, Principle of Positive Evolution, Principle of Inclusiveness, Principle of Compassion, Principle of Environmentalism, Personal Responsibility and the Principle of Wisdom.
...
We reject the patriarchal view of other religions that the male dominated ruling sex should be allowed to decide to compel women to bear children against their will. We believe that one's status in society is not enhanced or diminished by their sex. Women and men are equal in the Church of Reality.
...
In particular, the South Dakota law prohibits all abortions even in cases of rape or incest. Therefore if a father rapes his daughter and impregnates her, she is forced to bear his child under the law. We in the Church of Reality finds this to be repulsive. Not only is the rape victim who would seek and abortion criminalized, but the doctor who provided the abortion would be criminalized as well.
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