Rev. Katherine Pater is a Presbyterian pastor and writer living in Westchester County, N.Y.

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Your Abortion Restrictions Ignore My Faith

by Katherine Pater 10-26-2023

A patient looks at her ultrasound before proceeding with a medical abortion at Alamo Women's Clinic in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on August 23, 2022. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo

Lost in the conversation about abortion rights and religious liberty is the fact that many Christians are not merely politically in favor of abotion access, but theologically in favor as well. These attempts to restrict abortion care and reproductive rights — even to the point where it puts the lives of pregnant people at dire risk — go against our Christian faith.

About That Bible Verse You See on Anti-Abortion Signs

by Katherine Pater 05-23-2022
Protesters hold signs outside an abortion clinic in central London

Protesters hold signs outside an abortion clinic in central London. Photo:  Michael Kemp / Alamy

I told my congregation that nine years earlier, on a cold January morning, I walked into a Planned Parenthood clinic.

Before you read further, let’s pause: What story do you think I’m about to tell? What assumptions about me or my circumstances did you make? Do you see me as someone with less moral authority than when you started reading? Take a moment to think.