our mission
The Ohio Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC) works for a just society - one where people can live according to their own beliefs without coercion.
We seek to raise the voices of the faith community to ensure that all people can access the reproductive healthcare they need. Regardless of income, race, or background. Free from judgment and intimidation.
We use faith-based education, advocacy, and counseling to preserve and protect reproductive freedoms for ourselves and future generations.
Donate to our cause
Support our effort to build and educate
an interfaith community that supports choice.
Donate to our cause
Support our effort to build and educate
an interfaith community that supports choice.
“Ohio RCRC continues to faithfully speak out and advocate for compassionate reproductive care for all — including full access to birth control, adoption, family planning, abortion, and foster care. ”
proudly PRO-CHOICE AND PRO-Faith: we are the majority
It is a surprise to many that there exists an organization promoting ‘pro-choice’ religious views. Many assume that all people of faith are anti-abortion/anti-choice. However, the vast majority of Christians and the majority of Americans are in favor of keeping abortion safe and legal, whether they would choose themselves to have an abortion or not.
Many people are “pro-faith, pro-family, and pro-choice,” as the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC) slogan goes. Ohio RCRC seeks to build a faith-based community that preserves and protects the rights and moral dignity of all who are making decisions about reproductive health and dealing with reproductive loss.
At our core, RCRC is a coalition of national religious organizations. Like any coalition, the views of each denomination or organization are their own and often vary.
The power of our collective voice for reproductive justice is magnified by the unique, diverse views of our various member organizations – views which are grounded in thousands of years of scriptural texts and accepted beliefs around the moral agency of people to make the decisions that are best for them and their reproductive lives.
The church law in many Mainline and other religious denominations states that abortion should be safe, legal, and accessible. Members of the RCRC include the Episcopal Church, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), United Church of Christ, Unitarian Universalist Association, Catholics for Choice, and Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox Judaism.
Upcoming Events
Trainings, Presentations, & More!
WHO WE ARE
Meet Our Leadership
WHO WE ARE
Meet Our Leadership
Ohio RCRC is led by our executive director and a Board of Trustees. The board is currently searching for new members who have a range of skills and connections and will enhance our religious, geographic, ethnic, and racial diversity. Help us promote reproductive justice for all Ohioans - email us at info@ohiorcrc.org to become a board member!
Elaina Ramsey has served as Ohio RCRC's Executive Director since June 2017.
Elaina ramsey
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
With a decade of campaign, advocacy, grassroots organizing, and communications experience, Elaina loves listening to people’s stories and engaging communities for social change. She has worked for various nonprofits and campaigns at the intersection of faith and politics — including Sojourners, Red Letter Christians, Women’s Action for New Directions, and Obama for America.
A former fundamentalist evangelical, Elaina practices compassionate care as a pro-faith, pro-family, and pro-choice Christian. In 2019, she was recognized as a Coolidge Scholar by Auburn Theological Seminary for her work in religion and reproductive justice.
Elaina received her bachelor's degree from Capital University in Columbus, OH. She holds a master's degree in both Theological Studies and International Peace & Conflict Resolution from Wesley Theological Seminary and American University, respectively. Elaina hails from Chillicothe, OH, and adores her wild and wonderful family.
Rev. Terry Williams
Faith organizer
Rev. Terry Williams is an Ordained Minister of the United Church of Christ, currently serving as pastor of a congregation in Chillicothe. A native of southern Appalachian Ohio, he is active in ecumenical and social justice movements across the greater Ohio region that center the voices of marginalized persons in the determination of their own future.
Educated at Ohio Wesleyan University and The Methodist Theological School in Ohio, Rev. Williams has earned a B.A. in Religion; a M.Div. with a specialization in biblical languages and texts; and a MTS degree with an emphasis in Christian Theology and Ethics. Interpreting the Bible with special attention to the ethical, moral, and social implications of a religious reading of scripture, Rev. Williams gives voice to religious values that honor both science and sacred text as important sources of moral authority. He is committed to uniting strong theological conviction with deep spiritual experiences in ways which transform, heal, and empower people to live meaningful lives for the benefit of God’s whole creation.
Rabbi jessica shimberg
FAITH ORGANIZER
Rabbi Jessica K. Shimberg is the founding spiritual leader of The Little Minyan Kehilah, an eco-conscious congregation which plants, tends, and harvests deep-rooted Jewish connections in central Ohio since 2005. The Kehilah (Hebrew for community) is affiliated with Jewish Renewal and Reconstructionist movements. Rabbi Shimberg’s ritual artistry, infectious enthusiasm, and ability to locate and lift the sacred within the ordinary draws many beyond her congregation to her “rabbinistry.”
She facilitates learning and engagement for people of all ages and points of entry, and loves helping even the most skeptical in connecting to the Sacred Source. A trained mediator and facilitator, as well as a former litigator, Rabbi Shimberg is an active advocate for social and environmental justice — addressing issues concerning economic disparities, immigrants and refugees, reproductive rights, and our Earth through a spiritual lens. She loves the dynamism of interfaith work and is active locally and at the national level.
Megan M. Hunter, Esq.
Board Member
Ms. Hunter serves as a resident attorney at Fair Shake Environmental Legal Services in Akron, Ohio. She graduated from Vermont Law School in 2014, where she served as chair of their chapter of Law Students for Reproductive Justice. During that time, she brought Dr. Katharine Morrison of Buffalo Women’s Service (a woman who opened a birthing center in her abortion clinic) to speak at their annual Roe v. Wade Anniversary Dinner.
Ms. Hunter is a licensed attorney in New York and Ohio and continues her work in the Buckeye state with legal issues at the intersection of environmental and reproductive justice. She is a proud pro-choice Catholic.
Board Member
REV. KELLY BURD
Rev. Kelly Burd is pastor of the historic Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ in Cleveland, Ohio. Pastor Kelly earned a Bachelor of Science in Education degree from Ohio University in 1992. Following graduation, she bartended at the world’s longest bar on South Bass Island in Lake Erie and taught English in Tokyo, Japan before matriculating at Yale Divinity School, where she earned a Master of Divinity. Among other justice pursuits, Rev. Burd is a skilled sexuality educator and advocate of Our Whole Lives (OWL), a comprehensive sexuality education program co-published by the United Church of Christ and the Unitarian Universalist Association.
Board Member
RABBI ROBERT NOSANCHUK
Robert Nosanchuk is Senior Rabbi of Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple in Cleveland, Ohio. Rabbi Nosanchuk also serves as co-chair of Greater Cleveland Congregations; holds a seat on the boards of NATAL: Israel’s Trauma and Resiliency Center and the Jewish Federation of Cleveland. Since a teenager, Rabbi Nosanchuk has seen himself as an activist for peace, justice and equality. Within the world of pro-choice advocacy, he has advanced his synagogue’s work with the Freedom of Choice Coalition in Cleveland and has been an advocate and ally of the “My Abortion, My Life” campaign. A graduate who was rabbinically ordained by the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion, he is currently pursuing a Certificate in Counseling and Spiritual Wellness at John Carroll University.
