Thanks to the over 200 people who Stormed the Statehouse on Wednesday, March 21 for a lobby day in Downtown Columbus.

In the next few weeks, the Ohio Senate could vote to virtually outlaw abortion. The Ohio House has already done so.

Now is the time for all Ohioans to stand up and say, this is enough!

We are so grateful to the people, over 200, who stood up to share their passionate and articulate support for women and families  on Wednesday, March 21.

This event was sponsored by Freedom of Choice Ohio.  Ohio RCRC is a member of this coalition and a sponsor of Storm the Statehouse!

We need your voice now more than ever.

Please make your voice heard.  See our POLITICAL ADVOCACY page, especially the sample letters near the bottom of the page, to learn more about how to make a difference.

This event was sponsored by Freedom of Choice Ohio.  Ohio RCRC is a member of this coalition and a sponsor of Storm the Statehouse!

A strong joint statement was issued on Thursday, February 9, by a number of progressive religious groups, including our parent organization, the national Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, in support of the Heath and Human Services decision to require birth control coverage in employee health plans, with NO exception for religious institutions that have a diverse workforce and serve a secular mission, such as hospitals.

The entire statement, including the list of organizations behind it, can he found here.

February 1, 2012

(Note, this letter appeared in the Columbus Dispatch’s Editorial Page on Saturday, February 11, at the top of page A11.  You can see it also in their online edition.)

Dear Leaders of the Catholic Church in Ohio,

Religious Freedom.  Freedom of and from Religion.  How interesting that Ohio’s Catholic leadership and others are crying out that their religious freedom has been violated when the federal government mandates that their hospitals are not exempt from new requirements that employee health insurance must include birth control.  With the surge of legislation in 2011 on the national and state stages limiting the reproductive rights of women based on a powerful religious minority, I was beginning to wonder if anyone had remembered that we do, indeed, hold religious freedom dear to us in this country.

As a leader of the Ohio Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, and with the help of Catholics for Choice, allow me to explain why the federal government acted on behalf of religious freedom, rather than to restrict the religious freedom of the bishops, as they claim.

When a government or an organization moves to support religious freedom, we move to expand access and rights to enable more diversity in religious and moral freedom, rather than allow people to suppress rights to only allow one religious practice.  The 600+ Catholic hospitals in this country, many of which serve areas for which there are no other alternative hospitals, serve a diverse population, and have a diverse workforce.  Their current reproductive health practices (as outlined in onerous “Directives” from the bishops) limit the health care available to their patients and in their employee insurance plans based of the religious beliefs of a few powerful leaders.  This qualifies as religious discrimination.  The problem is exacerbated when you consider that these hospitals receive significant public funding.

Requiring birth control coverage as part of any employee health insurance plan is an important step toward respecting the moral, individual consciences of employees.  Indeed, even if the majority of the employees in such a hospital were Catholic, this mandate would be important, because the Catholic leadership is woefully out of sync with the rest of the Catholic Church.  98% of sexually active American Catholics have practiced modern birth control methods as a matter of conscience.  From a practicality perspective, the “natural” methods simply do not work.

As a deeply religious Christian, while acknowledging that my background in the Word is not as rich as that of the Catholic leadership in Ohio, please allow me to point out some Christian principles that also emphasize the importance of religious freedom.  All of us, men and women, are created in the image of God, as decision-makers and creators (of life, technology and art), each with unique gifts and talents we might offer to God’s service.  The doctors, nurses, social workers, technicians, administrators, and janitors in any hospital were created in God’s image with the ability to make thoughtful decisions about how to best be stewards of their own lives and their impact on their communities, in sync with their own consciences.  Our conscience is interceded upon daily by the Holy Spirit.  God gave us our free will to act in accordance with our conscience and God’s will or outside it, to follow God or to follow other ways.  God grants us this freedom, and our wonderful country is at its best when it supports religious freedom.  You see, a love freely given, in gratitude and with service freely offered, is much preferable to an allegiance garnered through force or fear.   And truly, God’s will for each person’s life is only discernible through that person’s conscience, and therefore best executed through their own free will.  Praise be to God!  God Bless America!

Cathy Levy, Ohio Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice

Please join us in applauding the 76 people who stepped forward to support this declaration:

We Believe Reproductive Choice is a Vital Part of Religious Liberty and Human Dignity.

Their names are listed under the declaration in this beautiful PDF display created by Solari Design.  If your browser has difficulty downloading PDF, please contact us, and we’ll make arrangements for you to have a copy.

During Trust Women Week, which overlaps with January 22, the 39th anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision, we were happy to link to this beautiful declaration through online advertisements in

Cleveland Plain Dealer (in the “Interact” / “Forums” / POLITICAL or RELIGION or ENTERTAINMENT areas of the site)

Cincinnati Enquirer (at the top of the OPINION section)

Columbus Dispatch (Wednesday January 25-27, at the top of the OPINION or NEWS sections)

If you would like to support this declaration for 2013, the 40th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision, we are taking names and donations already!  You too can help end the sigma around reproductive choice and show the public and our politicians that respected religious, spiritual, and moral people support reproductive and religious freedom!  Please contact us. 

Ohio’s State Government has been and will be on the move to limit and even end our reproductive freedoms and the reproductive justice for our children and grandchildren.   If you are pro-faith, pro-family, and pro-choice, perhaps you will agree with us that you oppose the bills under consideration.  They include:

• So-called “Heartbeat Bill” (effectively outlaws abortion in Ohio).  PASSED THE HOUSE, AMENDMENTS UNDER CONSIDERATION IN SENATE COMMITTEE.
• A bill that would effectively Defund Planned Parenthood. ASSIGNED TO COMMITTEE’S IN HOUSE AND SENATE.

To read more about the bills and learn how to quickly voice your opposition, check out our Action Alert pages customized for the Governor, Ohio Senate, and Ohio House.

The fight will continue.  A Personhood Amendment for the Ohio constitution could very well be on Ohioan’s November 2012 ballots.  See “Get Involved” for several ways to help educate Ohioans before this vote.

The Ohio Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice is made up of people from a variety of faith traditions, including Catholics-for-Choice, Jewish, Episcopal, United Methodist, Presbyterian, United Church of Christ,  Unitarian Universalist, and Lutheran.

People of all faiths, as well as people who do not have a faith affiliation, are welcome.

Learn more about Ohio RCRC at “What We Do.”

Learn more about the MANY dangerous anti-choice bills pending in our state legislature at “Advocacy”