Abortion and the Clergy Consultation Service

[ThievingMagpie]

This is my first post to the forum - hopefully it’s in the right place. Recently me and my wife were listening to an episode of the ‘Criminal’ podcast which covered the Clergy Consultation Service - a secret network of ministers, rabbis and nuns, possibly as many as 1400 individuals across the US, who arranged access for women to safe information and procedures before Roe v Wade. At the time there was reportedly an epidemic in vulnerable women exposing themselves to unsafe abortions which often could result in physical or sexual danger. The CCS found it unconscionable to turn a blind eye to these women as they were often the only figures who could be safely confided in. This opened the CCS up to significant legal and professional risk (hence why it has been covered by this podcast).

For context my wife is Christian and I am not; neither of us had ever heard of the CCS before but we agreed it was a really fascinating part of the story of US Christianity and really challenged our assumptions. My question (especially for folks from the US but not exclusively) is: How much did you know about this network? What are your views on the ethical decisions these men and women made and do you sympathize?

Lastly I’m finding further reading hard to find (which is what you might expect from a secret network) but if anyone could point me to further resources to learn more or even has a personal connection to any of these stories I’d be fascinated to hear. If anyone is interested you can listen in too: it’s episode 70 of the podcast - only about 25mins long and quite a compelling listen.

Ta!

 

[Occams Barber]

Hello Magpie
Welcome to CF

I know nothing about the Clergy Consultation Service but I Googled them out of curiosity.

This link (Googled) will take you to a page full of articles plus, at least, two books.

Appears they're not as secretive as you thought.

Enjoy
OB

 

[HereIStand]

Welcome to the forum. I've not heard of this group. The mainline Presbyterian church in the States was officially pro-choice by 1970, which was three years prior to Roe vs. Wade. If mainline Presbyterians were involved with such a group, it wouldn't be a surprise. Sadly, the specter of the back alley abortion has long been invoked by those on the pro-choice side to justify legalizing abortion.

 

[PloverWing]

I wasn't aware of this group either, although I was fairly young when Roe v Wade was decided, and the CCS maybe isn't something that adults would discuss with young kids. Evangelical Christians in the US seem to have unified around a strongly anti-abortion belief in the last couple of decades, but I remember a time before that, when Evangelicals held a wider variety of opinions; and of course there's been a diversity of views in the mainline churches for a long time. So the existence of something like the CCS isn't too surprising.

For myself, I'm not sure whether I would have participated in the CCS if I had been a member of the clergy in the 1960s. But I understand the motivation of the clergy who were involved.

 

[SPF]

I am familiar with the group, and I've always been disappointed and discouraged by what they did. Abortion is tragic.

 

[Rebecca12]

Thanks. I'll check out the podcast. We may need them again. I am on board to help out whatever way I can.