Left-wing outlet The New York Times published a piece this week celebrating faith leaders who blessed an abortion clinic.
A Baptist minister, a Presbyterian pastor and a Jewish cantor held burning incense and walked the halls of an abortion clinic in Western Maryland as they “blessed the exam tables and their stirrups, the boxes of disposable gowns and the cushioned chairs in the recovery room, where women are moved after their abortions.”
The “ritual blessing” was meant “to show that religion could be a source of support for abortion rights,” the report said.
The Times noted that religious leaders have long participated in pro-abortion protests for decades. It appears that they are now taking that a step further.
“You all are blessings to those who come to you for care during some of their most vulnerable and sometimes painful moments,” Rev. Katey Zeh, an ordained Baptist minister, said to the staff members gathered at the clinic on the day of the blessing.
Zeh runs an organization called the Religious Community for Reproductive Choice. Reportedly, this multifaith organization “seeks to end religious stigma around abortion” and provides training for religious leaders who want to counsel people through their abortion decisions.
Not to mention, this organization holds blessings of abortion clinics. The Times noted that since 2017, the organization has held 10 blessings at abortion clinics. Apparently, staff spend months planning for it.
The day of the blessing at the Maryland clinic, some staff members drove more than three hours from Charleston, West Virginia, to be there. Previously, the West Virginia clinic shuttered after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. As a result, the clinic stayed open, only providing services like birth control, as well as so-called “gender affirming” transgender care. However, its executive director, Katie Quiñonez, wanted to continue providing abortions.
Quiñonez ended up opening the Women’s Health Center of Maryland to continue providing abortions. About half their patients come from West Virginia.
Since then, the local Right to Life chapter has restarted. The Times interviewed one member, Karen Majors, 65, who had an abortion over 30 years ago. Reportedly, a few years ago, Majors “saw a movie about a former abortion clinic director who became an anti-abortion activist” and it changed her mind on abortion.
It appears that the Times is referring to the movie “Unplanned,” about pro-life leader Abby Johnson.
The Times wrote that it caused Majors to ask God to “forgive her for ‘killing’ her baby.” She now sits in front of the Maryland abortion clinic sometimes to pray.
Reportedly, the first office of the Women’s Health Center of West Virginia opened inside of a church in Charleston in the 1970s. The minister who provided the space inside the church for the abortions services worked “before the Roe decision worked with a national network of religious leaders who helped women access abortions.”
The leader, Rev. Jim Lewis, reportedly said that his faith requires him to work with people who are outcast, including women seeking abortions.
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