By Dora Muhammad
After decades of gestation within my mind and spirit, and two years of incubation at Faith in Public Life, Theologies of CARE initiative finally manifested in the world through my first public presentation at Wake Forest School of Divinity’s 10th Annual Hatch Lecture and Symposium on December 2. For the love of a carefully developed acronym, it stands for Compassionate, Authentic Reproductive Health Equity—the name itself developed by my friend and FPL’s former senior director of communications, Lauren Green. The initiative focuses on partnering with higher theological education institutions to commit to providing a comprehensive narrative of reproductive health.
A single conceptual framework will not equip students to enter real-life situations with sufficient attentiveness and care to the members of the communities they will serve, who will seek their guidance on decisions for their healthcare that can be deeply tied to their identities and lived experiences. Theologies of CARE offers a more expansive and engaged theological framework to support the institutional formation of current and future faith leaders, enabling holistic and compassionate accompaniment regardless of their personal position.
Several years ago, an FPL survey of people of faith found that, when reproductive health care was reduced to focus solely on abortion, the issue proved divisive. However, when a multilayered approach to a wide range of reproductive health care issues was presented, most respondents supported a comprehensive scope of reproductive health care.
To introduce the expansive framework of Theologies of CARE, I conducted a series of conversations with student leaders and faculty scholars at theological institutions across faith traditions, centered on a single reproductive health care issue. Each chat will explore faith, ethics, and values that ground Theologies of CARE through the lens of sacred text and practices.
I launched the six-part virtual chat series in December in conversation with leaders from Duke University’s Human Rights Center and the Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture, “Dignity in Decision-Making.” We delved into an exploration of the central concept of dignity in the theological roots of human rights and its importance in shaping contemporary ethics around reproductive health equity. The series will culminate on April 7th with a conversation with womanist theology pioneer Rev. Dr. Emilie Townes on the immeasurable value of centering the experiences of Black women in reproductive health equity narratives, the fundamental concept that gave birth to the reproductive justice movement.
Upcoming chat topics are “Infertility and IVF: Feminine Divine Interrupted?” (Hindu theology), “Accessing Contraception in Purity Cultures” (Christian theology), “Gender Equity Transforming Abrahamic Patriarchy” (Jewish and Islamic theologies), and “Mind-Heart Balance, Mother Earth and Maternal Health” (Buddhist theology). I invite readers to join the dialogue.
Register to attend the series and receive past recordings at www.tinyurl.com/ChatTOC.
Dora is the founder of The AWARE Project (Advocacy for Women’s Activism, Rights and Empowerment) and convener of Creative Grace Conversations. She serves as Faith in Public Life’s Theologian in Residence and the Institute of Caribbean Studies’ Ambassador to Women.
