Reproductive Justice and the Catholic Church: Advancing Pragmatic Solidarity with Pregnant Women

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Pregnancy loss is profoundly complex, ambiguous, and alienating, but telling women who have procured abortions that they are murderers and sinners is not the best way forward. Magisterial teachings on abortion are too often presented as moral absolutes, when in fact moral absolutism distorts the rich wisdom of the Catholic intellectual tradition. This book initiates a new conversation about womens experiences of miscarriage, stillbirth, and abortion, arguing that we need not approach these difficult life experiences in a simplistic way. Dr. Reimer-Barry argues that both the pro-life and pro-choice movements make important and valuable claims, yet each approach on its own is flawed. Drawing on the framework of reproductive justice together with Catholic social teaching, Dr. Reimer-Barry suggests a new way forward for abortion discourse that takes seriously the full human dignity of women and the intrinsic (though not absolute) value of prenatal life. She argues that instead of thinking of the Church as a moral teacherwith leaders in Rome or Washington, DC dictating to the consciences of the faithfula better way to address the complexity of difficult pregnancy discernments would be to think of the Church as a community of support in the midst of and after difficult discernments; a community that seeks justice together and implements structural reforms while also providing spiritual care to those in need. What women deserve, is justice.

Reviews

This is a brave and honest book. It is also reconciliatory and nuanced. Reimer Barry brings needed moral-theological expertise, ecclesial civility and mutual compassion to this notoriously fractious topic. Her focus on justice as support for the wellbeing of all makes it a superlative point of entry to the ethics and politics of abortion for scholars and students alike. -- Lisa Sowle Cahill, J. Donald Monan Professor of Theology, Boston College
Meticulously researched, staunchly feminist, and compellingly argued, Reproductive Justice and the Catholic Church makes a thoroughly Catholic case for taking a reproductive justice approach to pregnancy and mothering that centers women's agency and women's and children's welfare. Reimer-Barry demonstrates how absolutist opposition to abortion has distorted the Catholic moral tradition. Instead, informed by women's experiences of all kinds of pregnancy loss, she traces a path toward a socially just world in which women can safely bear and raise the children they want to have. -- Cristina L.H. Traina, Avery Cardinal Dulles, S.J. Chair in Catholic Theology, Fordham University
Writing from her deep conviction that "a better way is possible, Dr. Reimer-Barry helps Catholics recognize our complicity in structures that harm pregnant women and provides a vital resource for embarking on the necessary work of centering women's agency and discernment in conversations about abortion. This book is a primer on Church teaching, an introduction to the social injustices that motivate work for reproductive justice, and a guide to proceeding with respect for women's agency and discernment. It also includes a moving and challenging collection of women's testimonies about their experiences of pregnancy and loss. Anyone in the Church who talks about abortion, and especially the Church's male leaders, should read this book with care. -- Mollie Wilson O'Reilly, Editor at Large, Commonweal magazine
Dr. Reimer-Barry writes from a theologically informed, compassionate, experiential, feminist perspective, drawing from the reproductive justice movement and Catholic social teaching, to propose a pastoral response to the complex personal and social issues surrounding womens reproductive decisions in general, and abortion in specific. Her book is essential reading to promote womens dignity and offer nuance, insight, and compassion to move ecclesial, social, and political discussions beyond the reductionist pro-life/pro-choice binary. -- Todd Salzman, Amelia and Emil Graff Professor of Catholic Theology, Creighton University
Reimer-Barry offers a distinct, nuanced Catholic position on abortion. She integrates Catholic resources and scientific research to argue that alternative teachings on abortionless legalistic, less black and white, more pastoral and nuancedare possible. She confronts problematic binaries, narrow biblical interpretations, overly-simplistic moral absolutes, patriarchy, and racism and responds by attending to womens experiences, valuing womens moral agency, and suggesting necessary social and structural supports. This book dismantles tired, dead-end binaries and charts a path forward that aligns with Catholic social teaching and respect for consciences. Reimer-Barry shows why she is the leading expert on Catholicism and reproductive justice. -- Elizabeth Sweeney Block, associate professor of Christian Ethics, Saint Louis University
In her proposal for a Catholic ethics of abortion, Emily Reimers Barry revisits the arguments from the tradition of Catholic Moral Theology and Catholic Social Teaching. She confronts the more recent teachings with womens experiences of pregnancy loss and explores the compatibility of the reproductive justice framework with Catholic social ethics. Her arguments attend to prenates and women, prioritizing pregnant womens bodily integrity and moral agency. Her call for pragmatic solidarity is timely and apt, and her engaged Catholicism will be welcome by readers who wish to transcend the pro life and pro choice dichotomy. -- Hille Haker, Richard A. McCormick, SJ, Chair of Catholic Moral Theology, Loyola University Chicago

Author Bio

Emily Reimer-Barry is associate professor of theology and religious studies and affiliated faculty in the program in womens and gender studies at the University of San Diego, where she teaches undergraduate courses in theological ethics. She is the author of Catholic Marriage in the Era of HIV and AIDS: Marriage for Life (2015) and her essays and articles have appeared in Theological Studies, Proceedings of the Catholic Theological Society of America, Theology & Sexuality, and the Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics.