“Reproductive Justice is the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children, not have children, and
parent the children we have in safe and sustainable
Voice for Choice
communities.” — SisterSong
Newsletter of the Kentucky Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice
Attacks on Reproductive Freedom Continue in the
Kentucky General Assembly
by Angela Cooper
Angela Cooper serves the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky
as Communications Director.
During the 2022 legislative session, extremist politicians
crafted several pieces of legislation that are designed to
force Kentuckians to remain pregnant against their will and
to increase the shame and stigma surrounding necessary
reproductive care.
With the proposed amendment to the Kentucky state
constitution still on the horizon—an amendment that would
entirely deny the right to abortion care (even in cases of
rape, incest, or life-threatening conditions) if Roe v. Wade
is ever weakened or overturned-- legislators chose to spend
valuable time and energy drafting such legislation as House
Bill 3, an abortion omnibus bill erroneously labeled as
healthcare legislation.
The bill runs about 60 pages and includes prohibitions
on medical abortion, chemical abortion, judicial bypass,
prohibitions on receiving abortion pills/the morning-after
pill in the mail, restrictions on disposal of fetal tissue,
increased certification and penalties for providers, and
myriad reporting requirements and changes to existing
Wayne’s Words
by Rev. Wayne A. Gnatuk
The Reverend Wayne A. Gnatuk is a retired Presbyterian minister and Chair of the KRCRC board.
It’s fifty going on sixty degrees as I write these words in late
March, and tomorrow the prediction is that it will be seventy!
The sky is blue, the grass is getting greener by the day, and
the thoroughbreds are itching to run for several furlongs. In
short, it’s spring!
Spring and optimism, at least for me, go hand in hand. This
spring, our Kentucky Religious Coalition for Reproductive
Choice has ample cause for optimism!
You may recall that we received a substantial bequest last
Spring 2022
statutes. There are
no processes or
systems in place to
accommodate the
requirements of the
bill.
HB3 would require the state to publish the names of all
physicians that provide medication abortion and create a
state-run “complaint portal” that would allow any member
of the public to submit anonymous complaints about
abortion providers. Abortion providers are already subject
to strict state oversight, and this bill will open them up
to increased harassment from anti-abortion extremists
and force the state to waste time and money investigating
fraudulent complaints.
The bill also creates a redundant and onerous FDA-
like certification program under the state Board of
Pharmacy targeting abortion drugs that would require drug
manufacturers, distributors, and pharmacies to register and
Cont. on page 3.
year. The KRCRC Board has decided to use a part of that
bequest, along with two other wonderful gifts, to hire two
full time staff: Theresa M. Scott starts her work with us on
May 1, and Margaret Velto joins us on August 1 (for more
about them, see p. 2).
This is the first time KRCRC has ever had full-time staff!
Our two Outreach Coordinators will be working throughout
the state to start new KRCRC regional chapters, and to enlist
faith communities as supporters of our work.
Cont. on page 3.
 New Faces at KRCRC
PAGE 2

With the support of the generous bequest of Jennifer Mc-
Comas, KRCRC has added two new employees. They will
work as outreach coordinators, making connections with re-
ligious congregations and other groups throughout the state
and setting up new local KRCRC chapters.
Theresa Morgan-Scott, a graduate of Eastern Kentucky
University, holds an M.A. in Vocational and Home Eco-
nomics Education. Her most recent employment was as a
Family/Consumer Sciences Educator with the University of
Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service. Margaret Velto,
a native of Cary, NC, is a member of the Class of 2022 at
Oberlin College. As a student, she worked with the Reverend
Cari Jackson of RCRC to increase support for reproductive
rights on university campuses.
Our new outreach coordinators introduce themselves here:
Theresa Morgan-Scott:
First, I would like to express how
elated I am to be joining the KR-
CRC Family!
I am an ardent supporter and life-
long champion of women’s rights,
and it’s my mission to foster the
rights of women, families, and
society.
As an Outreach Coordinator with KRCRC, I shall pursue all
avenues to link people of faith and social conscience as part
of the team’s efforts.
My experience in developing communities through mobiliz-
ing individuals will be an essential basis for accomplishing
the development of KRCRC chapters and faith communities
(of support) across the Commonwealth.
As a twenty-five-year resident of Eastern Kentucky, I have
cultural knowledge that will allow me a unique opportunity
to expand our base of support.
It is with eagerness that I meet our KRCRC volunteers and
supporters who have worked tirelessly toward preserving
reproductive rights across the state, especially at this point in
history.
Margaret Velto:
My name is Margaret Velto (she/
her), and I am one of the new
outreach workers for KRCRC. I
am a graduating senior at Ober-
lin College in northeast Ohio,
majoring in Gender, Sexuality,
& Feminist Studies and Religion
with minors in Comparative
American Studies and East Asian
Studies. As my friends like to say,
I have an alphabet-soup degree.
I was raised in Cary, North Carolina as the daughter of two
educators who also double as a United Church of Christ
minister (mother) and Quaker clerk (father). Because of my
religious upbringing and my family’s history of advocacy
work, I have always believed that faith and social justice are
intertwined.
Currently, I serve as a co-organizer for the Spiritual Youth
for Reproductive Freedom (SYRF) initiative through the
national RCRC as well as a member of the interim steering
committee for Spiritual Alliance of Communities for Repro-
ductive Dignity (SACReD).
I am an avid language learner, having studied Chinese,
Dutch, and Spanish with the goal of also studying Hebrew,
Arabic, and many more. In my spare time, I love reading po-
etry and memoir, singing, dancing, babysitting, and watching
Jeopardy and baseball. In the future, I hope to pursue a mas-
ter’s in Global Health or Medical Humanities with focuses in
reproductive healthcare and non-profit work.
I will be moving to Louisville in July with my fat, orange cat,
Bart (named after Bartolomé de las Casas), and I am beyond
excited to work with you all!

Do you shop at Kroger, with a Kroger Plus card?

You can be giving KRCRC a financial boost, at no cost to you!
Two simple steps:
1.Go to www.kroger.com/communityrewards.
Create an account or sign in.
2.Follow the instructions to select an organization.
KRCRC is #SU106.
Now you’re ready to help KRCRC every time you shop! Just use your Kroger
card (including at the gas pump), and KRCRC will receive a small percent of
your purchases. Thank you!
Wayne’s Words Cont. from page 1.

PAGE 3
As reproductive rights in Kentucky continue to be attacked It’s spring, a time for
by the far right, it’s more important than ever that people of optimism! Working together
faith and conscience stand up for a progressive, pro-woman with Theresa and Margaret,
agenda. We need people of faith and conscience not only we can advance reproductive
to provide financial support, but also to speak the truth of rights here in Kentucky. In
reproductive justice clearly to those legislators in our state whatever way you feel called
who seem hell-bent determined to deny women the God- to participate in that work,
given rights to which we believe all women are entitled. To please continue to be a
end misogyny, we of progressive faith and conscience must faithful part of the KRCRC
speak against it! family!

Theresa and Margaret are going to help us do that. Theresa

The Rev. Wayne A. Gnatuk
will be with us for three years. As of now, Margaret will
be with us for one year, but our hope is that funds will
materialize to continue her employment into the future. If
you can help meet our budgetary needs through a gift or
bequest, we will be most grateful!

Reproductive Freedom Cont. from page 1.

certify with the state. This targeted attack on abortion doctor was consulted in the drafting of the bill and no
providers will waste state resources and burden providers, medical doctor from Kentucky testified in favor of the bill,
with no health or safety benefit. though more than one practicing OB/GYN testified in
opposition.
HB3 prohibits health care facilities from safely and
respectfully handling fetal tissue in accordance with Senate Bill 321 is a pointless piece of political
accepted medical standards and practice. It also requires grandstanding that would ban abortion in Kentucky after
the state to promote the fraudulent idea that medication 15 weeks of gestation. Kentucky’s existing 15-week ban,
abortion can be reversed. There is no scientific or medical which passed in 2018, is still facing active legal challenges
evidence to suggest that reversing a medication abortion for its violation of the constitutional right to abortion.
is possible. This bill would require doctors and the state to SB321 mimics Mississippi legislation currently under
push make-believe review by the Supreme Court of the United States.
Senate Bill 321 is medicine at
a pointless piece of political patients’ expense. The ACLU of Kentucky and our partners will continue
grandstanding that would to fight attacks on reproductive freedom in our
ban abortion in Kentucky The bill requires commonwealth. To join the fight, follow @ACLUofKY on
after 15 weeks of the state to issue Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, sign up for email action
gestation. “birth-death” alerts at ACLU-KY.org, and become a member for just $5
certificates for at ACLU-KY.org/Join or make a tax-deductible donation
all abortions, at ACLU-KY.org/Give
regardless of the patient’s wishes or circumstances.
Requiring the state to issue a birth-death certificate for
every abortion, with no consideration for the patient’s
circumstances or wishes, is a cruel way to stigmatize and
shame patients who have an abortion, and will also put
patient privacy at risk.

HB3 is so convoluted that even the bill’s sponsor has

trouble describing it. The bill is rife with misinformation,
fearmongering, and outright lies. It misleads patients
and unnecessarily complicates medical care. No medical
 The Reverend Dr. Donna T. Morton
PAGE 4

In Memoriam
by Ann T. Allen
Ann T. Allen is a KRCRC board member and the editor of Voice for Choice.

She was the “heart and center” of her family, said the
speakers at Donna Morton’s memorial service at Fourth
Street Memorial Church, December 18, 2021. During
her last illness, her “whole face would light up” when she
received visits or telephone calls from her three children and
four grandchildren. She was a loyal friend to many people,
including some who disagreed with her. And she was a
“strong and powerful voice on the side of justice.”
Donna Morton was a Louisville native, a graduate of Manual
High School (1964), the University of Louisville (B.A. 1967,
J.D. 1971), and Louisville Presbyterian Seminary (M.Div.,
1975, D Min. 1982). Morton began as an attorney who
litigated cases that defended voting rights for women and the
welfare of young people. She represented such groups as the
Kentucky Women’s Political Caucus and the American Civil
Liberties Union of Kentucky.
and sexual preference. She also worked with the Interfaith
Action for Economic Justice and the National Coalition to
End Gun Violence.
Reproductive justice was a central focus of Morton’s
ministry. From 1991 until 1999 she served as Executive
Director of Louisville’s Planned Parenthood affiliate. In
that role, she became a prominent advocate of accessible
sex education, birth control, and abortion. In an Op-Ed
article in the Louisville Courier-Journal in 1995, the thirtieth
anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Griswold v.
Connecticut--a decision that guaranteed the right to purchase
and use contraception--she remarked on the potential of
modern forms of contraception to change the lives of
women. “The freedom to defer or limit childbearing has
enabled women to take the first steps in joining men as
equals in the work force.” But, she warned, privacy rights
were again under attack, and access to contraception--
especially for poor and uninsured women--was in danger.

In her pastoral role, As Executive Director of Planned Parenthood, Morton

Morton (as another saw the need for abortion funding. Many patients could not
friend recalled) “connected afford to pay for the procedure, which was not covered by
Jesus with justice,” and most insurance policies. She therefore used her connections
spoke up “for those to bring together the group that founded A Fund, Inc.--
an organization that raises funds to assist needy women
whom the world wants who need abortions. KRCRC recognized her work for
to push aside.” reproductive justice by giving her the Gunn Award, named
for Dr. David Gunn, a physician who was murdered for
performing abortions, in 1999.

When Morton entered the ministry of the United Methodist Donna T. Morton died December 14, 2021.
Church, she served several churches as pastor and was at
various times a member of Central Presbyterian Church
and Fourth Avenue Methodist Church. During the years she
lived in Washington, D.C., she worked for the Methodist
Church on its Board of Church and Society and its General
Commission on the Status and Role of Women. She spoke
to the younger generation through the campus ministry at
the University of Louisville and through the courses she
taught at Bellarmine University, the University of Louisville,
and Louisville Presbyterian Seminary.

In her pastoral role, Morton (as another friend recalled)

“connected Jesus with justice,” and spoke up “for those
whom the world wants to push aside.” Opposing her
denomination’s prohibitions on the ordination of LBGT
people, she supported what were known as Reconciling
Congregations that welcomed all, regardless of gender, race, The Reverend Dr. Donna T. Morton
Kentucky Access is Gaining Steam, and We Need You
by Heather Bruner
Heather Bruner is the Philanthropy Officer of Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawaii, Alaska, Indiana, and Kentucky.
For nearly a year, Protect Kentucky Access, a collection
of non-profit and community organizations across the
Commonwealth, has been organizing with the purpose of
stopping and defeating the ballot initiative in Kentucky that
seeks to end the right to an abortion. Protect Kentucky
Access is registered as a Political Issue Committee and
includes leadership from Planned Parenthood Alliance
Advocates, ACLU- KY, Kentucky Health Justice Network,
KRCRC, Sister Song, Sexy Sex-Ed, Kentucky Black Birth
Workers Alliance, and several more organizations state-wide.
According to PKA, the rights of people to control their own
reproductive health care are under attack across the country,
and it is no different in Kentucky. Roe v. Wade is no longer a
safety net. We must protect our rights here at home. This
amendment is a clear example of extremist politicians in
Frankfort going way too far. The Kentucky Constitution
is designed to protect ALL in the Commonwealth. The
legislators and organizations behind this amendment believe
all abortion should be illegal, no matter what. We cannot
allow special interests to edit our constitution in an attempt
to impose their own values on others who do not share
them.
In January of this year, the coalition hired a communications
firm to oversee polling on abortion messaging and begin to
frame our rallying call against this dangerous ballot initiative.
Based on their early analysis of currently active registered
voters in Kentucky and historic vote information, there are
currently just over 3.5 million registered voters in Kentucky.
Educators at St. Andrew Offer a Broad Definition of
Reproductive Justice
by Diane Snowa
The Reverend Diane Snowa is a retired minister of the United Church of Christ and a KRCRC board member.
St Andrew United Church of Christ (UCC) offered a four-
week educational series on reproductive justice (via Zoom)
in January of 2022. Leaders of the first session were the
UCC National Minister for Sexual Education and Justice
and a fellow with the UCC Council on Health and Services
Ministry. The first speaker offered a working definition of
reproductive justice: the right to have a child, the right to not
have a child, the right to raise children in a safe and healthy
environment. The second speaker paid tribute to the Black
activists who first named and advocated the reproductive
justice movement. Both women emphasized that they
worked toward broadly transformative goals. Racial equity,
PAGE 5
This analysis projects a 2022 voter turnout rate of 45.7%, or
approximately 1.6 million voters, resulting in a win number
of 818,065 votes.
We need at least 818,065 Kentuckians to stand
against the extremist amendment in order to
protect Kentucky from going dark for decades to
come.
At this moment, the coalition is hiring staff and planning out
a strategy to touch donors across the commonwealth over
the next 7 months. This will cost nearly 4 million dollars
and include field and media training, a volunteer persuasion
program, press conferences, letters to the editor, press
releases, direct mail, branded swag, paid advertisements, and
so much more.
We need all hands on deck from
now until November 8, 2022.
You can donate today at https://
actionnetwork.org/fundraising/kyac-
fundraiser-one, and you can sign-up
to volunteer at JoinToProtectKY.org
This is your call to action to act now
and to keep fighting for abortion
rights until election day. The
generations of Kentuckians that
come after us need access protected
in Kentucky, and Protect Kentucky
conservation of natural environments, improved school
funding, school-based sex education, appropriate health
care for transgender and gender non-conforming persons,
broadened access to pre-natal and post-natal care and to
treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, and elimination
of food deserts—all these are aspects of reproductive
justice.
During the second and third weeks, the director of the
Kentucky Health Justice Network and two staff members
plus three “teen educators” from Planned Parenthood told
us how their work advances reproductive justice.
Cont. on page 6.
 “We are people of faith, too!”
PAGE 6
The National Council of Jewish Women’s
Campaign for Abortion Access
by Ann T. Allen
“For too long, the narrative in this country about abortion
and religion belies the Jewish story,” declared the National
Council of Jewish Women in 2021. “Abortion access is a
Jewish value, plain and simple.”
I asked Beth Salamon, who is the Chair of the Community
Relations Council and the State Policy Advocate of the local
NCJW chapter, why the Council focused on this issue. The
NCJW, she explained, was founded in 1893 (the Louisville
chapter in 1896) and has always worked for progressive
causes, including education, women’s rights, and reproductive
autonomy. In fact, the organization was an early and reli-
able supporter of the birth-control movement, and starting
in the 1920s helped to found some of the first clinics that
dispensed contraceptives.
As Salomon explained, Judaism has traditionally valued
reproductive autonomy. Jewish law does not state that life
begins at conception; for most of its development, the fetus
is part of the woman’s body and becomes a person only at
the first breath, when the soul is said to enter the body. Nor
is the termination of a pregnancy regarded as murder--in
fact, it is recommended if the mother is endangered. Juda-
ism gives precedence to the rights of the mother to life and
health over those of the fetus.
Likewise, as Cantor Sharon Hordes of Keneseth Israel re-
minded us in a recent sermon, Jewish law mandates care for
vulnerable people, not for only the widow and the orphan
but also for women who may not have the resources to deal
with an unexpected pregnancy: “To ignore these women’s
plight and minimize their difficulties,” she stated, “flies in the
face of this commandment.”
The Council’s campaign, entitled “73 Forward,” calls on
women of both the Reform and the Conservative traditions
Educators Cont. from page 5.
During the final week, four religious leaders-- Cantor
Sharon Hordes of Keneseth Israel Congregation (a
KRCRC board member), plus ministers from Central
Presbyterian Church, Highland Baptist Church, and
Universalist Unitarian Congregations—led a panel
discussion and answered questions.
Each presenter agreed to be recorded, and each of the
four presentations is available on the church website
(www.saintandrewucc.org) and YouTube. The organizers
hope that other congregations may offer the series to
their members and so contribute to the formation of an
ecumenical religious movement for reproductive justice in
Kentucky.
to make their voices heard in religious and secular settings
and to join interfaith coalitions that promote reproductive
rights. It encourages congregations to educate their mem-
bers, most recently through “Reproductive Rights Shabbat”
services.
NCJW endorses legislation that (to name only a few ex-
amples) aims to prevent pharmacists and providers from
usurping the right of patients to make their own decisions
by denying care, to expand insurance coverage to pay the
cost of abortion and other reproductive services, to protect
abortion providers, to make medical care available to needy
pregnant women and mothers, and to facilitate access not
only to clinics but also to self-managed abortion.
Above all, the Council aims to challenge the religious bigotry
of the right-wing groups that condemn abortion. Laws that
ban or harshly restrict abortion enforce only one religious
viewpoint and oppress the many people who think differ-
ently. At stake here are not only the rights of women, but
also those of the individual conscience, as guaranteed by
the United States Constitution. The Council, its leaders an-
nounce, “refuses to stand by while anti-abortionists misuse
faith to justify restricting abortion rights and access. We
are people of faith, too, and we’re here to ensure the world
knows where we stand.”
NCJW members demonstrate for abortion access. https://
www.ncjw.org/work/reproductive-healthcare-access-equity/
Rev Diane Snowa
KRCRC Outreach Volunteer
wsnowa02@twc.com
502-254-7178
Amy Johnson, UCC National Minister for Sexual Education and Justice,
and Essence Ellis, UCC Council on Health and Services Ministry, intro-
duce the St. Andrew series on Reproductive Justice.
A Blessing for the Champions

PAGE 7
of Reproductive Health
by Annica Gage
Annica Gage is a chaplain at Frazier Rehabilitation Institute and a Candidate for ordination within
the Presbyterian Church (USA).
To every person who works to protect, promote, and participate in reproductive health
in a culture that would sooner bury itself in shame and stigma
than dare to recognize your embodiment, sexuality, and autonomy as sacred:
may you know your weight and your worth.
To every educator who has sought avenues to share clinic addresses and condoms,
Annica Gage
enduring shame and scolding from the very communities you seek to care for:
may you know your information as empowering, not enabling.
To every young adult who came to understand your fertility as a liability
long before you could understand it as a miracle:
may you know your body as a temple, not a tool.
To every partner who has overheard your discernment of an unexpected pregnancy
reduced to a binary of recklessness or selfishness:
may you know your intentionality as a calling, not a cop-out.
To every clinician who has outlined your patient’s reproductive health options in their entirety
over the screams of sidewalk protestors:
may you know your practice as essential, not criminal.
To every citizen who has borne witness to illnesses named only in whispers,
and heard your history reduced to sound-bites in the mouths of pundits:
may you know your story as a holy text, not an after-school special.
To every preacher who has fielded angry comments from angry congregants
for proclaiming that it was God who saw us in all our nakedness and called us good:
may you know your words as divine truth, not taboo.
To every congregation carving some small space to talk about sex, attraction, abortion, consent,
amidst a landscape that would bury the language of autonomy under the guise of piety:
may you know your curiosity as faithful, not faithless.
To every public servant working to codify bodily autonomy
enduring insults and outrage from pundits and constituents:
may you know your dedication as a virtue, not a perversion.
May you know your conviction as courageous, not cowardice.
May you know your desire as a sacrament, not a sin.
May you know your role as a pillar, not a pariah.
And may you one day know a world where your work has rooted so deeply,
Its worth need no longer needs defending.
 Kentucky Religious Coalition
for Reproductive Choice
PO Box 4065
Louisville, KY 40204

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

The Religious Community in Support of an Individual’s Right to Choose!

Newsletter Editor:
Ann T. Allen
Design & Layout:
Jennifer Shank

Voice for Choice is a

publication of the
Kentucky Religious
Coalition for
Reproductive Choice.

Tel: 1.866.606.0988
Email: info@krcrc.org
Web: www.krcrc.org
Twitter: @Ky_RCRC

KRCRC
PO Box 4065
Louisville, KY 40204