Sexuality is a life-giving and fulfilling gift from God. We come from diverse religious communities to recognize sexuality as central to our humanity and integral to our spirituality. We denounce the pain, brokenness, oppression, and loss of meaning that many experience regarding their sexuality.

Our faith traditions celebrate the goodness of creation, including our bodies and our sexuality. We sin when this sacred gift is violated or exploited. However, the great promise of our traditions is love, healing, and the restoration of relationships.

Our culture needs a sexual ethic that focuses on personal relationships and social justice rather than specific sexual acts. All people have the right and responsibility to live sexual lives that express love, justice, reciprocity, commitment, consent, and pleasure. Grounded in respect for the body and the vulnerability inherent in intimacy, this ethic fosters physical, emotional, and spiritual health, rejects double standards, and is applicable to all people regardless of sex, gender, race, age, physical condition, marital status, or sexual orientation.

God hears the cries of those who suffer because of the failure of religious communities to address the issue of sexuality. We are called today to see, hear, and respond to the suffering caused by sexual abuse and violence against women and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people, the HIV pandemic, unsustainable population growth and consumerism, and commercial sexual exploitation.

Faith communities must therefore be truth-seekers, courageous, and just. We call upon them to:

• A theological reflection that integrates the wisdom of excluded and often silenced people, and knowledge about sexuality from medicine, social sciences, the arts and humanities.
• Full inclusion of women and LGBT people in congregational life, including their ordination and equality in marriage.
• Sexual counseling and education at all stages of life conducted by trained religious leaders.
• I support those who challenge sexual oppression and work for justice within their congregations and denominations.

Faith communities must also advocate for sexual and spiritual fulfillment in society. We call for:

• Ongoing and age-appropriate sex education in schools, seminaries and other settings
• A faith-based commitment to sexual and reproductive rights, including access to voluntary contraception, abortions, and prevention and treatment of HIV/STDs (sexually transmitted diseases).
• A religious leadership in movements to end social and sexual injustice.

God rejoices when we celebrate our sexuality with holiness and integrity. We, the undersigned, invite our colleagues and faith communities to join us in promoting sexual morality, justice, and healing.

Translated from “Religious Declaration On Sexual Morality, Justice, And Healing” by the Religious Institute.

As religious leaders, we are committed to helping people thrive spiritually, emotionally, and physically, which includes sexual and reproductive health. Millions of people base their moral commitment to family planning on their religious beliefs. Most religious traditions accept modern methods of contraception, supporting them as a means of saving lives, improving reproductive and public health, enriching sexuality, and encouraging intentional parenthood.

Even within religious groups that restrict or prohibit such services, the religious commitment to freedom of conscience allows couples to choose contraception to intentionally create their family. Recognizing the strong public health and human rights arguments supporting family planning programs nationally and internationally, we invite you to consider religious foundations for ensuring safe, low-cost, accessible, and comprehensive family planning services.

A DIVINE GIFT

Religious traditions teach that sex and sexuality are divinely bestowed gifts to express mutual love, create life, and enjoy companionship and pleasure. From a religious perspective, sexual relations should be considered sacred and therefore always be responsible, respectful, pleasurable, and loving. The gift of sexuality is violated when it is abused or exploited. Safe, accessible, and effective contraception allows for a satisfying sex life, which in turn reduces maternal and infant mortality, unwanted pregnancies, abortions, and sexually transmitted infections.

THE FAMILY IS SACRED

Our religious traditions affirm that parenthood is sacred and therefore should not be exercised carelessly or under duress. Families in their diverse forms receive the greatest support in environments where there is love and respect, children thrive, and the well-being of women is protected. It is unacceptable for society to impose limits on family size or to discriminate against those who choose not to be parents.

MORAL AGENCY

Each individual is a moral agent with the right and responsibility to make their own decisions about procreation, including family size and age difference between children. These rights should be granted to all people equally, regardless of geographic location, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, social class, or race. Men and women are equally responsible for contraception and procreation. Religious institutions have a special role in helping adolescents develop their capacity for moral discernment regarding relationships, contraception, and procreation.

We believe that all people should have the freedom to make their own decisions about their family and reproductive life, informed by their culture, religious traditions, beliefs, conscience, and community. Decisions about the methods used should be based on informed consent regarding medical and health risks. The decision to use or not use contraception should always be voluntary.

TRADITIONS AND SACRED TEXTS

Our sacred texts do not mention modern contraception. However, in creation narratives around the world, deities intentionally create human beings in relationships and families. Family planning is therefore a key part of the narrative in many sacred texts.

The stories in scripture honor and welcome diverse families, childcare, and moral and just decision-making. The scriptural mandate to care for the most marginalized and vulnerable urges us to ensure access to contraception for all. A lasting religious commitment to social and economic justice requires a commitment to reproductive justice.

The commandment to “be fruitful and multiply” does not refer exclusively to procreation, but also calls individuals to co-create a world characterized by justice and inclusion. Our traditions affirm children as a blessing, not as a requirement or an obligation.

MORAL IMPERATIVE OF ACCESS

In a just world, everyone would have equitable access to contraception. Denying family planning services amounts to forced procreation, and that is an affront to human dignity. We affirm our commitment to voluntary family planning services, which includes making a full range of safe and effective methods accessible and affordable. The family planning needs of specific populations, such as low-income women, adolescents, immigrants, refugees, and LGBT individuals, must be addressed with cultural sensitivity.

Governments must respect individual choices and ensure accurate and comprehensive information, as well as access to services and supplies. Hospitals and health services, regardless of religious affiliation, must provide or refer patients to contraceptive services. These services must be offered without regard to sex, age, gender, income, race, religion, marital status, or sexual orientation.

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

No government committed to human rights and democracy can give preference to the teachings of one religion over others, nor deny individuals religious freedom. Individuals must have the right to accept or reject the principles of their own faith without legal restrictions. No religious voice can speak for other traditions on the issue of contraception, nor should the government take sides regarding religious differences. We oppose any attempt to enshrine in law in any country in the world any religious doctrine related to pregnancy, childbirth, or contraception. Religious groups themselves must respect the beliefs and values ​​of other religions, since no faith can claim absolute moral authority in national or international dialogue.

CALL TO ACTION

We call upon leaders of all faiths to raise a prophetic voice publicly advocating for universal access to family planning. We urge religious leaders to:

• Educate themselves and their religious communities about sexual and reproductive health and the need for universal access to family planning.
• To compassionately and competently point out the needs of their congregants when they make decisions about family planning, contraception, and sexual relations.
• Contact local family planning providers for referrals, training, and mutual support, and encourage these agencies to recognize the influence of religion on clients’ contraception decisions.
• Participate in public discussion on the ethical issues involved in research into new methods of contraception.
• Working within traditions and denominations to make reproductive health a social justice priority.
• Advocate for increased state financial support for family planning services nationally and globally through sermons, public testimony, and participation in the political process.

IN CONCLUSION

Today, as religious leaders, we are called to support universal access to family planning. Religious leaders and people of faith have supported modern methods of contraception since the beginning of the 20th century. We resist any political attempt to restrict or deny access to family planning services. Contraception saves lives, promotes human flourishing, and advances the well-being of all.

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This Open Letter was developed at a colloquium in 2012, sponsored by the Religious Institute, with partial funding from the United Nations Foundation. Participants included: Imam Daayiee Abdullah, Muslims for Progressive Values; Marie Alford-Harkey, Religious Institute; Rev. Dr. Richard Cizik, New Evangelical Partnership; Rev. Dr. Larry Greenfield, American Baptist Churches; Rev. Debra W. Haffner, Religious Institute; Rev. Jane Emma Newall, Planned Parenthood Clergy Advisory Board; Jon O’Brien, Catholics for Choice; The Very Rev. Dr. Katherine Ragsdale, Episcopal Divinity School; Rabbi Sandy E. Sasso, Congregation Beth El Zedeck, Indianapolis; Fazeela Siddiqui, American Society for Muslim Advancement; Rev. Penny Willis, Imago Dei Center for Sexuality Education and Training; and Rabbi Laura Novak Winer, RJE, Union for Reform Judaism.

Translated from “Open letter to religious leaders on family planning” by the Religious Institute.