Theology

Abortion is a moral good.

Rev. Dr. Peters is committed to shifting public thinking about abortion from justification to justice.
Her work disrupts assumptions about the abortion debate, expanding and nuancing the conversation while
fiercely advocating for bodily autonomy and reproductive freedom as religious freedom.

quotes & citations of Rev. Dr. Peters’ work

  • "Peters also said the idea of abortion regret is used as a scare tactic to discourage women who want abortions. 'These scripts are often framed as being beneficent for patients,' she said, 'but they are really part of intimidation tactics by the state to convince women not to use their legal rights to abortion.'”

    “North Carolina House proposed bill to ban nearly all abortions”
    Anjolina Fantaroni and Madison Powers, Elon News Network (April 27, 2023)

  • "'There's an assumption that women are doing this callously, without thought. That this is easy, that they're just sort of using abortion as birth control. All of these are false narratives that are really damaging and stigmatizing,' Peters said. 'It's very clear that these women are thinking very thoughtfully about the decision not to have a child but 60% of women who have abortions already have at least one child.'"

    “Idaho’s abortion laws discussed by various faith leaders in the community”
    Emily White, Newsbreak (November 10, 2022)

  • "'When you require a woman to justify their decision to get an abortion, that assumes that abortion is wrong. And where is that assumption coming from? Christian activists,' Peters said. 'It's just stunning to me the power that ideological perspective has on everybody's life in the U.S.'"

    “Religions don't agree on abortion. That's why some faiths plan to take their case to court.”
    Trevor Hughes, USA Today (July 17, 2022)

  • "Alito didn’t write God or Christianity or Bible anywhere in the opinion, but his justification is a veiled 'religious narrative,' said Rebecca Todd Peters, a religious studies professor at Elon University. By co-opting the language in Mississippi’s law in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the majority opinion gives credence to the notion – embraced largely by the religious right – that life begins at fertilization, she said."

    “How the Supreme Court recalibrated the abortion debate in just 3 words”
    Eliott C. McLaughlin, CNN (July 17, 2022)

  • "The debate about abortion in America is 'rooted in the largely unacknowledged premise that continuing a pregnancy is a prima facie moral good,' the pro-choice Presbyterian minister Rebecca Todd Peters writes. But childbearing, Peters notes, is a morally weighted act, one that takes place in a world of limited and unequally distributed resources. Many people who get abortions—the majority of whom are poor women who already have children—understand this perfectly well.

    “Is Abortion Sacred?”
    Jia Tolentino, The New Yorker (July 16, 2022)

  • "The Rev. Rebecca Todd Peters, a Presbyterian minister and scholar on Christian ethics at Elon University, defines parenthood as a calling from God, similar to other callings within the church. Peters said that part of a Christian’s responsibility is discerning what God is calling that person to do. That decision lies solely between them and God, Peters argued, adding that the state has no role to partake in or even question that decision. "

    “Clergy who back abortion rights prepare for new role”
    Piper Hutchinson, Louisiana Illuminator (July 11, 2022)

  • "By introducing the concept of reproductive justice, Black feminists 'reframed [abortion] within the broader context of a whole lot of moral issues related to reproduction and women’s bodies and sexuality,' including raising children and dealing with domestic violence, according to the Rev. Rebecca Todd Peters, a professor of religious studies at Elon University.

    “Some religions support abortion rights. Their leaders are speaking up.”
    Julianne McShane, NBC News (May 5, 2022)

  • "The Christian right 'assumes abortion is morally wrong and therefore women have to justify it,' and states pass laws that increasingly restrict access to abortion. 'I think the piece that is under-acknowledged is the extent to which this is an issue of religious freedom. What is being codified in these laws is a very, very narrow Christian belief. It doesn’t reflect all of Christianity or all Christian beliefs about when life begins. … And it certainly doesn’t reflect what Jews or Muslims or Buddhists and Hindus and Unitarians and other people who practice different religious traditions believe.'”

    “A Q&A with PC(USA) minister and professor Rebecca Todd Peters about reproductive rights”
    Leslie Scanlon, The Presbyterian Outlook (December 3, 2021)

  • "Before Roe, there was a whole movement of clergy that organized across the country and provided access to illegal clinics or helped women who were in states where it was illegal get places where they could."

    “Under Texas abortion law, clergy could face harsh punishment for giving spiritual advice”
    Josh Axelrod, American Journal News (September 15, 2021)

  • “Life is not simply about being born, but also being named, claimed, and welcomed into community and nurtured into being.”

    ”The Fullness of Life: a Progressive Christian Formulation”
    Soon-Il Song, Practical Matters (April 15, 2021)

  • "“Religious freedom and a healthy respect for comprehensive health care should guide our thinking about public policy about abortion and move us toward repealing all targeted public policy related to restricting access to abortion care.”

    “Progressive Faith Groups Welcome Biden's Moves To Expand Abortion Access”
    Carol Kuruvilla, HuffPost (January 28, 2021)

  • "Refusing to codify traditionalist, conservative religious beliefs into law isn’t a violation of anyone’s religious freedom. In fact, it not only protects a large majority of people in this country from the tyranny of patriarchy, it actually protects their religious freedom."

    “The Prochoice Religious Community May Be the Future of Reproductive Rights, Access, and Justice”
    Frederick Clarkson, Political Research Associates (September 28, 2020)

  • “It’s not the marriage that makes [sex] sacred,” Rev. Dr. Rebecca Todd Peters, a Christian social ethicist, preacher, and religious studies professor at Elon University, tells O.school. “It’s the behaviors and the relationships and the ways in which those behaviors are honoring other people, honoring the humanity of the other people, honoring the relationship and the trust and … the moral obligations you have to other people in your life and to the community.”

    “Why Is Sex A Sin? Understanding Christian Sexual Ethics”
    Kelly Gonsalves, O.school (February 24, 2020)