Under a man-sized golden cross, Rabbi Micah Greenstein gripped the podium at the Evergreen Presbyterian Church. A crowd community and religious leaders from around the Memphis area stood behind him.
“This event is about who decides what is best for a woman’s health. [Should it be] politicians or doctors, rape victims or religious zeolites,” the rabbi said. “I’m not in the ‘pro-life’ or ‘pro-choice camp.’ I am (for) keeping the control of women’s health issues out of the hands of the government.”
The nearly 100 people who filled the pews responded with a thunder of applause. Even with their differences in faith and denominations, all of the speakers united in their oppositions to Tennessee’s proposed abortion amendment.
Many other religious groups in the city have criticized their views. Gesturing to the mostly Christian leaders behind him, Greenstein said, “despite the dastardly lists that those up here and I have been put on, nobody here is ‘pro-abortion.’”
This November, Tennesseans will be able to vote for or against Amendment 1, which would allow state legislators to add restrictions on abortion, even in the case of rape or the pregnancy being hazardous for the woman’s life.
Many of the speakers said amendment supporters want to convince Tennesseans that ‘ voting no is supporting abortion. This is an issue of privacy, for Rosalyn Nichols, pastor for Freedom's Chapel Christian Church.
“Do we want the government in our choices or in our health care? This amendment is frightening because it limits a woman ability to make her own decisions,” she said.
Nichols, a graduate of LeMoyne-Owen College with a degree in biology, said she understands those who have moral objections to abortion.
“We get caught up in the issues of ‘pro-life’ and ‘pro-choice,’ but this is beyond that,” she said. “I am against Amendment 1 not despite of my religion, but because of it.”
Passing laws restricting abortions in Tennessee will put an unfair burden on the poor, explained Steve Montgomery, reverend of Idlewild Presbyterian Church.
“These restriction will make it more dangerous for those who can not afford to travel out of side of the state to get the procedure,” Montgomery said. “Anytime you make life more difficult for the poor it is always a sin—in any book of the Bible.”
Congressmen Steve Cohen, who was seated in the front row, listened to leaders.
Although Cohen did not speak to the crowd, after the event he said, “I always support women’s rights.”
