The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori writes in the Huffington Post about equality and the recent rulings against contraception coverage and other women’s health issues:
…Women were first recognized to have access to [equal] rights when they were granted the vote in 1920. Today, they still earn less than men in the same occupations. They still lack guaranteed access to the full spectrum of health care, and that access is denied by political leaders who deem women’s reproductive health less significant than that of men. Viagra is a covered drug under most insurance plans, yet we don’t see the same move to limit its availability based on religious principles. No one is asking for a conscience clause so corporations don’t have to pay for it.
Women have served with great integrity as leaders in government, academia, business, the nonprofit world, and their communities, yet we still see inordinate attention paid to their hairstyles and modes of dress — attention of a kind that is almost never directed toward men. Violence against women is hidden, ignored, and rampant, whether we speak of rape on college campuses or the subtle violence that ignores and discounts the contributions of women in public discourse. We watch as esteemed professions and occupations once dominated by men begin to be integrated and see average wages and social recognition plummet — as if they were now contaminated.
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We continue to seek equality and justice for all, work that has been ably and prophetically led by women, both lay and ordained. Our work is far from finished, and we seek the partnership of all who are willing to be moved by the suffering in this world. Human beings were created for abundant life, freedom, and joy — in communities of equality.
Read it all here