Public Statements

On proposed Marriage Protection Amendment

This letter regarding the Marriage Affirmation and Protection Amendment was sent via email to all state senators and representatives on June 4, 2003)

June 4, 2003

Dear Senator:

As the leaders of the largest Protestant denomination in Massachusetts, the United Church of Christ (with 430 congregations and 100,000 members across the Commonwealth), we are writing to voice our strong opposition to House Bill 3190, the Marriage Affirmation and Protection Amendment.

Last week the four Roman Catholic bishops in Massachusetts issued a pastoral letter concerning families. There is near universal agreement that it is increasingly difficult to hold families together and that we must do everything we can to support families and encourage their fidelity to each other and to the children in their care. What the bishops fail to recognize is that families come in every size and configuration: extended, nuclear, patriarchal, matriarchal, single mom, single dad, adoptive, foster, childless, broken, mended, and blended. Among these configurations of family there are many gay and lesbian people who, living in committed relationships with life-partners, are gifted parents. Yet, under current laws, we do not support these families; instead, they are denied the basic rights that most of us take for granted: health insurance benefits, access to pension and Social Security benefits, and automatic hospital visitation rights, among others.

Gay families are a part of the demographic landscape of the Commonwealth. As citizens they deserve the same rights, liberties, and protections afforded straight families. The singling out of one group for discriminatory treatment is never right.

The bishops urged Catholics to contact their legislators to advocate on behalf of House Bill 3190, the Marriage Affirmation and Protection Amendment, a constitutional amendment that would define marriage as being solely between a man and a woman. The bishops did so by stating that same-gender relationships wreak "irreparable harm" on marriage, yet they produced no evidence to support this claim.

Additionally, neither the case before the Supreme Judicial Court nor the constitutional amendment before the Legislature concerns religious ceremonies. Thus, even if the court were to rule that same-gender marriages were permitted under the state Constitution, no priest or pastor could be compelled to officiate at such marriages. The Catholic Church has every right to try to enforce its teachings among its own members, but we believe the question before the Legislature must be argued and decided on the grounds of civil rights, not Catholic, or any other, religious doctrine.

Although we voice our strong opposition to HB 3190, we do not speak for all UCC people in Massachusetts; in fact, our 100,000 members represent a range of views. The United Church of Christ has been wrestling with questions of inclusion of gay and lesbian persons since 1969. Yet, while UCC people hold various perspectives on human sexuality, we have increasingly worked toward being a church of a wider welcome:

• In 1972, the UCC became the first mainline denomination to ordain an openly gay person (there is all the difference in the world between ordaining openly gay people and, as has been the practice in the Catholic Church with disastrous results, ordaining persons whose sexuality is necessarily in the closet);
• In 1985, the UCC’s General Synod encouraged churches and all settings of the UCC to be open to, and affirming of, persons who are gay, lesbian and bisexual and called upon all settings of the church to learn, study, reflect, discuss and pray about these matters.

While our churches represent widely differing views on these matters, many are served by gay and lesbian clergy, and far more have gay and lesbian members. Many of these are devoted mothers or fathers in committed life-relationships who provide loving and supportive homes to children. There are 45 UCC congregations in Massachusetts that are listed as "Open and Affirming," 452 such congregations across the country, and over 3000 Christian and Jewish congregations of various denominations and affiliations that provide welcome to persons of different sexual orientations.

Please work and vote to defeat House Bill 3190.

Sincerely,

Rev. Dr. Nancy S. Taylor, Minister & President, Massachusetts Conference, United Church of Christ

Rev. Dr. Tom Clough, Associate Conference Minister in the Metropolitan Boston Association
Ms. Susan Dickerman, Associate Conference Minister for Leadership Development
Ms. Dawn Hammond, Associate Conference Minister for Policy and Finance
Rev. Dale Hempen, Associate Conference Minister in the Southeast Area
Mr. Ed Hoyt, Acting Associate Conference Minister for Stewardship and Financial Development
Rev. Laura Lee Kent, Associate Conference Minister in the Central Area
Rev. Paul Nickerson, Acting Associate Conference Minister for Evangelism, Witness and Justice
Rev. Dr. Michael Penn-Strah, Associate Conference Minister in the Northeastern Area
Rev. Dr. Peter Wells, Associate Conference Minister in the Western Area

The Massachusetts Conference of the United Church of Christ
One Badger Road, Framingham, Massachusetts 01702
Telephone: (508) 875-5233

On Stem Cell Research

May 12, 2003

Re: HR 1280
Dear Representative/Senator:

As the leader of the largest Protestant denomination in Massachusetts*, I am writing to urge your support of HR 1280/ SB 515: An Act Relative to Stem Cell Research. This bill calls for public policy on stem cell research, while carefully balancing both the ethical and medical considerations. It is unethical to fail to pursue medical research which could lead to the relief of human suffering and improve the quality of life for people with diseases and injuries which are currently debilitating and life-threatening. Citing Jesus’ example of providing a ministry of healing and caring for the sick and disabled, the Twenty-third General Synod of the United Church of Christ (in 2001) overwhelmingly passed a resolution calling for the funding of research on embryonic stem cells. I have attached a copy of this resolution for your information.

Opposition to this bill and the concept of funding stem cell research is centered on consideration of the potential for human life presented by the embryos from which stem cells are harvested. We may never all agree on the exact moment at which developing human cells possess a soul. Nevertheless, two points of fact remain which together argue for the funding of stem cell research which for therapeutic purposes.

First, embryonic stem cell research already occurs in privately funded laboratories. This research is too often unrestrained by the kind of regulations and guidelines stipulated by HR 1280. Therefore, by creating a fund for stem cell research with the controls and oversight delineated by the bill, we can all be assured of a higher standard of ethical conduct than may now exist.

Second, the bill calls for providing patients who have undergone fertility treatment with a number of options for the disposition of unused embryos, including the option to donate an unused embryo for research. As is stands now, the majority of frozen embryos currently in in-vitro fertilization clinics will most likely be destroyed. When the choice becomes whether to destroy an embryo or use it to save and improve lives, the ethical imperative is clearly to provide a mechanism by which the embryo is not wasted, but contributes to the betterment of humankind.

An important aspect of this bill is it’s specific prohibition of stem cell research for reproductive as opposed to therapeutic purposes. The expressed fears of some that research for therapeutic purposes is a doorway to research for reproductive purposes are an attempt to obfuscate the issue through conjoining two very separate agendas. Like most scientists, ethicists and private citizens, our opposition to reproductive research (cloning), is informed by the same ethical standard which drives our support for therapeutic research: respect for the sanctity of human life as a gift from God.

As a recent story in the Boston Globe pointed out, (NIH Says Stem Cell Supply is Low; May 9, 2003) there are currently only 11 human embryonic stem cell lines available for research. The National Institutes of Health are calling for a lifting of the restrictions President Bush placed on stem cell research in 2001, and Donald Kennedy, editor of the journal Science states that “It is plainly not sound policy to retain the current restrictions on work”. With supplies so low and the possibility of cures for a host of ailments including Parkinson’s disease, diabetes and paralysis in sight through stem cell research, we cannot afford to fail to act now.

Please use your considerable influence to promote ethical medical research by supporting HR 1280. I join with a great many Christians in urging support of this important bill. In so doing, we are informed by the ethics of the Golden Rule and the Parable of the Good Samaritan. HR 1280 is a responsible bill, designed to save lives within carefully considered ethical boundaries. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

The Reverend Dr. Nancy S. Taylor
Minister and President
Massachusetts Conference, United Church of Christ

United Church of Christ General Synod Resolution:
http://www.ucc.org/synod/resolutions/res30.htm

*The United Church of Christ (UCC), aka "Congregational" is the direct spiritual heir of the Pilgrims and Puritans who followed "the Congregational Way". In Massachusetts we have 430 UCC congregations, 853 ordained clergy and 100,000 members).