As part of Plan A, its nationwide campaign to foster access to safe and affordable contraception, the National Council of Jewish Women has been encouraging local communities to tackle the topics that stir controversy \u201d\u201d like religion, emergency contraception, and insurance coverage.<\/p>\n
Those will all be up for discussion on Wednesday evening, Oct. 10, at a forum sponsored by NCJW’s Union County Section, and hosted by Congregation Beth Israel in Scotch Plains. The program is open to the community.<\/p>\n
The speakers will include two religious leaders known for their willingness to engage in open debate: Beth Israel’s Rabbi George Nudell, who will discuss Jewish perspectives on birth control, and Rev. Geoffrey B. Curtiss of All Saints Episcopal Parish in Hoboken, who will offer a liberal Christian perspective….<\/p>\n
Curtiss will represent the New Jersey Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, the state branch of a national interfaith clergy association founded to defend the constitutional right to abortion.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, Curtiss was one of the RCRC experts who developed “In Good Conscience: Guidelines for the Ethical Provision of Health Care in a Pluralistic Society.” The guidelines were in part a rebuttal to what it called “sectarian restrictions imposed on health care,” including the Catholic Church’s directives banning abortion services at Catholic healthcare institutions.<\/p>\n