Thibodeau told ThinkProgress that, since Tipping’s and Savage’s blog posts were published, the organization has received a lot of positive notes from religious people expressing their support for the work of Maine Family Planning. “Thank you for the work you do and please pay no attention to the ‘Maine Christian Civic League.’ They know very little about God,” one message read.
“The sentiment that people aren’t interested in anti-women rhetoric and discrimination in the name of religion — that definitely came across here,” Thibodeau said. “We’re getting the message that people of faith do support women’s right to make choices, and trust women to make the decisions that are good for themselves and their families.”
Despite the fact that the conservative opposition to abortion and birth control is typically framed in terms of religion, there are plenty of religious Americans who do support reproductive health services, family planning, and abortion. In fact, in the years before Roe v. Wade, faith leaders were some of the fiercest advocates of legalizing abortion in order to prevent women from dying due to unsafe procedures. Last year, several progressive clergy members launched a new campaign specifically to push back on the Religious Right on issues of reproductive rights.