There is nothing in this about fathers... really there is nothing in the bill which is good
Hamilton-Poore takes the church’s mission statement seriously, and is keen to impress there is a historical
precedent for doing so. One of the pivotal moments during the American civil rights movement was when
Martin Luther King Jr wrote a letter from the jail in Birmingham castigating local white clergymen for
telling black people that they should “lay off their protests” and “wait for change to happen slowly”.
One of the clergymen he took issue with was the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, Terry Hamilton-
Poore’s predecessor. And he listened. “He went back to the [church board] and said, ‘We need to welcome
all who God welcomes’,” says Hamilton-Poore, “and that created the beginning of really substantial
change.”
The church began supporting the civil rights movement actively and pushing for immediate racial reform,
and it continues to involve itself in urgent issues of social justice. That proves that people are always capable
of changing their minds and working toward the right thing, Hamilton-Poore believes. “I think [a lot of]
people in the anti-abortion movement [want to do the right thing as well] but they haven’t been taught to
look at the issue more broadly.”
Martin Luther King at a rally in Birmingham,
Alabama, in 1963. The church got behind the
civil rights movement (Getty)How do you change their minds, when some of those people are stationed outside abortion clinics holding
graphic signs and yelling abuse at women trying to access reproductive healthcare services? “Well, that’s
why I wanted to write the piece... We put it on our church Facebook page, and the responses we got – I
mean of course there were some hateful responses, but there were others who said they didn’t know
churches thought that way.
“And we’re not alone – but how do they know that? If we’re not public in what we’re saying, then how
would people know that there are other ways for Christians to approach this issue?” Did she find some
people reached out and wanted to start a productive discussion? “Oh yeah. So that makes the hateful
responses worthwhile, if even one or two people say, wow, it was really healing to hear this.”
If you could say something directly to the most aggressive protesters, the ones who claim to be doing God’s
work while harassing women daily, what would you say? “I would ask them to direct their support to
programmes which support women and families, rather than driving people into a corner. Open some
doors... certainly into things like providing affordable and reliable birth control, that’s a really good place to