REPRODUCTIVE
DIGNITY
A legacy of upholding reproductive dignity
Our church’s long history of working for reproductive dignity goes back to 1969, when the Women’s Alliance at the church began to study the issue of abortion and formed the Dallas Committee for the Study of Abortion. With support from the Alliance leadership and Virginia Whitehill, the committee set the stage for the now well-known Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision which made abortion legal. Some of the women who participated in the forming of that significant event remain in the church and in the Women’s Alliance today.
In 2015, Rev. Dr. Daniel Kanter founded a multi-faith volunteer chaplaincy group supporting abortion care at Southwestern Women’s Surgical Center. When the state put a six-week ban on abortion in 2021, it turned into a robust travel program helping women get to and from New Mexico for abortions.
In 2024, First Church founded the Truth Pregnancy Resource Center to provide comprehensive, compassionate, and culturally just reproductive counseling services to pregnant persons in Dallas. Rev. Kanter is also a founding force behind SACReD, a national organization that engages spiritual communities in practices that advance reproductive justice, and in 2024 First Church became a recognized SACReD congregation.
First Unitarian Church of Dallas provides Plan B to anyone who needs it. Stop by the front desk and ask. No charge, no questions asked.
TRUTH PREGNANCY RESOURCE CENTER
Truth Pregnancy Resource Center provides support for those facing pregnancy-related decisions. They provide truthful, comprehensive resources and compassionate care informed by the Reproductive Justice Framework to individuals seeking support for reproductive health.
Main Office: 8710 Greenville Avenue, Suite C, Dallas TX 75243
Schedule an Appointment: 469-540-8956
Email: counselor@tprcdallas.org
In this episode of Tiny Pulpit Talks, Rev. T. J. FitzGerald welcomes Deneen Robinson, Executive Director of Truth Pregnancy Resource Center in Dallas, Texas for a conversation about caring for pregnant people in a state where abortion is illegal, making dignity a non-negotiable in reproductive care, and how faith can inform social work and healthcare.
WHOLLY INFORMED SEX ED (WISE)
Founded in 2020, during a global pandemic and a nationwide wake-up call around racial inequities, Wholly Informed Sex Ed is devoted to developing and growing a strong program of comprehensive, anti-racist sexuality education for Dallas youth who are otherwise not being educated in this essential, life-saving knowledge. Thanks to generous seed funding from First Unitarian Church of Dallas, WISE has continued to grow and to reach hundreds of students, while establishing partnerships with numerous youth-serving Dallas non-profits and foundations.
WISE originated in the strategic planning of the church community as a pillar of our most recent capital campaign – a way to build upon traditional strengths in sexuality education and reproductive freedoms. WISE is based in the acclaimed Our Whole Lives program, co-authored by the Unitarian Universalist Association and the United Church of Christ, which has been taught for decades.
In this episode of Tiny Pulpit Talks, Rev. T. J. FitzGerald welcomes Sherri Cook, Executive Director of Wholly Informed Sex Ed (WISE) for a conversation about inclusive and affirming sexuality education, literacy about our emotions and our body, and helping youth to grow into sexually healthy adults.
Looking forward to a future of sexual health and flourishing for all.
WISE stands as a foundational component of the church’s reproductive rights and dignity outreach. Through innovation and narrative change, they reach people of all ages with fact-based information about the fundamentals of healthy human connection. Wholly Informed Sex Ed pre-empts shame-based sexuality messages and equips young people with essential body knowledge to advocate for their rights around reproductive health.
The past few years have been a time of exploration, education, and growth, as they have trained many new facilitators and engaged with multiple Dallas-area organizations and schools for the purpose of delivering inclusive, comprehensive sex education to students where they are, from community centers to private schools to classrooms at Dallas College.
WISE offers a program that teaches students how to build healthy connections, hone relationship skills, set healthy boundaries, navigate complex media, societal, and cultural influences, and make healthy choices in keeping with their personal values. This is an education in being human that we all need – and that we all deserve to access.
In 2023, WISE participated in, and are proud to have graduated from, the Dallas Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation Racial Equity Now Non-profit cohort, where they developed a racial equity theory of change to guide their work. This learning opportunity further supports our ongoing efforts to function as a racially equitable organization both internally and externally.
SACRED DESIGNATION
Spiritual Alliance of Communities for Reproductive Dignity’s mission is to create and equip a network of spiritual communities with liberative religious education & practices that shift our culture to advance Reproductive Justice.
They affirm bodily autonomy and moral agency, celebrate healthy sexuality, and advocate for reproductive dignity to support the flourishing of all people and families.
Watch Rev. T. J. FitzGerald’s interview with SACReD’s co-Executive Director for Movement Building, Rev. Angela Tyler-Williams to learn about the power of bringing one’s whole self into the intersection of faith and reproductive justice.
This conversation explores how faith-based action can promote dignity, health, and liberation for all.
First Unitarian Church of Dallas became a SACReD Congregation in 2024.
SACReD Congregations create and hold space for courageous conversations free from shame, judgment, and stigma. We equip people to weave together their faith story with their reproductive story.
SACReD Congregations affirm Reproductive Justice:
• The human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy.
• The human right to have children.
• The human right not to have children.
• The human right to parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities.
The Reproductive Justice framework was developed by 12 Black women in 1994 who recognized the need to lead a national movement to uplift the needs of the most marginalized women, families, and communities.
