Litany of Lament and Healing After Roe vs. Wade is Overturned

Dear Saints,

I write in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade, a step back in human rights, privacy, and safety for so many of our beloved siblings, neighbors, and friends. We do not forget that this decision threatens not only access to life-saving healthcare but the rights of so many others that have been so hard-fought — same-sex marriage, access to contraception, and other protections.

When the decision was leaked earlier this year, I wrote, “As Episcopalians, we commit every day to respect the dignity of every human being – one’s dignity requires the existence of choice over control, freedom over force, and abundant love over fear.” This does not change with today’s official decision.

On this day, we grieve and pray that the redeeming love of Christ who knows all that we are and all that we were created to achieve.

I commend to you this Service of Lament and Healing written by six leaders in our Church. They offer this liturgy as a gift to our community, adaptable to local customs and contexts.

Please join me and Canon Forsyth on Facebook Live tomorrow morning at 10am EDT to pray the litany together with our diocesan communities. Access our scheduled broadcast on Eastern Michigan’s Facebook Page or Western Michigan’s Facebook Page.

I invite you to pray with me one of the collects included in the litany,

We pray for those who are afraid, lost, and in the midst of turmoil of spirit and mind. We pray for those who lament the loss of bodily autonomy, for those who fear the loss of other civil rights, and for those who fear the unknown of the world ahead. We pray especially for all who will be disproportionately affected by a lack of reproductive rights, especially people who are Black, Indigenous, Asian, Brown, People of Color, trans and nonbinary. We pray for all who live in poverty, and for those who live in rural areas, who will also be disproportionately affected. May we be resolved in our commitment to hope, knowing that to hope in God is to never hope in vain.

Yours in Christ, 

The Rt. Rev. Prince Singh
Bishop Provisional
The Episcopal Dioceses of Eastern and Western Michigan