Advocating for social justice with Nuns on the Bus
Sister Simone Campbell is the Executive Director of NETWORK an organization lobbying for social justice, as well as leading multiple “Nuns on a Bus” tours, lobbying for social justice around the nation. On October 5, 2015 she visited the Foley Institute to discuss her beliefs about social justice.
Sister Simone focused her discussion on the topic of mercy in the political realm and used abortion as a specific example. The media today is notoriously negative especially around conflicting political viewpoints. Sister Simone believes that “mercy needs to break open the heart of politics”, in order to avoid further polarization mercy needs to be radically accepted. Caring and love for all need to be founding principles of our society specifically to reach agreement in politics.
Sister Simone is personally opposed to abortion, however she believes it should be available to women who need it. In recent controversy Planned Parenthood has been on the defensive. Sister Simone pointed out that only a small percentage of abortions occur at Planned Parenthood, also they provide several services for low income families. The main component she believes is mercy in that Planned Parenthood opposition overlooks the services besides abortion that help thousands of families. The fact that France has more easily accessible abortion was also discussed including how this in combination with their healthcare, and childcare services has significantly reduced their abortion rates. Care for all families and mercy toward them are important factors driving Sister Simone’s lobbying for social justice.