SAN DIEGO — The National Education Association (NEA), the nation’s largest labor union, voted July 5 to reject a proposal officially to remain neutral on the issues of abortion and family planning.
Also during its annual meeting in San Diego July 1–6, the NEA went on record as supporting laws legalizing civil unions and “gay marriage” — it said either are acceptable — and it backed efforts to repeal federal legislation that “discriminates” against same-sex couples, which presumably could target the Defense of Marriage Amendment.
The proposed bylaw amendment regarding abortion would have invalidated NEA Resolution I–16 on family planning, which says the NEA “supports family planning, including the right to reproductive freedom.” In a ballot vote, 61 percent was against the bylaw amendment and 39 percent was for it in what was described as a no-win situation for NEA leadership.
“If they had voted for it, they wouldn’t have been able to spend any money on abortion,” said Jeralee Smith, co-founder of the Conservative Educators Caucus within the NEA. “But since they voted against it, it’s a much clearer case for anyone who wants religious accommodation, that the union supports abortion.”
Teachers who have religious objections to paying NEA dues have the right in some states to give money to a charity instead, Smith said. Information is available from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation Inc. at nrtw.org.
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