In this episode, Tim speaks with Episcopal priest and author Kira Austin-Young, about the moral, theological, and pastoral dimensions of abortion. Together, they reflect on the silence in progressive churches, the complexity of personhood, biblical texts often used in the debate, and how Christians might begin to hold space for compassion and moral complexity in conversations around reproductive freedom.
It’s a thoughtful, grounded, and emotionally honest conversation that resists easy answers.
After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim and Joy reflect on how silence and inherited assumptions shaped their early views on abortion. They explore how personal experience, grief, and discernment invite a more compassionate and complex conversation—and ask what it means for faith to hold space for all of that.
Interview starts at 16m 40s
SOCIALS
BOOK
Pro-Choice and Christian: Reconciling Faith, Politics, and Justice
QUOTES
“Abortion is such a personal topic, in a way. It really touches on women’s bodies in a way that I think historically has made the church uncomfortable. Even talking about pregnancy and childbearing is something that I think…we don’t do very well.”
“I often use the term anti-abortion rather than pro-life, because I identify as pro-life. I am honestly against assisted dying. I’m against the death penalty as punishment. I’m against war, in most cases. So I identify as pro-life. But I don’t identify as anti-abortion.”
“When we turn to the Bible, looking for proof of our positions, or looking for verses that support what we already think, I think we’re doing a disservice to what scripture really is.”
