The free dramatic reading of “When the Clergy Went Underground” is rescheduled to Monday, May 13, 2024, at 7 p.m. at the First Unitarian Society of Ithaca (306 N. Aurora St., Ithaca).

The new play, by Carol Kammen, is based on a memoir of David Evans, the late minister of the First Baptist Church in Ithaca. It recounts his experiences in the 1960s working with those who desired safe abortions when it was illegal and starting the Upstate New York Clergy Consultation Service (CCS).

After the reading, Reverend Richard Gilbert, retired Unitarian Universalist minister in Ithaca, will talk about his work with the CCS. Play readers are Dave Dietrich, Sylvia Grosvold, Linda Hoffmann, Mike Hoffmann, and Carol Kammen. The play is directed by Sue Perlgut.

“When the Clergy Went Underground” highlights Reverend Evans’ experience as the founder of the Upstate New York Clergy Consultation Service in 1968. CCS provided counseling and information to over 8,000 women from Upstate New York who sought safe illegal medical abortions. The service was part of a nation-wide network of clergy of diverse faiths and medical doctors. The play also explains how Republican Assembly member Constance E. Cook from Ithaca led the legislative fight to decriminalize abortion in New York State in 1970, three years before the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision.

Reverend Evans was also a founder of Planned Parenthood in Ithaca and a recipient of the local Planned Parenthood’s Connie Cook award that recognizes individuals who gave outstanding service to reproductive care.

Sponsors of the event include End Abortion Stigma (https://www.facebook.com/endingabortionstigma/), CNY-NOW (https://cny-now.com/), and the First Unitarian Society of Ithaca (https://unitarian.ithaca.ny.us).