[10] The Declaration offered the following statement, "We reaffirm Jesus and his gospel as our life focus and that being said, the National Coalition of American Nuns puts society on notice that women refuse to accept any longer the straw for bricks that we are forced to make.
"[12] The NCAN is most well-known for their strong support of reproductive justice, or the right of a woman to choose what is best for her own body, including the use of contraceptives and abortions, if needed.
[14] The NCAN's position on the issues of abortion, LGBT rights, and women's ordination have put it at odds with the U.S. Roman Catholic Bishops and official Church teaching.
The NCAN was at odds politically with other Catholic groups when they began challenging the Affordable Care Act by refusing insurance coverage for contraceptives for women.
A member of the NCAN, Sister Donna Quinn, spoke out against the priest after these comments were made, saying that “I think he gets it within the Vatican sense and about the hierarchy, but he still won’t let women have full membership with the Catholic tradition.
Women still don’t have full membership.”[17] NCAN received national attention when Sisters Margaret Traxler, Donna Quinn, Ann Patrick Ware, and Deborah Barrett appeared, in 1982, on the Phil Donahue Show opposing legislation that limited abortion.