Tell Congress to pass legislation that protects fundamental reproductive rights and freedom.

Background

On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court ruled in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, overturning Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v Casey, leaving abortion rights up to the states.  As a result of the Dobbs decision, 25 states have restricted their laws surrounding reproductive rights and access to abortion and 15 states have total bans on abortion. Currently, 58 percent of women aged 13-44 live in a state that is hostile or extremely hostile towards abortion. These abortion bans force many to travel hundreds of miles across state lines to obtain the care that they need.

 To protect reproductive freedom across the U.S., the House of Representatives and Senate must pass the:

•  Women’s Health Protection Act (H.R. 12/S. 701), which would create a new legal protection for the right to provide and access abortion care, free from medically unnecessary restrictions and bans on abortion.
•  Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance Act (H.R. 561/S. 1031), which seeks to repeal the Hyde Amendment, which bans federal insurance coverage of abortion services, keeping abortion out of reach for many individuals (especially low-income people). This bill would guarantee that every person who receives health care or insurance through a federal plan or program has coverage for abortion.
• Protecting Access to Medication Abortion Act of 2023 (H.R. 767/S. 237), which would protect access to medication abortion and ensure patients can receive prescriptions online and through the mail.
• Access to Family Building Act (H.R. 7056/S. 3612), which would provide a statutory right to access assisted reproductive technology such as in vitro fertilization.
• Abortion is Health Care Everywhere Act (H.R. 1723/ S. 929), which seeks to repeal the 1973 Helms Amendment to the Foreign Assistance Act and authorize the use of certain foreign assistance funds to provide comprehensive reproductive health care services.
• Expanding Access to Family Planning Act (H.R. 4329/ S. 2207) to increase investments in the Title X family planning program. Title X grants support the provision of affordable birth control, sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing and treatment, cancer screenings, and other family planning and sexual health care to all who need it, with a focus on patients living with low or no incomes and those who have no insurance or are underinsured.
• Right to Contraception Act (H.R. 4121/S. 1999), which would codify access to contraceptives on the federal level, allowing individuals to obtain and use birth control and safeguarding a health care provider’s ability to supply such products.

Urge Congress to protect abortion access and reproductive freedom by passing these bills.  

Jewish Values

Life is sacred in Judaism. Banning potentially life-saving medical procedures and interfering with a patient’s decision-making and moral agency runs contrary to the Jewish commandment to protect life. This belief, combined with biblical and rabbinic emphasis on human dignity, has led the Reform Movement to view the life of the pregnant individual as paramount, placing a stronger emphasis on protecting existing life than on potential life (Exodus 21:22-23).

Furthermore, the rabbis tell us that a physician’s job is to heal, and if they withhold medical care, it is as if they have shed blood. “The Torah has granted the physician permission to heal, and it is a religious duty which comes under the rule of saving an endangered life. If he withholds treatment, he is regarded as one who sheds blood” (Shulchan Arukh, Yoreh De’ah 336:1). Regressive state laws that prevent physicians and other providers from providing health care is in direct opposition to this sacred duty.

For More Information: For more information on reproductive rights, visit the RAC’s reproductive rights page on our website or contact Linda Rae Sher Legislative Assistant Rachel Landis.

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