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, greenlighting state-wide abortion bans, potential criminalization for providers and patients, and threatening the right to contraception. In Justice Thomas’ concurring opinion, he implored the court to revisit its 1965 Griswold decision, jeopardizing the constitutional right for couples to buy and use contraceptives without government restrictions.   

With the fundamental right to contraception in limbo, it is imperative that Congress pass the Right to Contraception Act. Urge your members of Congress to pass this bill and codify the right to contraception.   

Background  

Despite nine out of ten American adults supporting access to all forms of birth control, the Supreme Court threatens to roll back fundamental rights to contraception and essential reproductive health care. Attacks on contraceptives include: eliminating or restricting public funding for various forms of contraception, defining abortion broadly enough to include emergency contraceptives and IUDs, and allowing healthcare providers to deny services related to contraception based on their own beliefs. Attacks on reproductive health care fall hardest on Black, Brown, Indigenous, and People of Color, immigrant communities, LGBTQ+ people, people with disabilities, low-income people, and those living in rural and underserved areas who already face barriers to accessing quality healthcare. Family planning can reduce maternal mortality by preventing unwanted pregnancies, protect the health of children by allowing sufficient time between pregnancies, and disrupt generational cycles of poverty. 

On June 14, 2023, Representatives Kathy Manning (NC-06), Nikema Williams (GA-05), Sara Jacobs (CA-51), and Angie Craig (MN-02), and Senators Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Mazie Hirono (D-HI) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) announced the reintroduction of the Right to Contraception Act.  This bill would codify the right to contraception into federal law, reversing steps already taken in states across the country to restrict access to contraceptives and ensuring that any future attempt by the Supreme Court to overturn Griswold would not endanger access to this essential health care.   

The Right to Contraception Act would uphold access to contraception by:  

• Guaranteeing the legal right for individuals to get and use contraception and for health care providers to provide contraceptives, contraception, and information, referrals, and services related to contraception;
• Prohibiting the federal government or any state from administering, implementing, or enforcing any law, rule, regulation, standard or other provision that would prohibit or restrict the sale, provision, or use of contraception; and
• Allowing the Department of Justice (DOJ), providers, and individuals harmed by restrictions on contraception access made unlawful under the legislation, to go to court to enforce these rights.

Jewish Values 

Our Jewish tradition teaches that providing health care is not just an obligation for the patient and the doctor but for all of society. For this reason, Maimonides listed health care first on his list of the ten most important communal services a city has to offer its residents (Mishneh Torah, Hilchot De'ot IV: 23).  

Additionally, the rabbis tell us that a physician’s job is to heal; 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 that 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 and methods of contraception unequivocally oppose this sacred duty. 

For More Information

For more information on this issue, visit the RAC’s webpage on women's rights or contact Eisendrath Legislative Assistant Rachel Landis. 

This action alert is part of a partnership between the RAC and Women of Reform Judaism. By signing this alert you will be added to the Women of Reform Judaism (WRJ) advocacy email lists to be kept up-to-date on these issues.

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