On Tuesday, May 17, the National Council of Jewish Women organized the Jewish Rally for Abortion Justice in Washington, DC. More than a thousand Jews from the whole country came and participated in this rally. I was grateful to be there, for there were many important points made that day by the many Reform, Conservative, Reconstructionist, and Orthodox rabbis who spoke and who led prayers. Here are a few of the points made, that together paint the picture of the majority of the Jewish community’s understanding about abortion:
A. In the Book of Leviticus, Chapter 18:5, we read: “You shall keep My laws and My rules, by the pursuit of which human beings shall live: I am the Eternal.” We shall live by Jewish law, not die by secular law. Jewish law is a system that emphasizes living in a conscious and holy way, and the right to an abortion is a way to preserve the health and life of the mother.
B. One religion definition is not all religious definitions. Some religious definitions are not more or less valid than others, and abortion is a Jewish value, a valid option according to our religion. So why is it that our religious voice is not being heard?
C. According to our tradition, a fetus is not a life, it is a potential life. In Jewish law the fetus is a part of the mother’s body (ubar erech yimo), and it is not a life until it can breathe on its own. Therefore, we should not prioritize a potential life over an existing life.
D. Halakha (Jewish law) is about compassion, about expanding discussion in order to create a compassionate and just community. The word in Hebrew for compassion and the word for womb come from the same root—raysh, chet, mem. We do not need any justification for abortion, when the decision to have an abortion is one made out of rachamim.
E. Access to abortion is an issue of justice, a mandate to free women from the wires that kills us.
F. Halakha does not believe that life begins with conception. Life begins with birth. Abortion is a religious duty for women (in certain cases regarding religious status, as in the case of mamzerut, meaning that the pregnancy is the result of a sexual encounter between a married woman and a male other than her husband, our religion requires us to do so.) Abortion is an act of love, and there are times when an abortion is not only necessary, but also recommended.
G. Restricting abortion infantilizes women. It is not the place of secular authorities to impose their religious definitions in order to infantilize women.
The attack on abortion rights is not only an attack on women’s rights, but also an attack on religious freedom. This is antithetical to our country’s definition of the separation of religion and state guaranteed in the First Amendment.
No woman who has an abortion does so lightly, since it is a trying emotional and physical procedure. It is a difficult decision based on many factors, and restricting access to abortion makes a challenging situation needlessly tougher. As Jews, we need to make our religious voice heard. Do not hesitate to share any of these points with people of different backgrounds and religions, in order to continue to guarantee access safe abortions to all people who make the choice of terminating a pregnancy.