Reversal of Roe v. Wade

The Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade, though far from the issues we normally work on, has a strong connection to them: It is a denial of human rights. Where a line is drawn is another matter. But when rights are violated in such a basic and important way, we must speak out, together with the vast majority of American Jews and say:

THIS IS WRONG!

What do we do? That is what tens of millions of Americans will be trying to figure out in the coming days. There will be many answers: legislative, legal, grassroots, Jewish, and others. But the important thing is to understand what directions we should go in. One suggestion: On Tuesday, July 14, Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg of the National Council of Jewish Women will lead an in-depth teaching on Jewish sources around abortion justice over Zoom. You can register and get the link here, where there are other events listed as well.

Meanwhile, our friends and allies in Israel have been expressing their solidarity, as well as their concern that the SCOTUS ruling could have a knock-on effect in that country.

• The Meretz party’s Tamar Zandberg, Minister of Environmental Protection, wrote that the “bad winds blowing out of the United States prove that our fight for rights is never-ending and doesn’t move in one direction.”
• Knesset Member Michal Rozin of Meretz wrote that, “here in Israel, too, our fight hasn’t ended. We must do all we can to protect women and their rights.”
• Zehava Galon, the president of the think-and-do-tank “Zulat: Equality and Human Rights” and a former chair of Meretz, wrote: “The U.S. Supreme Court’s horrendous ruling is liable to have shockwaves that will impact Israeli legislation if, heaven forbid, a Likud and Religious Zionism government arises here that tries to restrict women’s freedom in Israel even more.”