Jews overwhelmingly support abortion rights. Overturning Roe violates my religious freedom
The Supreme Court’s decision Friday to overturn Roe v. Wade and severely limit abortion access across much of the country is not only an infringement on my human rights. It also violates my religious beliefs.
Given that American Jews are one of the most consistently liberal groups in the country, it’s not surprising that an overwhelming majority of us — 83% in one 2014 poll — support legal abortion in all cases.
The liberal denomination I belong to, Reform Judaism, puts personal ethics above all else. To be a Reform Jew, you don’t have to keep kosher, observe the Sabbath or even believe in God. You just have to try your best to be good to others; be selfless and kind; and do mitzvahs, good deeds not done for personal gain or salvation.
In the same vein, the Jewish principles ingrained in me from a young age inform many — if not most — of my political beliefs. That means fierce support for and defense of civil rights, including abortion rights.
Modern Jewish belief in abortion rights is also, however, backed by ancient teachings. According to Jewish law, life doesn’t begin at conception. This is, of course, in direct contrast with the beliefs of the Catholic Church as well as numerous other Christian denominations — religious beliefs that are not mine but which undoubtedly played a critical role in the decision to strip me of my abortion rights.
The Talmud, the text most central to Jewish law, states that a fetus is “mere water” and not granted personhood until birth. The Mishnah, the primary book of Jewish legal theory dating to the first century, says a fetus may be sacrificed even during labor if the mother’s life is in danger — a third-trimester abortion right that even 21st-century California law does not guarantee.
“Generally speaking … an abortion may be a *requirement* if the mother’s life is in danger,” Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg wrote on Twitter. “Saving a life is basically the highest priority in Judaism and the personhood here is the mother’s.”
Jewish law holds that abortion services are health care, plain and simple. That’s why the National Council of Jewish Women asserts that abortion bans “unduly favor one religious viewpoint over another.”
“Science can explain developmental timelines, but philosophic and religious viewpoints largely determine what exactly defines ‘life’ or ‘personhood,’ ” the council’s “Judaism and Abortion” doctrine states. “As the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees … no one religion should be enshrined in law or dictate public policy on any issue — including abortion.”
Friday’s overturning of Roe is a religious decision that violates my individual religious freedoms, inalienable rights that are constitutionally guaranteed by the First Amendment. My belief that abortion should be legalized in all cases is not more important than the belief of those who think abortion should be illegal, but it should be just as important. This decision is heartbreaking, enraging evidence that my body is not my own and my religious rights have been deemed inferior.
Why? Because the Supreme Court has been compromised by religious extremism.
Earlier this week, the court ruled in favor of increased public funding for religious schools, including those that promote homophobic and transphobic beliefs. That means my money will support religious beliefs that contradict everything I believe with every fiber of my being. My own money will actively injure my queer and trans loved ones, and there’s not a damn thing I can do about it.
In times like these, I return to the words of the American criminal justice reform activist Mariame Kaba: “Let this radicalize you rather than lead you to despair.”
Do we scream? Maybe. Do we give up? Never. I come from a line of relentless Jewish feminists, and we sure as hell don’t give up.