New York, September 1, 2021 – In response to a new Texas anti-abortion law that came into effect today, leaders of Reform Jewish Movement institutions issued the following statement:
We denounce, in the strongest terms, the law that went into effect today in Texas, effectively making abortion care illegal in that state. In the most insidious state abortion restriction adopted to date, this Texas law makes abortion illegal as early as six weeks, before many are even aware that they are pregnant. The law is manipulatively designed to thwart courts’ ability to protect reproductive freedom, prohibiting state officials from enforcing the law but empowering any Texan to sue any person—an abortion provider, a counselor, a member of the clergy, a clinic worker, even a driver who delivers a person to a clinic, to name a few examples—who assists in accessing abortion care. For this reason, many Texas clinics are now unable to provide abortion care at all, as they are understandably unwilling to place their workers at intolerable risk from potentially ruinous lawsuits enabled by this Texas law.
We are concerned about individuals who cannot afford to travel long distances to secure abortion care in neighboring states. We are also deeply concerned about Jews who will be unable to pursue an abortion in keeping with Jewish law, which mandates abortion when necessary to preserve the pregnant person’s wellbeing. With respect to Judaism’s own limited approval of abortion: ‘as we would not impose the historic position of Jewish teaching upon individuals nor legislate it as normative for society at large, so we would not wish the position of any other group imposed upon the Jewish community or the general population.’” We also ground ourselves in kavod ha’briyot—the sacred obligation to provide medical care.
We will continue to work to overturn this law, prevent similar laws from being adopted in other states, and affirm the right of every person to make their own reproductive health decisions.
Central Conference of American Rabbis
Rabbi Lewis Kamrass
President
Rabbi Hara E. Person
Chief Executive
Union for Reform Judaism
Jennifer Brodkey Kaufman
Chair
Rabbi Rick Jacobs
President
Commission on Social Action and Religious Action Center
Susan Friedberg Kalson
Chair
Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner
Director
Women of Reform Judaism
Sara Charney
President
Rabbi Marla J. Feldman
Executive Director
Women’s Rabbinic Network
Rabbi Beth Klafter
Rabbi Emily Segal
Co-Presidents
Rabbi Mary Zamore
Executive Director
American Conference of Cantors
Cantor Claire Franco
President
Rachel Roth
Chief Operating Officer
NFTY, the Reform Jewish Youth Movement
Lev Mosbacher
President
Lynne Butner
Director of NFTY Engagement
Reform Pension Board
Leonard Teitelbaum
President
Michael A. Kimmel
Chief Executive Officer
Program & Engagement Professionals of Reform Judaism
Jason Plotkin
President
Association of Reform Jewish Educators
Marisa Kaiser
President
Rabbi Stanley T. Schickler
Executive Director
Men of Reform Judaism
Rob Himmelstein
President
Steven Portnoy
Executive Director
National Association for Temple Administration
Jack Feldman
President
Michael Liepman
Executive Director
Early Childhood Educators of Reform Judaism
Fern Katz
President
Tricia Ginis
Executive Director
National Association of Retired Reform Rabbis
Sheldon Harr
President
Julian and Susie Cook
Co-Executive Vice Presidents