The Reform Movement's positions on reproductive rights are grounded in the core belief that each person should have agency and autonomy over their own bodies.
The Reform Movement's positions on reproductive rights are grounded in the core belief that each person should have agency and autonomy over their own bodies. Our advocacy around abortion access is inspired by the Jewish value of kavod ha’briyot, respect for individual dignity. This same sanctity underscores the vital need for medically accurate sexuality education, affordable family planning services, and high-quality maternal and women’s health care.
We strive to work in partnership with both secular and faith-based organizations and build relationships across lines of faith, race, and other differences to create a world in which every person is able to shape their reproductive lives with dignity.
The RAC is partnering with Women of Reform Judaism on the WRJ-RAC Reproductive Health & Rights Campaign to provide an organizing structure for congregations, women's groups, and other Reform Jewish communities to take collective action for reproductive health and rights on a local, state, provincial, and federal level.
Life is sacred in Judaism. Banning potentially life-saving medical procedures and interfering with a patient’s decision-making and moral agency runs contrary to the Jewish commandment to protect life. This belief, combined with biblical and rabbinic emphasis on human dignity, has led the Reform Movement to view the life of the pregnant individual as paramount, placing a stronger emphasis on protecting existing life than on potential life (Exodus 21:22-23).
Furthermore, the rabbis tell us that a physician’s job is to heal, and 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 which 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 is in direct opposition to this sacred duty.
The Women’s Health Protection Act would create a federal safeguard against countless state regulations, bans, and restrictions that prevent people from accessing the abortion care they need. Urge your members of Congress to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA).
The Hyde Amendment prohibits federal health insurance coverage of abortion, with very narrow exception, disproportionately impacting low-income individuals and limiting their access to abortion services. Urge Congress to support the EACH Act, which would restore moral agency to all pregnant individuals, regardless of income.
The global gag rule, also called the Mexico City Policy, prevented foreign NGOs that receive U.S. global health assistance from using their own, non-U.S. funds to discuss abortion with their patients, perform legal abortions, or advocate for the legalization of abortion. Urge your members of Congress to support the Global HER Act.
Despite the fact that 7 in 10 Americans support the right to legal abortion, access to abortion services is limited by restrictions such as geography, mandatory waiting periods, biased counseling with medically inaccurate scare tactics, parental consent laws for minors, insurance coverage restrictions, and targeted regulation of abortion providers (TRAP) laws.
Access to affordable family planning services is a critical component of our reproductive health and rights advocacy, as access to these services equip individuals with the necessary tools to shape their lives and futures.
Comprehensive sexuality education is intrinsically linked to reproductive rights. Without it, individuals cannot make informed decisions about their bodies or futures. Accurate and comprehensive sex education provides students with the information they need to avoid unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and other health problems.
The legal right to have an abortion or obtain contraceptive care does not mean much if these rights are inaccessible. The Reproductive Justice Movement is a contemporary movement and a framework coined by 12 visionary Black women in 1994 that centers the voices and concerns of marginalized communities in conversations relating to reproduction, sexuality, and families.
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Learn more about the position of the Reform Movement on these key issues, and read the formal resolutions by URJ and CCAR.
Learn more about the RAC Brit Olam, and consider joining the Reproductive Health and Rights Cohort, run in partnership with Women of Reform Judaism, to join a network of congregations working to advance reproductive health and rights on a local, state, provincial, and federal level.
Utilize the WRJ-RAC Reproductive Health & Rights Printable Resource to find a list of Jewish texts and suggestions on programs to kickstart your advocacy efforts.
For more information on this issue, contact Lillie Heyman.
