H eadlines
Abortion Continued from Page 1
“We feel very strongly, as
most of the Jewish community
does, about the importance of
women’s reproductive freedom,”
said Elizabeth (Liz) Downing,
the vice president of advocacy
for the Greater Philadelphia
section of the National Council
of Jewish Women.

The Greater Philadelphia
NCJW signed on to an amicus
brief for the case of Allegheny
Reproductive Health Center et
al v. Pennsylvania Department
of Human Services being
heard before the Pennsylvania
Commonwealth Court in
2019. The case argued that
the abortion coverage ban
violates the Equal Rights
Amendment and the equal
protection provisions of the
Pennsylvania Constitution.

Members of the Greater
Philadelphia NCJW participated
in the Philadelphia Bans Off Our
Bodies March on Oct. 2.

“The mother should have
the freedom to decide what
medical procedures will work
best for her,” Downing said.

“Every woman should be able
to decide that for herself.”
Downing has advocated for
greater abortion access since
before the 1973 Roe v. Wade
decision occurred.

“I have many friends who
had back-alley abortions when
I was in college before Roe v.

Wade, and many of them were
never able to have children
after that,” Downing said. “I
don’t want to go back there,
and I don’t want the young
people today to ever have to
know what that feels like to not
have those services available if
and when they need them.”
Local politicians have
also made their thoughts
on abortion known. If Roe
v. Wade was overturned,
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8 DECEMBER 30, 2021
decisions around abortion
access would return to the
local level, putting an obliga-
tion on state politicians to have
these conversations.

“Abortion, sadly, has become
a lightning rod that’s used as a
political sword to weaponize
the political sphere and gain
political points rather than
being treated as thoughtful
policy,” said Democratic state
Rep. Jared G. Solomon, who
represents the 202nd Legislative
District, which includes
Philadelphia County.

Like Downing, Solomon
emphasizes the gestational
parent’s right to choose
whether to have an abortion.

According to Ben Waxman,
the Democratic state represen-
tative candidate for the 182nd
House District seat, which
represents Center City, there’s “a
lot of stigma about [something
that] is a medical procedure.”
Community members have
been eager to discuss the topic
of abortion with Waxman.

Wa xman’s
potential constituency and Solomon’s
constituency are both heavily
Democratic and Jewish, yet
the politicians emphasized the
importance of reaching out
across the aisle to discuss the
contentious topic.

“The most revolutionary
thing you can do is have a
conversation with someone
with different beliefs than
you,” Waxman said.

The lack of conversation
around abortion in political
spaces has made it a polarizing
and stigmatized topic. Solomon
believes these conversations
are difficult but necessary to
craft laws that are realistic and
driven by values, not political
power grabs.

“We’re going to disagree,
but we need to be able to have
that discussion and a reason-
able debate,” Solomon said.

The arguments against
abortion have been monop-
olized by some Christians
arguing that life begins at
conception, according to Rabbi
Abi Weber of Temple Beth
JEWISH EXPONENT
Members of the Greater Philadelphia section of the National Council of
Jewish Women at the Oct. 2 Bans Off Our Bodies March appear
in Philadelphia.

Courtesy of the Greater Philadelphia Section of the National Council of Jewish Women
Zion-Beth Israel. She said that
this view has caused Jewish
spiritual leaders to be clear in
their ideas about abortion.

“What you’re seeing much
more are rabbis, particularly
American rabbis, feeling a
need to really assert some of
these very old Jewish ideas that
are different from Christian
ideas,” Weber said.

Jewish leaders have empha-
sized that although the
political obligation of Jews to
advocate for abortion access
is clear, the personal decision
to have an abortion is delicate
and complicated.

According to Eisenberg,
“A fetus is considered to be a
human being minus epsilon,”
meaning being the closest to,
without actually being consid-
ered, a born human being.

Because of this consider-
ation, the life of the person
carrying the fetus takes prece-
dence over the fetus itself.

Therefore, an abortion is
permissible if the gestational
parent’s health is in danger.

Weber believes
that individuals need to consider
mental health needs as part
of the gestational parent’s
overall health. Therefore,
if the gestational parent is
suicidal, or factors from the
pregnancy place a severe
strain on the person’s mental
health, abortion would also
be permissible.

Jewish thoughts on abortion
have changed over time. After
the Holocaust, Jews took a
much more conservative stance
on abortion due to interest in
Jewish futurity, Weber said.

However, Waxman, who
considers himself a progressive,
said that Jewish experiences
with authoritarian powers
in the past have made some
Jews more cautious of govern-
ment restrictions, including
for abortion.

Like most considerations
in Judaism, although clear
halachic guidelines to follow
exist, each scenario for an
abortion must be considered
on a case-by-case basis. Any
government restrictions on
abortion, Weber and Eisenberg
said, would deny this process
to take place — a process
which is personal, painful and
profoundly complicated.

“I know the experience of
having potential life grow in
my body, and there’s no doubt
that it’s sacred, beautiful and
special and can be such a
wonderful experience for so
many people,” Weber said.

“And having been through that
experience, I’m all the more
aware of the toll that it can
take on people. As a society,
we need to be focusing on the
person carrying the child.” l
srogelberg@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0741
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM