editorials
Toward an Abortion Rights Solution
T here is a school of thought that promotes a
practical approach to problem solving: Once
you identify the problem, skip the hand-wringing
and recriminations and move directly to possible
solutions. That approach seems particularly appropriate
in the wake of the Supreme Court’s recent Dobbs
decision, which overturned the half-century abor-
tion rights ruling in Roe v. Wade. Rather than
obsessing over the loss through demonstrations,
rants and fi nger pointing — which help vent emo-
tion but do very little to address the issue — focus
on the development of solutions for the problem.

That’s the approach President Joe Biden took
on the issue last week. “I believe we have to cod-
ify Roe vs Wade in the law, and the way to do that
is to make sure the Congress votes to do that,” he
said. In other words, Biden wants to establish a
federal right to abortion under the Roe standard.

With anti-abortion laws going into eff ect in
red states, and mounting concern about abor-
tion rights around the country, the enactment
of a federal law on abortion and privacy rights
is needed. But given the 50-50 partisan divide
in the Senate, it will be diffi cult to attain — par-
ticularly in light of the Senate fi libuster rule of
procedure which calls for a supermajority to cut
off debate. Biden, a Senate institutionalist who
respects the fi libuster rule, wants an exception
here — similar to the exception already in place
for the Senate’s confi rmation of judicial nom-
inees, which allows confi rmation by a simple
majority. We agree with that approach for the
limited purpose of reestablishing abortion rights
under a federal standard.

But Democrats may not have the votes.

Democratic Sens. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and
Joe Manchin of West Virginia have signaled that
they oppose a change in the fi libuster on the
abortion issue. And though Biden has said that
he would be “happy to go straight around” objec-
tions from them should the Democrats prevail in
November, the projection of a Democratic Senate
majority following the coming mid-terms appears
to be wishful thinking.

So, the time to act is now, with focus on
Manchin and Sinema and upon possibly sympa-
thetic Republican moderates on this issue. That
won’t be easy. But focusing on a solution has the
potential to be more eff ective than endless hours
of demonstration, recrimination and continued
complaining about the heightened conservative
tilt of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Here, the feds can learn from many of their state
counterparts: For example, in the Mid-Atlantic
area, three states — New York, New Jersey and
Connecticut — have moved to protect abortion
rights. In Maryland, the right to an abortion has
been a state law for three decades. Abortion is
legal in Virginia up to the end of the second tri-
mester. And Pennsylvania allows abortions up to
the 24th week of a pregnancy.

Whatever your position on the issue, we urge
you to express your view with your vote in the
upcoming primaries and general elections. Don’t
sit this one out. JE
R eports indicate that one of Russian
President Vladimir Putin’s reasons
for invading Ukraine was to prevent
Ukraine from joining the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization, a military alliance
that the West had mostly forgotten
about. If those reports are correct, Putin’s
NATO calculations appear to be as
fl awed as his Ukrainian war calculations.

Because, if anything, Putin’s war has led
to an increased international focus on
NATO, the alliance’s unifi cation against a
common enemy and to its programmatic
resurgence and membership growth.

This was all apparent at the NATO
summit held last week in Madrid —
President Joe Biden meets with NATO Secretary General Jens
attended by all 30 Allied leaders, and
Stoltenberg at the NATO summit in Madrid.

key NATO partners from Europe and
Asia. There, Turkey dropped its opposi-
tion to Sweden and Finland joining NATO — and the Russian frontier, along with control of some
those two countries agreed to do more about new strategic territory. Before the Russian inva-
Kurdish terrorism and to drop an arms embargo sion of Ukraine, Sweden and Finland partnered
against Turkey, while the United States agreed to with NATO for decades but saw no threat to their
explore selling fi ghter jets to Turkey — clearing the security from their Russian neighbor. Putin’s war
way for Sweden and Finland to join the alliance.

changed it all.

It will likely take several months for Sweden
Member expansion was not the only signifi cant
and Finland to offi cially join, but their inclusion in news to come out of last week’s summit. The U.S.

NATO represents a major blow to Russia. With announced it is sending more forces to Europe,
those two new members, NATO’s border with and the NATO secretary general announced a
Russia will grow by 800 miles, more than dou- signifi cant increase in the alliance’s rapid reac-
bling the length of NATO’s current presence on tion force. NATO also released a new Strategic
12 JULY 7, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
Concept for the fi rst time in over a
decade, clarifying the threat that Russia
poses to the West. In addition, NATO is
now focused on the danger of China’s
growing influence. Leaders from
Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and
Australia joined the summit, refl ecting
NATO’s increasing focus on Asia and
the Pacifi c, and lending credence to
the concern that a Russian victory in
Ukraine could embolden China.

Outside of the summit, NATO is
apparently also growing closer to
Israel. NATO has reportedly expressed
an interest in Israeli technology. Israel,
which has a non-NATO alliance status,
sees an expanded relationship with
NATO as a possible means to help
build or solidify Israel’s relationships
with NATO member nations, such as its near
neighbor, Turkey.

We applaud these developments. It is import-
ant that the NATO military alliance not be the
“paper tiger” its critics have accused it of being.

By expanding its membership, deploying addi-
tional troops and addressing the threats posed by
Russia and China, NATO is demonstrating that it
is able to respond to a changing world and that it
is not a Cold War relic. These and other develop-
ments at the summit show the world that NATO is
on the upswing. JE
NATO NATO on the Upswing



opinions & letters
How Voluntary Were Those
Voluntary Prayers?
BY RABBI CHARLES ARIAN
JBryson / iStock / Getty Images Plus
Photo by Rabbi Batya Glazer
T wenty-five years ago, I spent
almost a year living and teaching
at a Trappist monastery. I got to know
the brothers quite well. Most of the year
was quite comfortable and pleasant,
but the one moment that stands out as
not being so was attending the Easter
Vigil. The liturgy of the Easter Vigil con-
tains readings from both the Hebrew
Scriptures and the New Testament,
but does so in a way that makes the
Jewish story simply a prelude to the
Christian one — as if our story has no
value in itself. It was very upsetting
and I finally got up and left.

Later that day a number of monks
sought me out and more than one
said to me “as I was sitting there, I
was asking myself how Rabbi Charles
was hearing this.” That’s a part of
what empathy is; hearing something
not only with our own ears but with
those of the other as well.

Last week, the Supreme Court
issued its decision in the case of
Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, and held
that a football coach had the right to pray at the
50-yard line after football games. He was usually
joined by players who had, in theory, voluntarily
decided to join their coach in prayer.

I’ve written and taught a lot in the last few
months about the tension inherent between the
Free Exercise Clause and the Establishment
Clause of the First Amendment. The government
should not prevent people from practicing their
religion, but they must also not create the impres-
sion that the government is endorsing religion
in general or a specific religion. The Bremerton
School Board felt that players could feel pressure
to join Coach Kennedy in prayer and this violated
the Establishment Clause, but the Supreme Court
majority held that by preventing Kennedy from
holding his prayer meetings it was violating his
freedom of religious exercise.

I went to a public school in New Jersey that was
almost entirely white and 90 percent Christian,
mostly Catholic. One of the very few non-white
students in our class was a Latina girl who was a
Jehovah’s Witness. Jehovah’s Witnesses believe
that national flags are contrary to the biblical
prohibition of idolatry and they do not pledge
allegiance or stand for the national anthem. While
everyone else in the class stood for the Pledge of
Allegiance every morning, Laura sat quietly and
respectfully at her desk.

It was only much later in life that I realized how
courageous Laura was and how difficult this
must have been for her. It’s relatively easy for six
Christian justices to hold that Christian prayer held
by a coach does not violate the Establishment
Clause and that students who don’t choose to
participate won’t feel alienated or penalized. But
anyone who has been a teenager knows that
peer pressure is real, and anyone who has been
involved in high school sports knows not to alien-
ate the coach. I cannot imagine being a Jewish
or Muslim or atheist football player in Bremerton,
competing with others on the team for playing
time, and pondering whether or not to participate
in this “voluntary” prayer.

Empathy is asking the question, “How would I
feel if the shoe were on the other foot?” We have
a real empathy deficit in this country and it is
growing. JE
Rabbi Charles L. Arian leads Kehilat Shalom in
Gaithersburg, Maryland.

letters Vote for Mastriano?
I have a question for Richard Tems: Do you intend
to vote for Doug Mastriano, a man who consorts
with antisemites like the Fosdicks — conspiracy
proponents of anti-Jewish propaganda about
Jewish space lasers — whose ideas build on
ancient canards about Jewish control of the world
(“Jews Debate Mastriano’s Christian Nationalist
Beliefs,” June 23)?
Are you a Jew first or a Republican first? JE
Emily Solomon Farrell
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