H eadlines
Jewish Issues Part of Supreme Court Agenda
NATIONAL RON KAMPEAS | JTA.ORG
WASHINGTON — The
Supreme Court opened a new
session of cases last week, and
an array of them affect Jewish
life in the United States.

But there is one issue that
a range of Jewish groups are
keenly interested in that is
not on the docket: the court’s
credibility. A series of bruising confir-
mation battles in recent years
and a pair of recent decisions
— on Texas’ controversial
abortion law and on President
Biden’s proposed moratoriums
on evictions in the wake of
the COVID-19 pandemic —
have polarized public opinion
about the court. In the wake of
last year’s rush by Republicans
to get Amy Coney Barrett
confirmed as the court’s sixth
conservative justice, following
the death of Ruth Bader
Ginsburg, there have been
calls from left-leaning groups
to reconstitute the court by
adding more justices.

Sensing the growing criti-
cism, several justices — liberal
and conservative — have
spoken out in recent weeks.

Barrett emphasized that
justices should not let personal
biases influence their decisions.

Samuel Alito dismissed claims
that the court’s conservatives
have formed a “shadow docket”
to push decisions through
without traditional debate
sessions. That has not appeased many
Jewish organizations, who
worry about how erosion of
the court’s reputation could
eventually harm Jews.

“There will be a time when
the court’s prestige is neces-
sary to protect individual or
group rights or the institu-
tional interests of the country,
and the prestige shouldn’t be
squandered,” said Marc Stern,
general counsel for the centrist
American Jewish Committee.

Rabbi Jonah Pesner, who
directs the Reform movement’s
more progressive Religious
Action Center, said recent court
decisions have set it on a path
toward radical changes, among
them severely curtailing the
right to an abortion.

“We are worried about the
hyper-polarization of the court
and the potential that it is
being delegitimized when it is
so out of sync with thoughtful
consensus issues, like access to
abortion,” Pesner said.

Under that cloud, the court’s
justices will hear a range of
impactful cases. Here are the
ones that Jews should know
about. The threat to
Roe v. Wade
The court has agreed to hear
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s
Health Organization, pitting
the state of Mississippi, which
bans most abortions after 15
weeks, against an abortion
clinic. Lower courts — including
those known to lean conser-
vative — have upheld the
abortion clinic’s claim that
the law violates the seminal
1973 decision that upheld a
woman’s right to an abortion,
Roe. v. Wade, which held that
abortions are legal until the
fetus is viable, at between 22-24
weeks of pregnancy.

The National Council of
Jewish Women is leading a
friend of the court brief on
behalf of the clinic, with
some 50 organizations signed
on, and the Religious Action
Center and Anti-Defamation
League have signed onto
separate amicus briefs.

NCJW has launched an
initiative, 73Forward (referring
to the decision’s year), that will
educate women about abortion
and help facilitate access to
abortions. It includes a compo-
nent called Rabbis for Repro,
now numbering some 1,500
rabbis, to underscore that for
many Jews, access to abortion
is a religious imperative.

“We are deeply concerned
about laws that would severely
limit access to abortion,”
Pesner said. He said the laws
FOREST HILLS / SHALOM
MEMORIAL PARK
Do You Have a Plan for the Future?
Why Pre-Plan Today ?
• Make sure your family knows your fi nal wishes
• Relieve your loved ones from having to make tough
decisions and from any unexpected fi nancial burdens
• Give real peace of mind for you and your family
NEW MASADA V MAUSOLEUM
Call us today to speak with a
Family Service Professional and receive your
FREE Personal Planning Guide.

Forest Hills Cemetery/Shalom Memorial Park
25 Byberry Road Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006
215-673-5800 NEW COLUMBARIUM & PRIVATE ESTATES
12 OCTOBER 14, 2021
Samuel Domsky
General Manager
JEWISH EXPONENT
Brent Lanzi
Family Service Manager
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM