Reaffirming Our Commitment to Reproductive Rights Post-Dobbs (2024) Group Actions
Action Alerts:
Urge Congress to protect fundamental reproductive rights:
- In Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade—the decisions that affirmed that everyone has autonomy over their bodies and has the right to decide whether they want to continue a pregnancy—and the fundamental right to live with autonomy, dignity, and equality. This decision gives the greenlight to abortion bans in states across the country, forcing millions to travel out-of-state to receive the care they need. As federal and state courts across the country continue to limit access to reproductive health care, it’s more important than ever to urge Congress to protect reproductive freedom.
Urge Congress to codify abortion Access by passing the Women’s Health Protection Act:
- On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court ruled in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, overturning Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v Casey, leaving abortion rights up to the states. As a result of the Supreme Court’s decision, patients and providers risk criminalization, hundreds of clinics have been forced to close, providers are denied the ability to provide necessary medical procedures, and patients are unable to obtain the health care services they need. As of now, 17 states have already banned abortions and more plan to do so.
Urge Congress to repeal the Hyde Amendment:
- The Hyde Amendment bans federal insurance coverage of abortion services with narrow exception. This means that pregnant individuals receiving health insurance through Medicaid and other federal plans (including TRICARE and Indian Health Service) are denied the ability to use health insurance to cover abortion. The Hyde Amendment disproportionality impacts individuals who already face systemic barriers to obtaining health care—overwhelmingly People of Color, immigrants, pregnant people in the LGBTQ+ community, individuals living in rural areas, and young people.
Urge Congress to codify the right to contraception:
- In Justice Thomas’ concurring opinion in Dobbs, he implored the court to revisit its 1965 Griswold decision, jeopardizing the constitutional right for couples to buy and use contraceptives without government restrictions. With the fundamental right to contraception in limbo, it is imperative that Congress pass the Right to Contraception Act.
Contact your governor and state legislators to demand they protect and expand abortion rights:
- Since 2011 , more than 600 state laws have been enacted to restrict abortion access, including mandatory waiting periods, parental consent laws, biased counseling, gestational bans, and targeted regulation of abortion providers (TRAP) laws. In 2022 alone, 541 abortion restrictions have been introduced across the country, with Oklahoma’s governor signing a total abortion ban into law and trigger bans that will already take effect within the month. As a result of these laws, patients and providers risk criminalization, hundreds of clinics have been forced to close, providers are denied the ability to provide necessary medical procedures, and patients are unable to obtain the health care services they need. On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court ruled in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, overturning Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, leaving abortion rights up to the states. Your state legislatures have the power to protect abortion access through legislation, ballot initiatives, and more.
Urge U.S. Governors to protect IVF and reproductive healthcare:
- In February 2024, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos should be treated by the law as if they were children, a decision that could imperil the future of in-vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures. Enabled by the Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade, this ruling will limit fertility treatment in Alabama and further endanger access to abortion and other reproductive care. Currently, 13 states are considering legislation regarding fetal personhood, which would effectively outlaw IVF. Three states already have laws proclaiming fetal personhood, which was the precedent on which the Alabama court’s decision was made. Without swift action, those who want nothing more than to start a family could be prevented from doing so.
Urge Parliament to adopt universal contraception:
- We are at a pivotal moment in Canadian healthcare history with the introduction of pharmacare. This program would provide coverage for prescription medications, including contraception, so people are not made to choose between rent and groceries and their health. Currently, our government is debating this proposal, and it's essential that we make our voices heard. We must advocate strongly for our elected officials to prioritize pharmacare and universal access to contraception for all Canadians.
For more ways to take action in Canada, visit Action Canada for Sexual Health & Rights.
Media Recommendations
TO WATCH:
Summary:
Inspired by the lawsuits filed in Florida challenging the state's abortion ban on the basis of religious freedom, Under G-d is a documentary short film about the national Jewish response to the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization U.S. Supreme Court decision woven through the lived experiences of impacted Jewish women, and the various lawsuits currently being launched by rabbis, Jewish organizations, and interfaith leaders to challenge the state-by-state overturning of Roe v. Wade. Through the lens of maintaining the separation between church and state, these nationwide efforts are predicated on ultimately protecting religious freedom—and democracy—for all.
Discussion Qs:
- What are your initial reactions to this film?
- What did you learn about US laws and religion that surprised you?
- What points of view from the film resonate, expand, and/or differ from your ideas about religion or religious freedom?
- What are some benefits of interfaith alliances in regard to advocating for social or policy changes, such as those concerning reproductive rights? What is the importance of organizing across distinctions of belief and identity to effect social and political change?
Red, White, and Blue (2023) (Note: $1.99 to rent)
Summary:
Rachel (Brittany Snow) is a single parent living paycheck to paycheck. When an unexpected pregnancy threatens to unravel her already precarious position, she's forced to cross state lines in search of an abortion. As Rachel contemplates the series of events that necessitated this journey and the obstacles placed in her path, we learn a heartbreaking truth that means her life will never be the same again.
Discussion Questions
- What are your initial reactions to this film?
- What did you think of the ending of the film? Did it change your perspective of the movie?
- Often, reproductive rights advocates debate whether the extreme circumstances in which someone needs an abortion or if how normal and common abortions are should be emphasized. Do you think one of these angles is a better approach than the other? If so, which and why?
TO READ:
“Finding Hope in the Room” by Jessica Valenti
Summary:
“How to keep going, two years after Dobbs.”
Discussion Qs:
- What were your initial reactions to this piece? How did it make you feel?
- Valenti says in this piece: “It’s precisely because this moment is so difficult that we need to focus on how powerful we really are.” What are moments since the overturning of Roe v. Wade that have made you feel hopeful for the future of reproductive freedom?
- What can we do to ensure that others stay hopeful throughout this fight?
“‘Restore Roe’ Isn’t Enough” by Dr. Layla Houshmand
Summary:
"Roe almost killed me. We must end all government interference in pregnancy."
Discussion Qs:
- What were your initial reactions to this piece? What did you learn?
- Dr. Houshmand is very open in saying that “Pregnancy is not health-neutral—it is a risk that requires continuous consent.” What are your thoughts on this sentiment? Does it make you think about abortion access in a different way?
- Since Dobbs, the reproductive rights movement has simultaneously held two opinions—some say that Roe must be restored and some say that the removal of Roe leaves a space to create a new framework. What are your thoughts on this debate? Where do you think you fall on this spectrum?
“Our Embryos Weren’t Children” by Rabbi Jen Gubitz
Summary:
What IVF means to those who need it.
Discussion Qs:
- What were your initial reactions to this piece? How did it make you feel?
- What are your thoughts on Rabbi Gubitz’s musing on embryos as “fragile cells of hope” but “not children”?
- Why do you think so many in the Jewish community are passionate about protecting IVF? Are there Jewish values that support the use of IVF?
TO LISTEN:
Summary:
Well, here we are. Roe v. Wade has been overturned, and it’s more urgent than ever to rally for reproductive rights across the country—and understand how we got to this point. This week, Professor Jacki Antonovich joins Jonathan Van Ness to explore the history of abortion care and forced sterilization in the US, how white supremacy has shaped reproductive politics, and why Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, isn’t the historical fiction we may think it is. (Note: please be aware before listening to this podcast that certain language may be used that is considered offensive.)
Discussion Qs:
- What are your initial reactions to this podcast episode? How did it make you feel? Did you learn anything new?
- At the beginning of the podcast, Jonathan Van Ness tells Dr. Jacki Antonovich they were shocked by truths of history that they had not previously learned about. Dr. Antonovich shares “when we (and the news media) don’t regularly interrogate the history, we forget about things like how brutal back-alley abortions were or self-induced abortions.” As shared in the podcast, what historical facts about gender, race, sexuality, reproductive health in medicine surprised or shocked you?
- Many listening to this podcast can remember a time when abortion was illegal in the United States. For some, abortion had always been legal in the U.S. until June 24, 2022. Now we are living in a time where our daughters and granddaughters (depending on where they live) do not have the same reproductive freedoms women had during the Roe years, 1973-2022. After reading WRJ’s recent resolution, “Reaffirming our Commitment to Reproductive Rights Post-Dobbs,” and listening to this podcast, how would you respond to Jonathan Van Ness when they state “now we all have to come together and figure out how to fix what is sure to be a complete f _ _ked up mess”?
- Why does Dr. Antonovich say “if we really want to understand the history of abortion, we have to step back and understand the history of women’s health in general”?
- At the end of the podcast, Dr. Antonovich says “we have to stop whitewashing the history of medicine as this sort of great arc of progress and really look at the ways in which medicine has contributed to medical violence against marginalized communities. That’s the only way, I think, that we can move forward.” Reflect on this statement and what you have learned about abortion, eugenics, forced sterilization, women’s health care, racism, and the medical field over the past 200 years from this podcast.
The Weeds: “Abortion and the erosion of privacy”
Summary:
Since the Dobbs decision almost two years ago, reproductive rights have been at the center of our national consciousness. Two of the latest headlines come from Florida and Arizona: a six-week abortion ban, and a total abortion ban unless the life of the pregnant person is threatened, respectively. Both states have constitutions that name-check privacy rights, but both courts found that those rights don’t extend to abortion. What does privacy look like in the United States, and do we still have it in a post-Dobbs world? (Read more: Will the Supreme Court come for what remains of the right to privacy? - Vox)
Discussion Qs:
- What are your initial reactions to this podcast episode? Did you learn anything new?
- How would you describe the relationship between the right to privacy and the cases/decisions on reproductive rights?
- How does this episode demonstrate the manipulation and power of language? How has language been manipulated in the cases described in this episode? What impact does this have on the individual or public mindset in relation to the topic?
- Articulate how this erosion of privacy will have harmful implications in addition to and/or outside of the realm of reproductive rights (i.e. LGBTQ+ issues, race discrimination, etc).
- After listening to the episode, answer the question in the summary as continued reflection: What does privacy look like in the United States, and do we still have it in a post-Dobbs world?
Text Study
“If a woman’s labor becomes life threatening, the one to be born is dismembered in her abdomen… for her life comes before the life of the fetus.” (Mishna, Ohalot 7:6)
- What are your initial reactions to this quote?
- How do you think this quote fits into our advocacy for reproductive rights and justice?
- What do you think “life threatening” means? Depending on your understanding of the term, do you think this is a good standard?
“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 they withhold treatment, they are regarded as one who sheds blood.” (Shulchan Arukh, Yoreh De’ah 336:1)
“Providing health care is not just an obligation for the patient and the doctor, but for the whole of society. It is for this reason that Maimonides, a revered Jewish scholar, identified care for the sick as the most important communal service that a city had to offer its residents.” (Mishneh Torah, Sefer Hamadda IV:23)
- What are your initial reactions to these quotes?
- How do you think these quotes fit into our advocacy for reproductive rights and justice?
- Both these quotes emphasize the importance of healthcare, but the second emphasizes the importance of the community in providing this essential service. What are ways in which your community supports those in need of reproductive healthcare? What are additional ways in which you could support patients?
“Before I created you in the womb, I selected you; Before you were born, I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet concerning the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5)
- What are your initial reactions to this quote?
- How do you think this quote fits into our advocacy for reproductive rights and justice?
- The text from Jeremiah is sometimes used in religious arguments against abortion. How might our interpretation of these texts differ from other religious interpretations? Do you think these texts support or contradict a “pro-choice/pro-abortion” position?
“Prior to forty days of gestation the fetus is mayim b’alma (mere water).” (Talmud, Yevamot)
- What are your initial reactions to this quote?
- How do you think this quote fits into our advocacy for reproductive rights and justice?
- Many recent anti-abortion laws have instated a definition of “fetal personhood,” essentially declaring that life begins at conception, and that a fetus should have the same rights as a human. How does this quote conflict with that definition and the laws based on it?