Press
1/22/2015
Today, we commemorate the 42nd anniversary of the Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that established the constitutionally protected right of a woman to decide whether or not to have an abortion. In an affront to the legacy of Roe v. Wade, the House of Representatives voted this afternoon to pass the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2015, a dangerous bill to restrict abortion access. On the occasion of the Roe anniversary and of the House vote, Rachel Laser, Deputy Director of the Religious Action Center... Read More
9/11/2014
On Wednesday, the Senate voted to proceed on the Paycheck Fairness Act (S. 2199). The Paycheck Fairness Act is an important step towards closing the staggering persistent pay gap between male and female workers, and thus is of major significance to Women of Reform Judaism and the Reform Jewish community at large. Accordingly, WRJ Executive Director Marla Feldman and Religious Action Center Deputy Director Rachel Laser have jointly released the following press release: WASHINGTON, D.C., September 10, 2014 — In response to today’s Senate vote advancing the Paycheck Fairness Act, Rachel Laser... Read More
9/02/2014
by Bonnie Golden This article originally appeared at the Arizona Jewish Post. It highlights the experience of one woman with the WRJ-Israel Twinning Program. Jews of a certain age might share similar early impressions of Israel. In Chicago, where I grew up, the young congregants at Lawn Manor Hebrew Congregation were inculcated with a firm commitment to the Jewish state. We saved our dime tokens to plant our trees, circle-danced Israeli-style, and practiced rudimentary Hebrew conversation. During and after the 1967 war, the Chicago area Jewish community held multiple events to raise money... Read More
By Sarah Greenberg, 7/01/2014
This piece originally appeared at RACblog. In their 5-4 ruling yesterday, the Supreme Court found that closely-held corporations – like Hobby Lobby Stores and Conestoga Wood Specialties – may seek an exemption under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) to the Affordable Care Act’s contraception mandate. Although Justice Samuel Alito attempted to curtail the decision to apply only for exemptions to the contraception mandate, this ruling could be construed down the line to allow other closely-held corporations to seek other exemptions under RFRA from further health insurance... Read More
By Sarah Greenberg, 6/12/2014
Last month, WRJ Executive Director Rabbi Marla J. Feldman and RAC Deputy Director Rachel Laser signed onto a letter urging President Obama to reinterpret the Helms Amendment, which bans American foreign aid for abortion services in all circumstances. Alongside a number of other faith leaders, these Reform Movement leaders called on President Obama to instruct the State Department and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to interpret the Helms Amendment to allow American foreign aid to be used for abortion services in cases of rape, incest or life... Read More
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