On Comprehensive Reproductive Care and Supporting Israel

Women of Reform Judaism was proud to bring together nearly 350 participants to Washington D.C. for our inaugural Rabbi Marla J. Feldman Social Justice Conference. After three days full of sisterhood, spirituality, and social justice, most attendees travelled to Capitol Hill to meet with their members of Congress and represent the Reform progressive perspective through a feminist lens.  

The below remarks are from Debbie Friedman, a Shaker Heights, Ohio-based pediatrician and SJC participant on comprehensive reproductive care and continued support for the State of Israel.  

As a pediatrician, I have many concerns related to access to safe reproductive care. I have cared for our most vulnerable of all walks of life. I have cried with my patients when they learned of pregnancy or of pregnancy losses. I have felt the fear in the heart of teens needing access to safe and accurate reproductive health education, options, and treatments.

I’ve cared for tiny infants in our neonatal intensive care units, that live at the brink of death, with horrific and painful and often invasive treatments that are so costly, in terms of dollars, emotions, family, and societal stress and pain. I’ve seen women die from pregnancy complications. Most worrisome, to me, is the concern that our current climate related to reproductive care is resulting in dilemmas for our healthcare providers between doing what is medically right and following the law.

Obstetricians and gynecologists are not able to be adequately trained and are literally fleeing from their specialty or from locations where legislation threatens their ability to care for their patients, resulting in areas that have a paucity of care givers – abolishing access for general health conditions for women, including care for cancer, pregnancy, and menstrual irregularities, resulting in significant morbidity and mortality.

Women of Reform Judaism has been involved in advocating for reproductive health rights since 1935 when it issued its first resolution on birth control literature, and has continued to educate and advocate for reproductive rights consistently since then. Since the Dobbs decision in 2022, there have been many restrictive state laws passed. Although the state of Ohio has had an election that has enshrined the right to abortion in the state constitution, we recognize that there are many parts of our country where bans threaten the health and lives of women.  

63% of Americans believe abortion should be legal in most cases, and only 36% believe it should be illegal in all or most cases. 82% of Jewish voters disapproved of the recent supreme court determination that overturned Roe v. Wade and allows states to ban abortions.

Moreover, Women of Reform Judaism has a love of Israel, stemming from millennia of Jewish connection to the land and understanding that the destinies of diasporic Jews and Israeli Jews are intertwined, and has supported the state of Israel since its early days. We are devastated by Hamas’s attacks carried out on October 7, 2023, and the resulting war that affects Israelis and Palestinians alike. We support Israel’s right to defend itself in accordance with international law, and are focused on securing the release of the hostages, reducing innocent civilian casualties and ensuring humanitarian aid reaches the people of Gaza. We oppose the occupation and the expansion of West Bank settlements and are concerned about the rhetoric related to potential reoccupation of Gaza.  

The United States has an important role to play in facilitating peace and supporting the release of the hostages. US humanitarian aid to the Palestinians is essential in fighting the devastation from the current war and in enshrining long term investment in Palestinian society. Additionally, continued US foreign assistance to Israel for defense, such as the Iron Dome, from organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah is crucial for the safety of Israeli Jews and Palestinians, as well as Bedouins and Palestinians living in the West Bank.