The Past Few Months as a WRJ Legislative Assistant

Growing up in Los Angeles, I was privileged to never worry about accessing reproductive health care or an abortion. However, while attending college in Arizona, that all changed. In June 2022, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which led to the state of Arizona banning abortion after 15 weeks, with many obstacles and barriers to face before that. I watched the stress, heartache, and pain many people went through firsthand after not being able to receive the care they not only deserved but needed. This experience sparked my passion for reproductive rights and gender equity, and I knew my goal was to work to help people gain the rights they deserve without the government interfering with those decisions.  

When I saw the list of Legislative Assistant (LA) program portfolios last August, I immediately knew that my dream portfolio would be working on these issues. After meeting the staff of Women of Reform Judaism, I knew that I wanted to work closely with them as well. Working with WRJ not only allows me to focus on reproductive rights and health, gender equity, and education, but also allows me to research every issue I am passionate about through the gendered lens.  I had no idea then how incredible and life-changing this experience would be.

One of the first projects I worked on was speaking about Prop. 139, Arizona for Abortion Access, to two congregations in Arizona. I explained the importance of the ballot measure, why voting was so critical, and answered any questions the participants had. Going from planning Reproductive Rights Shabbat as a student at Arizona State’s Hillel and trying to collect signatures to place the measure on the ballot, to helping to run a WRJ webinar for Arizonans interested in voting for the ballot measure and leading call and text banks, to watching it pass in November 2024, was a full circle moment I am so grateful to have had.  

All of the abortion access campaigns that WRJ worked on with the RAC this past November truly made a huge difference in many states. Women of Reform Judaism and the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism (RAC) mobilized over 8,500 Reform Jews to reach more than 155,000 voters in support of abortion access. 137 phone calls were made to Arizona, along with the webinar about Prop. 139. In total, over 145,000 postcards were sent out to support abortion access in the last election cycle. WRJ and the RAC also formed a steering committee of New York leaders to launch a campaign for the NY Equal Rights Amendment and to educate Reform Jews about the measure, which ensures that New Yorkers are constitutionally protected from discrimination based on ethnicity, origin, age, disability, and sex, including  sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, and pregnancy outcomes. The New York measure passed, and WRJ also helped achieve victories in Arizona, Colorado, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, and Nevada. Even though we came up just short in Florida – three percentage points shy of the 60 percent threshold needed to pass - WRJ and the RAC led a tremendous campaign with 85,700 texts and 128,800 phone calls made to Florida in support of Amendment 4 to expand reproductive freedom.  

Another incredible experience I had was preparing and facilitating the RAC’s programming on gender pay equity and reproductive rights for L’Taken, the Reform Movement’s high school social justice seminar, which brings over 2,000 participants to Washington DC each year to learn about Jewish values and social justice.  I managed an advocacy simulation program where all the participants learned about the gender pay gap and practiced real-world advocacy skills as they lobbied our simulated “senators.”  I also developed and facilitated 10 workshops on reproductive health, where students learned about state abortion restrictions and federal legislation to protect and expand abortion access. The students were extremely engaged and during our Capitol Hill meetings the participants lobbied Congressional offices on the Women’s Health Protection Act and Paycheck Fairness Act. I really enjoyed educating these students and helping them discover new passions for social justice and civic engagement. The fourth weekend of L’Taken coincided with National Council of Jewish Women’s Reproductive Rights Shabbat, and we were able to collaborate even more with WRJ to have some special moments throughout Shabbat.  

Part of my work also includes collaborating with interfaith and secular organizations to advocate for Women of Reform Judaism’s priorities. One of our primary coalitions is the Faithful Majority for Reproductive Freedom, an interfaith coalition fighting for reproductive rights, for which I serve on the policy committee. I also work with National Council of Jewish Women’s Jewish Abortion Access Coalition. This coalition recently put together a Jewish organizational gathering – including WRJ, the RAC, NCJW, Hadassah, and Keshet – at the Rally for Patients’ Rights in Washington DC. The rally was supporting Planned Parenthood South Atlantic during the Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic case, which would prevent Medicaid patients from being able to access care at Planned Parenthood health centers like cancer screenings, birth control, and STI testing and treatment. WRJ CEO Rabbi Liz P. G. Hirsch spoke at the gathering, which was a great unifying moment for not only the Jewish community, but all of those fighting for bodily autonomy.  

One of the most meaningful projects I worked on this year was helping to plan WRJ’s 2025 Rabbi Marla J. Feldman Social Justice Conference (SJC). I moderated a panel on reproductive rights in a post-Dobbs world, spoke on a panel with the other legislative assistants, and introduced the plenary panel on reproductive rights. I helped schedule 25 lobby visits for the participants of the conference and helped with the lobby prep and writing the talking points on reproductive rights and health. It was an incredible experience, and I am so grateful I was able to work so closely with WRJ staff throughout this conference.  

I truly appreciate the YES Fund for enabling me to have all these incredible opportunities as a Legislative Assistant! These past few months have been amazing, and I am so excited to continue this work on these topics through the end of my fellowship.