This commentary is by Rabbi Ellie Shemtov of the Rutland Jewish Center in Rutland.
On June 24, the Supreme Court took away my religious freedom.
On June 24, 50 years of tangible progress in the area of reproductive rights was ripped away.
On June 24, the Supreme Court obliterated an already recognized constitutional right from the American people and, in so doing, put the lives of millions of women at risk.
On June 24, when public support for abortion was at an all-time high, the court — as Nancy Northrup of the Center for Reproductive Rights remarked — has hit a new low by taking away a constitutionally guaranteed personal liberty.
As the three dissenting judges noted: From the very moment of fertilization, a woman has no rights to speak of. A state can force her to bring a pregnancy to term even at the steepest personal and familial costs. … They have passed laws without any exceptions, for when the woman is the victim of rape or incest. Under those laws, a woman will have to bear the rapist’s child or a young girl her father’s — no matter if doing so will destroy her life.
Connie Ryan, executive director of Interfaith Alliance of Iowa, noted that the court has placed the lives and futures of Americans who are pregnant in the hands of politicians with extreme political agendas, rather than doing its job to protect the fundamental rights of Americans.
Rev. Dr. Katharine Henderson, interim president and CEO of the Interfaith Alliance, writes that true religious freedom is neutral, non-coercive, nondiscriminatory, not absolute, democratic and pluralistic.
While Judaism’s position on abortion is somewhat nuanced, the rabbis were very clear on two points.
- In Jewish law, a fetus attains the status of a full person only at birth.
- The mother’s life is the highest priority, which means there are times when abortion is mandated.
In Judaism, the utmost religious imperative is pikuach nefesh, the safeguarding of human life. All other mitzvot, all other commandments, such as the prohibition against traveling on Shabbat, are suspended in order to provide necessary medical care to someone whose life is endangered.
Whenever Jews hear that someone has passed away, they say a blessing — Barukh Ata Adonai Eloheinu Melekh ha-olam, dayan ha-emet (Blessed are You Adonai our God, ruler of the universe, the true judge). It’s a blessing that seeks to find the divine in the midst of sorrow and calamity.
As my friend and colleague Rabbi David Cavill writes: Under normal circumstances, the final words, dayan ha-emet, announce God as the true judge or the one who judges according to truth. These words now, however, signal for us a tragic irony, that justice has been profoundly and tragically perverted … (that) justice itself has been aborted.
Please join me in voting yes on Vermont’s Reproductive Liberty Amendment, or Article 22, in November. If passed, it will protect every person’s right to make their own reproductive decisions, such as whether and when to become pregnant, use temporary or permanent birth control, or seek abortion care. Take the pledge to vote YES on the Reproductive Liberty Amendment.
