views commentary President Trump’s Birth Control Mandate Is An Attack On Religious Liberty O We have made progress by leaps and ne hundred years ago, in order bounds since those days: today, abor- to support the four children she tion rates are their lowest since the already had, my great-grand- historic Roe v. Wade Supreme Court mother Lena gave herself abortions decision and rates of unintended preg- on her kitchen table with a knitting nancies in the U.S. are at their needle. lowest level in 30 years. For Her story is typical of so that, we can likely thank the many: an immigrant from the wide availability and afford- Poland/Austria region, she ability of birth control. arrived in the U.S. alone at 16 Today, we stand at a cross- and set out to find work and a roads. Since the Affordable new life in a new country. She Care Act’s birth control man- married my great-grandfather date required insurers to pro- and lived with him and their Rabbi Hara E. vide contraceptive methods at four children in a Lower East Person no cost, women have saved an Side tenement. They scraped estimated $1.4 billion per year by, just barely. on birth control. Women, who Quarters were cramped in make up an integral part of our their apartment. The three brothers shared the only bedroom. The economy and society, are better able to plan their families and their financial parents slept in the front room. My futures, participate in education and in grandmother, the family’s only daugh- the workforce. ter, slept on a bedroll in the kitchen. But this progress just came to a But twice, she was asked to go and grinding halt. Earlier this month, the sleep with her brothers. Curious, and Trump administration issued a rule probably disturbed by what she must that would cut off women’s access to have been hearing, she peeked into the economic and physical safety — all in kitchen and saw her mother on the the name of religious liberty. kitchen table, having an abortion with This rollback of a key Affordable a knitting needle at the hands of a local Care Act provision would allow prac- “expert.” tically every employer — not just These were acts of desperation at religious institutions or “closely held” a time before birth control was legal, private businesses — to request an safe and widely available. My great- grandmother had to make painful deci- exemption from the ACA birth control mandate based on moral or religious sions made in order to feed four grow- objections. Now, more than 55 million ing children and ensure their futures. Contributing Writers: Joshua Lewis Berg, Ruthan Brodsky, Rochel Burstyn, Suzanne Chessler, Annabel Cohen, Don Cohen, Shari S. Cohen, Shelli Liebman Dorfman, Adam Finkel, Stacy Gittleman, Stacy Goldberg, Judy Greenwald, Ronelle Grier, Esther Allweiss Ingber, Allison Jacobs, Barbara Lewis, Jennifer Lovy, Rabbi Jason Miller, Alan Muskovitz, David Sachs, Karen Schwartz, Robin Schwartz, Steve Stein, Joyce Wiswell Arthur M. Horwitz Publisher / Executive Editor ahorwitz@renmedia.us F. Kevin Browett Chief Operating Officer kbrowett@renmedia.us | Editorial Managing Editor: Jackie Headapohl jheadapohl@renmedia.us Story Development Editor: Keri Guten Cohen kcohen@renmedia.us Arts & Life Editor: Lynne Konstantin lkonstantin@renmedia.us Editorial Assistant: Sy Manello smanello@renmedia.us Senior Columnist: Danny Raskin dannyraskin@sbcglobal.net Contributing Editor: Robert Sklar rsklar@renmedia.us | Advertising Sales Sales Director: Keith Farber kfarber@renmedia.us women who currently use no-pay con- traceptives could be at financial and physical risk. To claim that this legislation pre- serves and protects religious liberty misses the forest for the trees and ignores the founding principles of this country. Religious liberty is the free- dom of and the freedom from religion. As a rabbi, I understand this distinc- tion. One would hope that President Trump and his administration would as well. The 55.7 percent of Americans who are insured through their employ- ers should not have their health deci- sions determined by their employers’ religious beliefs. The United States of America is ruled not by theologians, but by the Constitution. We know — my great-grandmother certainly knew — what not having access to affordable, easily available birth control can do, especially consid- ering that Congress and state legisla- tures are pushing for more restrictions on abortion. All this legislation will do is imperil more women’s lives, threaten- ing the same American families that the administration has sworn to put first. Reform rabbis lead an American Jewish community that cherishes the separation of church and state. We will not stand idly by while the religious convictions of some are incorporated into state or federal law and restrict the reproductive freedom and physical safety of American women. | Production By FARAGO & ASSOCIATES Manager: Scott Drzewiecki Designers: Kelly Kosek, Amy Pollard, Michelle Sheridan, Susan Walker | Detroit Jewish News Chairman: Michael H. Steinhardt President/Publisher: Arthur M. Horwitz ahorwitz@renmedia.us Chief Operating Officer: F. Kevin Browett kbrowett@renmedia.us Controller: Craig R. Phipps Account Executives : Wendy Flusty, Annette Kizy Sales Manager Assistants Karen Marzolf | Business Offices Billing Coordinator: Pamela Turner Social Media Producer Andrea Gusho | Fulfillment Joelle Harder jharder@renmedia.us Throughout history, desperate women have gone to dangerous lengths to end pregnancies that threaten their lives, whether physically or emotion- ally or their ability to properly care for the children they already have. Nearly half of the abortions performed today around the world are consid- ered unsafe, and the countries with the most unsafe abortions had the most restrictive laws on the proce- dure, according to a report released earlier this year by the World Health Organization. My great-grandmother is only one of many, and she was lucky — she survived. Thousands of women have died because they had to make the same heartbreaking, desperate decision that she did. She would be outraged today to see how women’s basic rights to determine their life choices are being eroded by elected officials, and we should be, too. The limitations on birth control access and women’s health that federal law- makers are proposing and voting into law today will set us back decades, if not centuries. Whether women should have access to birth control is not a question of religious liberty. It is a question of knit- ting needles. It is a question of life and death, and we must choose life. • Rabbi Hara E. Person, chief strategy officer for the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR), was ordained at Hebrew Union College-Je wish Institute of Religion. | Departments General Offi ces: 248-354-6060 Advertising: 248-351-5107 Advertising Fax: 248-304-0049 Circulation: 248-351-5120 Classifi ed Ads: 248-351-5116 Advertising Deadline: Monday, 2 p.m. Editorial Fax: 248-304-8885 Deadline: All public and social announcements must be typewritten and received by noon Tuesday, nine days prior to desired date of publication. Subscriptions: 1 year. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $85 2 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$153 3 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$204 1 year out-of-state . . . . . . . . . . .$125 2 years out-of-state . . . . . . . . . .$225 Per year foreign . . . . . . . . . . . . .$300 Detroit Jewish News 29200 Northwestern Highway, Suite 110 Southfi eld, MI 48034 ©copyright 2017 Detroit Jewish News The Detroit Jewish News (USPS 275-520) is published every Thursday at 29200 Northwestern Highway, #110, Southfield, Michigan. Periodical postage paid at Southfield, Michigan, and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: send changes to: Detroit Jewish News, 29200 Northwestern Hwy., #110, Southfield, MI 48034. To make a donation to the DETROIT JEWISH NEWS FOUNDATION go to the website www.djnfounadtion.org OUR JN The Jewish News aspires to communicate news and opinion that’s useful, engaging, enjoyable and unique. It strives to reflect the full range of diverse viewpoints while also advocating positions that strengthen Jewish unity and continuity. We desire to create and maintain a challenging, caring, enjoyable work environment that encourages creativity and innovation. We acknowledge our role as a responsible, responsive MISSION member of the community. Being competitive, we must always strive to be the most respected, outstanding Jewish community publication in the nation. Our rewards are informed, educated readers, very satisfied advertisers, contented employees and profitable growth. 6 October 19 • 2017 jn jn 1942 - 2017 Covering and Connecting Jewish Detroit Every Week