OUR COMMUNITY

18 | MAY 19 • 2022 

S

ince the U.S. Supreme Court 
draft decision was leaked 
earlier this month, forecast-
ing its intentions to overturn Roe 
v Wade, Michigan women are con-
cerned a 1931 law on the Michigan 
books would immediately go into 
effect, essentially illegalizing abor-
tion in the state, reversing a 50-year 
precedent of women’s rights for 2.2 
million women of childbearing age 
in the state. This law states that any 
doctor performing an abortion could 
be prosecuted, even in cases of rape or 
incest.
Although Michigan Attorney General 
Dana Nessel, in a May 8 
appearance on NBC’s Meet 
the Press, said if she remains 
in office, she will not pros-
ecute any cases that would 
come up as a result of this 
law, she said she could not 
prevent the state’s 83 elected 
county prosecutors from doing so. 
Nessel also said that as a worst-case 
scenario, even performing a dilation 
and curettage (D&C) for a woman 
experiencing a miscarriage or if a fetus 
dies in utero could be considered crimi-
nally liable for physicians. 
“What’s going to happen is doctors 
will be so afraid of being investigated 
for performing these procedures, even 
when there is no longer any [fetal] via-
bility because it’s the same procedure 
that you might perform for an abortion 
… It will have a chilling effect, and 
women will not have basic medical 
health care,” Nessel said. “Doctors 
simply are not going to perform those 
procedures anymore because they don’t 
want to go to prison for it.” 
The possibility of living in such dra-
conian conditions is energizing many in 
the state’s Jewish community to 

 
attempt to secure women’s reproductive 
rights in Michigan by working to add 
an amendment to the state Constitution 
through the Reproductive Freedom for 
All ballot initiative. 
In addition to safeguarding the 
legality of attaining and performing 
abortions in Michigan, the proposed 
initiative, if it makes it to the November 
ballot and passes in the election, would 
include protections for use of birth 
control, safe birthing care, and medical 
procedures associated with miscarriages 
and stillbirths. Because the initiative 
would amend Article I of the Michigan 
Constitution, its backers would need to 
collect 425,059 valid signatures by this 
summer from Michigan voters to place 
the measure on the ballot.

MEMBERS OF THE JEWISH 
COMMUNITY MOBILIZE
Michigan’s Jews are raising money and 
volunteering for organizations that 
work to protect reproductive freedom. 
Rabbi Asher Lopatin, executive 
director of Detroit’s Jewish 
Community Relations 
Council/AJC, said that 
defending a woman’s right 
to choose is a strong Jewish 
value. He said his organiza-
tion is playing a supportive 
role to Jewish organizations 

such as Hadassah and the National 
Council of Jewish Women. He espe-
cially emphasized the organization’s 
partnership with the Coalition for 
Black and Jewish Unity, as the elim-
ination of abortion rights will fall 
most heavily on communities of 
color. 
“Many women in this community 
do not have the resources to trav-
el out of state to get an abortion,” 
Lopatin explained. “We will become 
active in a supportive role for the Black 
community through our social justice 
committee.” 
As an Orthodox rabbi, Lopatin cau-
tioned his community should be wary 
of anti-abortion laws. “Defending the 
right of a woman to choose is a Jewish 
value and a moral value,” Lopatin said. 
“Also, this country has a separation of 
church and state, so this is a matter of 
religious freedom.” 
The National Council of Jewish 
Women in Michigan has been actively 
involved in getting the initiative on the 
ballot since it was drafted in early 2022.
“At NJCW, our mission is to improve 
the lives of women, children and fam-
ilies,” said Linda Levy, 
NCJW of Greater Detroit 
co-state policy advocate. 
“This is an issue that touch-
es each of these points. 
Many of these decisions on 
abortion affect families, and 
they are often made in con-
junction with a family setting.” 
Levy, 69, of Farmington Hills, said 
NCJW delegates have been instrumen-
tal in the formation and mobilization 
of the initiative, which was crafted 
by Reproductive Freedom, Planned 
Parenthood Advocates of Michigan and 
the American Civil Liberties Union of 
Michigan. It sent delegates to Lansing 

Jewish groups mobilize to get reproductive rights issue 
on Michigan ballot.
Advocating for Change

STACY GITTLEMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Dana 
Nessel

Rabbi 
Asher 
Lopatin

Linda Levy

The logo of the ballot initiative effort