8 | JULY 7 • 2022 

PURELY COMMENTARY

upon which our country was built.’ 
“I stand with Dr. Imershein, Rabbi 
Pass and all who will be profoundly 
impacted by this decision.” 

CONSERVATIVE RABBIS STRONGLY 
CONDEMN U.S. SUPREME COURT 
DECISION 
“For over five decades, the Rabbinical 
Assembly has strongly and repeatedly 
affirmed the halachic necessity of access 
to abortion based on our members’ 
understanding of relevant biblical and 
rabbinic sources and teshuvot — rabbinic 
responses — and fiercely opposed efforts 
that would limit access to abortion 
or stifle reproductive freedoms in the 
U.S. In response to legislative efforts 
that threatened reproductive freedom 
in 2021, the Rabbinical Assembly 
(RA), the international association for 
Conservative/Masorti rabbis, passed 
a Resolution on Right to Legal and 
Accessible Abortion in the United 
States. Following the U.S. Supreme 
Court decision to overturn its previous 
landmark cases, Roe v. Wade and Planned 
Parenthood v. Casey, effectively nullifying 
the Constitutional right to abortion for 
millions of Americans, the RA issued 
the following statement:
“The RA is outraged by the decision 
of the U.S. Supreme Court to end 
the Constitutional right to abortion 
and deny access to lifesaving medical 
procedures for millions of individuals 
in the U.S., in what will be regarded as 
one of the most extreme instances of 
governmental overreach in our lifetime.
“Many Americans now face a dire 
crisis. Many more face uncertainty. 
This is a dangerous time for all people 
who are capable of becoming pregnant, 
especially those in categories who 
have poorer maternal outcomes and 
particularly BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, 
People of Color) people or those of 
lower socioeconomic backgrounds. 
For individuals living in rural areas 
or in states that will jump to further 
restrict abortion, this decision is 
truly life-threatening. For American 
Jews and those of other faiths, this 

decision is a restriction on our religious 
freedom. For people who fall into the 
intersections of all or most of the above, 
our personhood has been rejected by 
the highest court in our nation.
“The Committee on Jewish Law and 
Standards of the Rabbinical Assembly 
has repeatedly affirmed the right of a 
pregnant person to choose an abortion 
in cases where ‘continuation of a 
pregnancy might cause severe physical 
or psychological harm, or where the 
fetus is judged by competent medical 
opinion as severely defective.’ This 
position is based on our members’ 
understanding of relevant biblical and 
rabbinic sources, which compel us to 
cherish the sanctity of life, including the 
potential of life during pregnancy, and 
does not indicate that personhood and 
human rights begin with conception, 
but rather with birth as indicated by 
Exodus 21:22-23.
“Based on our understanding of 
Jewish tradition and religious freedom, 
The RA supports the right to full access 
for all those who need abortions to 
the entire spectrum of reproductive 
healthcare and strongly opposes all 
efforts by governmental, private entities, 
or individuals to limit or dismantle 
such access. Denying individuals 
access to the complete spectrum of 
reproductive healthcare, including 
contraception, abortion-inducing 
devices and medications, and abortions, 
among others, on religious grounds, 
deprives those who need medical 
care of their Constitutional right to 
religious freedom. Imposing civil 
and criminal consequences for clergy 
assisting their constituents as guided 
by halachah deprives our members of a 
fundamental element of clerical practice 
incompatible with Jewish values.
“There will continue to be legislative 
battles in the United States on both 
the federal and state levels that pose 
existential threats to reproductive 
freedom, especially so-called ‘heartbeat’ 
bills, which violate the foundational 
principle of separation of church 
and state. The Rabbinical Assembly 

emphatically opposes all such laws 
and legislative or executive moves and 
instead calls on members of Congress 
to decisively codify Roe v. Wade into law 
to enshrine the right to health, freedom 
and dignity for all Americans.”

HADASSAH STATEMENT IN 
RESPONSE TO SUPREME COURT 
DECISION 
Hadassah president Rhoda Smolow 
and CEO Naomi Adler today made the 
following statement: 

“The Supreme Court’s decision is 
an attack on American women and 
their rights to health care, privacy and 
autonomy. Without federal protection 
for their rights, women across the 
country could now be barred from 
making their own health decisions 
under a patchwork of inconsistent state 
laws. Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist 
Organization of America, reaffirms 
its unwavering support for full and 
complete access to reproductive health 
services and the right to make decisions 
based on each woman’s religious, moral 
and ethical values. Hadassah will 
continue to fight for federal and state 
legislation affirming and protecting 
reproductive rights.”

HILLEL INTERNATIONAL 
STATEMENT ON SUPREME 
COURT’S DECISION ON ABORTION
Hillel International, the world’s largest 
and most inclusive community serving 
Jewish students at more than 850 
colleges and universities, issued the 
following statement: 
“Today is a painful and distressing 
day for many Americans and Jewish 
students across the country who believe 
that each American should have the 
right to make personal decisions about 
pregnancy and abortion in a way that 
is informed by their own beliefs, values 
and needs. 
“The Supreme Court’s decision to 
eliminate the constitutional right to 
abortion is at odds with Jewish law 
and practice, which prioritizes the life 
of the pregnant person. The decision 

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