Jewish women’s group leads US push to pass national bill protecting abortions

National Council of Jewish Women spearheads letter from 50 faith-based organizations calling on Congress to safeguard medical procedures

By JTA 14 February 2020, 6:33 am

Edit

Protesters on both sides of the abortion issue gather in front of the U.S. Supreme Court building during the Right To Life March, on January 18, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images via JTA)

More than 50 faith-based organizations published a letter spearheaded by the National Council of Jewish Women calling on Congress to pass a bill that would protect access to abortion care

Twenty Jewish organizations were among the 53 groups that signed the letter in support of the Women’s Health Protection Act.

The measure would provide a safeguard against bans and medically unnecessary restrictions specifically tied to abortion. It has at least 200 co-sponsors in the US House of Representatives and 42 in the Senate.

“We affirm our nation’s founding principle of religious liberty, which is integrally bound to reproductive freedom. Religious liberty includes the right to follow one’s own faith or moral code in making critical, personal reproductive health decisions, without political interference,” the letter says.

“While we respect the right of every individual, including our lawmakers, to hold their own personal and religious beliefs, our country’s Constitution demands that no one impose a single religious viewpoint on all through civil law or regulation. The Women’s Health Protection Act is essential legislation that embodies these shared ideals.”