Community Blog

Shabbat Shalom. As you may know, this week’s Torah portion is Parashat Mishpatim, and it is the 5th annual Repro Shabbat - a time to reflect on the Jewish value of reproductive freedom and justice. Officially, Repro Shabbat always coincides with our reading of Parashat Mishpatim, because within the listing of laws regarding harms done and their required compensation, there is a hypothetical involving a pregnant woman miscarrying as a result of some physical altercation and the law is clear that the loss of the fetus is akin to other bodily damages to her limbs. The Torah makes clear that if the woman herself dies, it is a capital crime, but otherwise it is not. This implies that the fetus is not a life, not alive, and not considered a person who can die. From here, the Talmud and the sages through the ages expounded and expanded on the laws of abortion through Jewish lenses. Generally, they supported the termination of unwanted pregnancies, with a few caveats. I’m not saying Maimonides would be a feminist by today’s standards supporting abortions at any time for any reason. But even the ancient and traditionalist rabbis were more lenient than you might assume in how they defined “the life of the parent” taking precedence. 

The timing of this year’s Repro Shabbat is hitting especially close to home. As I began preparing for this Shabbat earlier this week, I started to feel the movement of my own fetus for the first time. It became really hard to focus on the work as the tears of joy and trepidation flowed. Last year, the timing of this Shabbat was also relevant for my reproductive journey, but I was too in the weeds of a painful experience to appreciate the poignancy of the moment. Last year, I wrote about how anti-abortion laws harm even the people desperately trying to get pregnant and deliver healthy babies. While I tried to write at a remove, one Ner Shalomer told me afterward it was clear I was talking about my own experience. Almost exactly a year ago, I lost my first pregnancy, and I had a difficult time accessing the recommended medication to safely evacuate the nonviable tissue. Later, I realized I had also received inadequate aftercare that prolonged the process of trying for the second pregnancy. 

I am incredibly fortunate that this one seems to be sticking - I am 20 weeks along now, and so far all the standard testing has shown this will be a viable baby. Many women, including women you know whether or not you realize this, have multiple miscarriages in their reproductive journeys. And, many women who require the services of a fertility specialist spend more years and money there than I ended up needing to. A recent executive order is being touted as “expanding IVF access”, but it's really more of a concept of a plan to expand IVF access. The order directs the assistant for domestic policy to submit to the President, “a list of policy recommendations on protecting IVF access and aggressively reducing out-of-pocket and health plan costs for IVF treatment.” If the policy recommendations actually do that and are implemented, that would be a good step forward, since IVF is so expensive, but so far that’s not actually what the EO says. Further, even if the monetary barrier were lowered, the current administration still threatens the safety of families seeking fertility treatments, as the EO says nothing about the state laws that inhibit what families may do with their reproductive genetic material. Since the fall of Roe, many anti-abortion statutes also implicate parents who require the selective process often used in IVF, where some embryos may end up being discarded. Forcing the implantation of all the embryos could prove disastrous, and forcing the fertilization of only one egg at a time could prove terribly inefficient for the family and for the government that claims they want to start footing that bill. True support for expanding IVF access would include supporting the legislation in the Senate known as the Right to IVF Act (S.4445). 

Of course, all of this is just the tip of the iceberg. In our culture, it tends to be a lot more acceptable to insist that people trying to deliver healthy pregnancies should get the medical care they need than it is to insist that people trying to terminate potentially viable pregnancies should also get the medical care they need. The truth is, the gap between these things is so much smaller than the general public realizes. Prenatal and postnatal care in this country is actually not all that great for a supposed leader in the Global North. Safety for pregnant people and babies must also include safety for people terminating pregnancies. From a Jewish law perspective, it is imperative because the health and safety of the pregnant person takes priority, on the most surface level because with a safe abortion one could potentially have a safe pregnancy in the future. If the pregnancy is dangerous, or it would make their life and the life of the offspring unreasonably hard, it could inhibit future pregnancies, births, and lives. This is what the ancient rabbis valued, how they considered the possibility of life sacred but were clear that an unborn fetus was not a living being. From a secular perspective, it’s not the government’s business whether someone wants to be pregnant again in the future. That shouldn’t be the only reason to allow for healthcare in a democratic society. Abortion is healthcare. Full stop. 

Scattered about the sanctuary tonight are a few different handouts, with information about abortion care, Jewish values of reproductive freedom, and some action steps for how we will carry Repro Shabbat with us into the coming weeks and months. More EOs and legislation will undoubtedly come forth on all sides of this issue, and we must be prepared to act. Writing or listening to a sermon once a year about how Jewish values support abortion access is not enough to actually protect our reproductive healthcare. May we be strong in our support for healthcare for all, especially for populations most impacted by restrictions to access. May we be brave in the face of increasing political violence. May we hold space for those grieving the choices they had to make, or weren’t allowed to make. And may we all feel free to make our own choices about our bodies and health in the very near future. Amen and Shabbat Shalom.