So that has mobilized a lot of young people and people of all ages. “There was a fear would merely chip away at Roe, but this draft opinion shows that there’s an intention to eliminate it. “For younger women, I think there was this feeling that this could never happen,” Levy said. It sent delegates to Lansing in January 2022 to testify in support of the summary wording of the initiative. Levy, 69, of Farmington Hills, said NCJW delegates have been instrumental 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. Many of these decisions on abortion affect families, and they are often made in conjunction with a family setting.” “This is an issue that touches each of these points. “At NJCW, our mission is to improve the lives of women, children and families,” said Linda Levy, NCJW of Greater Detroit co-state policy advocate. 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. “Also, this country has a separation of church and state, so this is a matter of religious freedom.” “Defending the right of a woman to choose is a Jewish value and a moral value,” Lopatin said. “We will become active in a supportive role for the Black community through our social justice committee.”Īs an Orthodox rabbi, Lopatin cautioned his community should be wary of anti-abortion laws. “Many women in this community do not have the resources to travel out of state to get an abortion,” Lopatin explained. He especially emphasized the organization’s partnership with the Coalition for Black and Jewish Unity, as the elimination of abortion rights will fall most heavily on communities of color. He said his organization is playing a supportive role to Jewish organizations such as Hadassah and the National Council of Jewish Women. 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. Michigan’s Jews are raising money and volunteering for organizations that work to protect reproductive freedom. ![]() 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. 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. The possibility of living in such draconian 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. “Doctors simply are not going to perform those procedures anymore because they don’t want to go to prison for it.” “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 viability 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. 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 criminally liable for physicians. Dana NesselĪlthough 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 prosecute 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. This law states that any doctor performing an abortion could be prosecuted, even in cases of rape or incest. ![]() Supreme Court draft decision was leaked earlier this month, forecasting its intentions to overturn Roe v Wade, Michigan women are concerned a 1931 law on the Michigan books would immediately go into effect, essentially illegalizing abortion in the state, reversing a 50-year precedent of women’s rights for 2.2 million women of childbearing age in the state. The logo of the ballot initiative effort Michigan’s Jews are raising money and volunteering for organizations that work to protect reproductive freedom.
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