Repro Shabbat 2024: A D’var Torah
This article has been shortened for accessibility and consumption. You can find the extended version here.
The following text comes from a d’var Torah given on February 9, 2024 as part of Repro Shabbat, “an annual Shabbat celebration that honors the Jewish value of reproductive freedom” (Jews for Abortion Access). Please note that this piece is solely a work of individual opinion and is not a statement from NYU Hillel as an institution.
Content Warning: Additionally, this text contains mentions of sexual violence. Please read with care and caution.
Almost exactly four years ago today, on February 10, 2020, I visited the office of Senator Ed Markey and asked him to protect the right to abortion. I traveled with my confirmation class to Washington D.C. to participate in the Reform Action Center of Reform Judaism’s L’Taken Social Justice Seminar. The culmination of this weekend was a chance to fight for a cause we cared about in front of our state legislators. Now I have to be honest. I don’t remember much of what happened during that trip. I was a little out of it that weekend because I came down with a “mysterious” cold just one day into our sessions…But I do remember the excitement I felt at getting to be a part of this project and the passion I had for the cause, a passion that burns just as brightly in me now as it did when I was fifteen. In a lot of ways, I have my mother to thank for that. She worked at NARAL (now Reproductive Freedom for All), the oldest abortion rights advocacy group in the US, for four years before she had me or my brother. Throughout my life, she has been involved with various reproductive rights organizations and initiatives, both within and outside of my family’s temple congregation. I feel incredibly blessed to have been brought up under a roof where bodily autonomy was not just a right or a privilege but an undeniable fact of life.
So when I heard that NYU Hillel would be participating in Repro Shabbat, I knew that I wanted to be the one to give the D’Var. But before sharing my words of today, I thought it would be fun to share with you an excerpt from my L’Taken speech:
“We know that reproductive rights are so much more than just abortion rights. It refers to family planning and contraceptives, but in today’s political climate, pro-life and pro-choice are certainly the most controversial and mainstream issues being discussed. I am proud that I come from a state where the senators and representatives have been quick to sign bills and laws that protect a woman’s right to choose what she does with her body. But coming from Massachusetts makes me feel guilty. I remember going on social media after the Human Life Protection Act in Alabama was passed by legislators. I was angry, quick to post pro-choice slogans on my Twitter and Instagram, but there was a point where I was almost relieved. There was this sense of calm that came over me because I knew that my state was not going through this. But that peace and relief was quickly replaced by sickness. I was sick at myself for feeling content that I lived somewhere that had progressive views and easy access to abortion. I felt so guilty that I live in a state with progressive views, with easy access to abortion and reproductive health clinics. But not everyone has that. If I was to find myself pregnant, whether that be a year from now, or fifteen, I knew that I would have a choice. The only question I would have to ask myself was if I wanted an abortion. I would never have to ask myself if I could. I cannot imagine having the extra stress of financial struggles, travel logistics, and legality weighing down on me. If I cannot even imagine it, why does someone else have to live it?” (Me, February 10, 2020)
I know that there are people who have legitimate religious qualms about abortion even within the Jewish community. While many Reform Jews look to this week’s Torah portion, the Mishpatim, as evidence of Judaism’s belief in certain reproductive rights, other communities may feel differently. Under the law, everyone is allowed freedom of religion which means having the right to believe and think for oneself. However, the US Constitution does not protect one’s right to impose their own beliefs on others such that it infringes on those people’s basic human rights, of which safety and wellness are, and should be, categorized. It is when one religion finds its way into the law that we begin to have problems. Now, you are probably sitting there and saying, Hannah, isn’t the whole point of Repro Shabbat to talk about Jewish teachings on reproductive rights? And you’re right. It seems wrong for me to sit here and talk about how the religious beliefs of lawmakers shouldn’t have an impact on the laws of a nation when I am using my religious beliefs to argue for an issue highly contested in the legal and political worlds. But I want to make it clear that I am not arguing for the use of the Torah or any other scripture as evidence for or against abortion bans. What I want to do is offer a different perspective on the notion of religion and reproductive rights as being inherently at odds, as well as the idea that abortion can have a place within “moral” theologies and ideologies.
So here are some of my thoughts: Mishpatim means “Ordinances.” It is a series of laws given by God to the Jewish people. They range from laws about slavery to violence to civil and justice practices. Among them is an instruction that has been used as the foundation for Reform Judaism’s view on reproductive rights. It reads:
“And should men quarrel and hit a pregnant woman, and she miscarries but there is no fatality, he shall surely be punished, when the woman’s husband makes demands of him, and he shall give [restitution] according to the judges’ [orders]. But if there is a fatality, you shall give a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot, burn for a burn, a wound for a wound, a bruise for a bruise” (Exodus 21:22–25).
The reason that many Jewish people identify this verse as being a basis for abortion arguments is that it defines what constitutes “murder” within the Torah. You might have heard that a common argument against abortion is access is that the procedure is a form of murder. But here, we see that if someone causes a miscarriage to take place, they are responsible for paying a fine to the victim’s family. A miscarriage is not considered a “fatality.” But if in this violence, the woman is killed (which is seen as a “fatality”), then the perpetrator will be punished with death. Therefore, the ending of a pregnancy is not seen as murder within the context of the Torah. I also remember that when I was working on my lobbying speech during my trip to the Capitol, My group and I came across another line of text about abortion in the Mishnah Ohalot, the second of six books in what is sometimes referred to as the “Oral Torah” since the Mishnah is a written collection of Jewish oral traditions and teachings. In the seventh chapter, it is said that “If a woman’s labor becomes life-threatening, the one to be born is dismembered in her abdomen… for her life comes before the life of the fetus” (Mishnah Ohalot 7:6). I don’t really think I need to add any of my own thoughts or interpretations to this quote. The idea that in Judaism, a woman’s life comes first, is spelled out pretty clearly.
But the truth is, there are many reasons why someone chooses to have an abortion, reasons that go beyond a “life-threatening labor.” I’d like to expand what we mean when we say “life-threatening” to mean anything that could harm the well-being of a pregnant person, whatever form that harm takes. All of these reasons should be just as valid as medical complications. As mentioned previously, sexual assault is just one catalyst for the decision to have an abortion, but so are fetal anomalies, financial concerns, and simply not being emotionally or physically ready or able to provide for a child. Whatever the reason, the important thing is that people have the choice, the choice to get the help that they need and want, and the choice to be as private as they need and want about that help. When we talk about anti-abortion laws today or access to contraceptives and reproductive healthcare, it’s not always even about the literal meaning of the actual procedures or medicines. Sometimes not even about the life of the fetus. But it is always about criminalizing choice and women’s autonomy. When you think about reproductive rights restrictions from that perspective, you see that it doesn’t and shouldn’t fit into anyone’s ethical semantic field, constitutional, religious, or otherwise. True justice, true morality are when everyone has a choice about what happens to their bodies and their lives. It’s a choice each of us deserves to make for ourselves. I hope one day soon, we all get that choice.
Resources:
National Council of Jewish Women + Jews for Abortion Access
- Repro Shabbat Blessings
- “Imagine Boldly”: A Guidebook for Repro Shabbat
- Repro Shabbat Liturgy and Readings
Sources:
“Abortion Laws by State.” Center for Reproductive Rights, 16 Aug. 2023, reproductiverights.org/maps/abortion-laws-by-state/.
Eligon, John, and Michael Schwirtz. “Senate Candidate Provokes Ire with ‘legitimate Rape’ Comment.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 20 Aug. 2012, www.nytimes.com/2012/08/20/us/politics/todd-akin-provokes-ire-with-legitimate-rape-comment.html.
“Georgia Supreme Court Allows Six-Week Abortion Ban to Remain in Effect as Legal Challenge Continues.” American Civil Liberties Union, www.aclu.org/press-releases/georgia-supreme-court-allows-six-week-abortion-ban-to-remain-in-effect-as-legal-challenge-continues#:~:text=Press%20Releases%20%E2%80%BA-,Georgia%20Supreme%20Court%20Allows%20Six%2DWeek%20Abortion%20Ban%20to%20Remain,Effect%20as%20Legal%20Challenge%20Continues&text=ATLANTA%20%E2%80%94%20The%20Georgia%20Supreme%20Court,pregnancy%2C%20to%20remain%20in%20effect. Accessed 9 Feb. 2024.
Gramlich, John. “What the Data Says about Gun Deaths in the U.S.” Pew Research Center, Pew Research Center, 26 Apr. 2023, www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/04/26/what-the-data-says-about-gun-deaths-in-the-u-s/.
Patel, Neelam. “The Insidious Origins of the ‘Moral’ Argument against Abortion Rights.” The Insidious Origins of the “Moral” Argument Against Abortion Rights | Georgetown Journal of Gender and the Law | Georgetown Law, www.law.georgetown.edu/gender-journal/online/volume-xxii-online/the-insidious-origins-of-the-moral-argument-against-abortion-rights/. Accessed 9 Feb. 2024.
Santhanam, Laura. “In States with Abortion Bans, Rape Exceptions ‘fail to Provide Reasonable Access’ to Survivors, Researchers Say.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 25 Jan. 2024, www.pbs.org/newshour/health/in-states-with-abortion-bans-rape-exceptions-fail-to-provide-reasonable-access-to-survivors-researchers-say.
Simmons-Duffin, Selena. “Raped, Pregnant and in an Abortion Ban State? Researchers Gauge How Often It Happens.” NPR, NPR, 24 Jan. 2024, www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2024/01/24/1226161416/rape-caused-pregnancy-abortion-ban-states.
