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Agenda 2000 - 2001
Right to Reproductive Choice
(with dissent from The Union of
Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America)
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POLICY
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Anti-choice forces have continued efforts to systematically erode reproductive rights through legislation designed to undermine constitutional protections and to restrict access to abortion services. Once again in the 106th Congress, anti-choice forces introduced a so-called "partial birth" abortion bill, which passed in the Senate and which in fact would ban medically accepted abortion procedures used throughout pregnancy. The House is expected to address the issue in the second session. The President consistently has vetoed these measures. Although Congress failed each time to override the President’s veto, future attempts to enact a bill are anticipated. Meanwhile, a 5-to-4 opinion by the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit upholding state-enacted versions of this law conflicted with a decision a month earlier by the Eighth Circuit striking down similar laws. To address the conflict, the Supreme Court has agreed to review the Eighth Circuit decision to strike down Nebraska’s so-called "partial birth" abortion law. While the Court has said it will not use this case to re-examine the constitutionality of Roe v. Wade, its ruling, likely to affect the limits states can place on abortion, will have the potential either to strengthen or seriously undermine constitutional protections for reproductive choice. In the year ahead, efforts to place limitations and restrictions on funding for international family planning groups will continue. The JCPA will work in coalitions to oppose these and all efforts to limit access to the full range of health services for women and to restore the family planning funds stripped in 1999 foreign aid legislation. |
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The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America (UOJCA) does not, as a matter of longstanding policy, join the Jewish Public Affairs Agenda discussion of "reproductive choice." We cannot endorse a public policy that does not reflect the complex response of halacha (Jewish law) to the abortion issue. In most circumstances the halacha proscribes abortion, but there are cases in which halacha permits and indeed mandates abortion. The question is a sensitive one and personal decisions in this area should be made in consultation with recognized halachic authorities. |