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Explaining Our Concerns

05/19/2022 08:43:38 AM

May19

Rabbi Ron Segal

In our Shabbat to Shabbat clergy column two weeks ago, we expressed our profound concern about the potential overturning of Roe v. Wade and the elimination of a woman’s access to abortion that would likely follow, and we invited congregants to attend a rally in support of reproductive freedom.  In the days since that post, we have spoken with individuals in our congregation who, for varying reasons, were dissatisfied with the message and reached out to us.  During one such conversation earlier this week, the Sinai member and friend with whom I was speaking suggested I explain in this week’s message what I shared during our discussion. I am grateful for his recommendation and will endeavor to explain further our positions.

  1. First, please know that your clergy recognizes and honors the diversity of our synagogue community today and that we will not use either the bima or written messages to promulgate particular political positions.  The issue of reproductive freedom and access to abortion is, at its core, not a political matter.  Rather, as we strongly maintain, this is an issue rooted in religious values and personal autonomy as well as the capacity of women to make informed decisions about their own healthcare.
  1. We appreciate there are members of our community who oppose abortion and recognize that many would personally never pursue this medical option.  However, at issue is not whether one believes Roe v. Wade should remain the law of the land – ultimately, that decision is not ours to decide.  The significant issues we are compelled to address involve a person’s freedom to determine what happens with her own body as well as our serious concerns about taking away an individual freedom based upon a distinct religious doctrine which contradicts the tenets of Judaism.
  1. Since biblical times, Jewish tradition has affirmed that, as the life of a mother takes precedence over the life of an unborn fetus, abortion is not only permissible but in certain circumstances, even necessary.  In contrast, Christian theology*, which asserts life begins at conception, informs the impassioned argument that abortion should be permanently eliminated as an option. (*Theology notwithstanding, millions of individuals who identify as Christian support reproductive freedom and access to abortion.)  Should Roe v. Wade be overturned and it fall to individual states to legislate the legality of abortion, one can safely assume that Georgia would aim to eliminate access to abortion for any reason, rendering it a criminal act.  In contradiction to the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution, the teachings of one religious ideology contrary to Judaism would be enshrined in law.

For your Sinai clergy, reproductive freedom, which includes access to abortion, is not a political matter; it is an issue of personal autonomy, healthcare and faith unequivocally affirmed in Jewish religious values.  Thus, this issue is one for which we, together with rabbis and Jewish clergy throughout our city, must and will speak out (see recent statement by the Atlanta Rabbinical Association here).

 

 

Fri, March 29 2024 19 Adar II 5784