39 Years Later, Reflections on Roe v. Wade

By Hannah Sherman, Intern

A group of liberal California kids (accidentally) walk into a pro-life convention. No, this isn’t the start of a joke, but rather a true story illustrating the chasm between pro-life and pro-choice views in America today. This past weekend, as I walked with fellow college students past booths with pamphlets and poster boards, little kids playing with baby dolls and life size cut-outs of Ronald Reagan so you could take your picture with a hero of the pro-life movement, I began to see how contentious Roe v. Wade remains in the American political and social sphere.

Rep. Albert Wynn (left) joins Gloria Feldt (right), President of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, on the steps of the Supreme Court, to rally in support of the pro-choice movement on the 32nd Anniversary of Roe v. Wade, in 2005.

As a student at the University of California, Santa Cruz, arguably one of the more liberal institutions in the University of California system, I live in this unique bubble where there are two unspoken and implied laws of the land. Number 1: The Grateful Dead is the best band to ever roam the face of the earth. Number 2: Roe v. Wade was, and still remains, the most important decision in recent times, protecting a woman’s health and reproductive freedom.

January 22, 2012 marked the 39th anniversary of this landmark Supreme Court decision. In a statement released by President Obama, he reaffirmed his commitment to protect a woman’s right to choose as a “fundamental constitutional right,” elaborating that women should have the same rights as men in fulfilling our dreams. In stark contrast, the remaining GOP candidates have expressed their desire to see Roe v. Wade reversed, one even going so far as to affirm his support for a fetal personhood amendment, which would, among other things, criminalize abortion even in cases of rape. While our generation doesn’t have a Gloria Steinem or Betty Friedan leading a contemporary feminist movement, it is as important as ever to continue the fight for reproductive freedom. It is for that reason that women and men alike celebrate Roe v. Wade and the continued impact it has on the life of every woman to choose her own destiny.

What Would Golda Think?

by Loribeth Weinstein
Printed in the January 11, 2012 issue of the Washington Jewish Week

Lori Weinstein

What would Golda think? What would Golda say? I think she would say “for shame.” For shame that in Israel a few men are being allowed the power to extend their exclusionary religious agendas to those who don’t believe as they do. For shame, that this is happening in a country where women are growing in prominence in a variety of fields. For shame, in a country under attack from so much of the world, we attack ourselves.

In the past few months, Israel has seen many egregious acts of women being systematically separated and removed from public life. From male soldiers refusing to listen to their female colleagues singing at Israeli Army events to women told to sit in the back of the bus; from 8-year-old Na’ama Margolis in Beit Shemesh harassed when walking to school to women forbidden from shopping in bookstores unless dressed according to haredi standards, the presence of women and girls is under attack. In Jerusalem, women’s photos have been removed from virtually all billboards, and they are not allowed to sit near men on certain buses. These are examples of efforts to make women in Israel publicly invisible.

Read the full article

Speak Up and Support the Violence Against Women Act

The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) has transformed our nation’s response to violent crimes against women and girls, providing a safety net of services for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking. Recently, Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Mike Crapo (R-ID) introduced S. 1925, the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2011 – legislation that will reauthorize VAWA’s lifesaving programs and services for another five years.

Despite widespread Congressional support in the past, the reauthorization of VAWA in 2012 is far from assured. Please contact your Senators today to urge them to co-sponsor the Leahy/Crapo VAWA reauthorization bill.

Incidents of violence against women and girls continue to occur at alarming rates. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2010 National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 1 in 4 women has been the victim of severe physical violence by an intimate partner and nearly 1 in 5 women has been raped in her lifetime.

JWI is playing a leading role in the effort to reauthorize VAWA this year. In the coming weeks and months we will continue to work closely with the National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence Against Women, Members of Congress and national advocates, to ensure that this legislation is passed by both houses of Congress and signed into law. But we can’t do this without your help.

Contact your Senators today and tell them to stand against violence by co-sponsoring the Leahy/Crapo VAWA reauthorization bill.

Show your support for Naama Margolese and her friends

Naama Margolese is an 8-year-old Israeli girl who was routinely taunted by ultra-Orthodox men on her way to school. Naama was so traumatized by these assaults on her and her schoolmates that she refused to walk to school even accompanied by her mother. Thousands of Israelis have protested this violence. Now it is time for us to show her our support.

Naama’s story is the latest, egregious example in a wave of violence and intimidation of women and girls in Israel. It is part of an expansive effort led by groups of ultra-Orthodox men to institute gender discrimination across Israeli society, violating women’s basic and foundational rights.

Please join us in signing a letter of support to Naama and to her classmates at Orot Banot, a religious Zionist girls school in Beit Shemesh, telling them that we stand with them and support their rights to education and human decency. This is a pivotal time for women’s rights in Israel and we urge all who care about the well-being of Israel and importance of social justice and gender parity to speak out against discrimination of women and girls in all forms.

JWI is committed to protecting the fundamental rights of women and girls, and we will continue to work in the United States, Israel and in Jewish communities around the world to uphold and strengthen their safety, security, and equality. Women encouraging women: that’s what we do.

FBI Makes Critical Updates to Archaic Definition of Rape

Attorney General Eric Holder recently announced the inclusion of a new, more expansive definition of rape into the Uniform Crime Report- an important decision that will update this definition for the first time in over 80 years and ensure more accurate reporting. By counting men as victims for the first time and dropping the requirement that victims must have physically resisted their attackers, this new definition will better mirror current states’ criminal codes, reflect the nature of violent crimes in the year 2012, and will count more victims of this violent crime. This decision will not, however, change federal or state laws or alter charges or prosecutions.

JWI strongly supports the revision of this definition. In tough economic times, accurate reporting is especially necessary as we make the case to lawmakers about funding programs and services for victims of the devastating crime of rape.