Meet Vanessa Prell

By Dana Fleitman, Program Coordinator

There are many young Jewish women working for positive social change. This month, in honor of Roe w Wade’s 40^th anniversary, we introduced you to Rachel, Laiah, Michelle and Esther, who are all committed to reproductive justice. Please meet the final activist we’re profiling this month – Vanessa Prell.

Vanessa Prell, 28, never sleeps in late on Saturdays. “I usually alternate Saturdays — so one Saturday, I go to volunteer at the clinic, and the next week I’ll go to synagogue.”

Vanessa is a volunteer with the Washington Area Clinic Defense Task Force, a group that helps patients safely enter women’s health centers. “We wear bright orange shirts that say ‘pro-choice clinic escort’ and help folks access the building. There are usually protestors, and there are always several who are very aggressive.” She feels this service is important, as “it’s really hurtful that someone who doesn’t know anything about a person’s life can try to insert themselves into that person’s choice, especially when it’s something that has been agonized over and given serious thought.”

Vanessa has been a pro-choice advocate since her teen years. “Two of my best friends were raped in their early teens and sought abortions…and it made my heart hurt to see that they felt so ashamed about it. I wanted to do whatever I could.” She got involved in feminist organizing in college at UC Santa Barbara, especially working on rape prevention.

Vanessa describes herself as a religious Jew and feels that members of her progressive LGBTQ congregation strongly support her activism. “Because I wear a kippah, protestors often target me and try to have legal arguments with me and convince me that Jews don’t believe in abortion, which I don’t think is true. Jewish law doesn’t lay out abortion access the way we have it now, but I don’t feel tension over that…Judaism is a religion with a lot of compassion.”

She feels that it is important to remember that reproductive choice is only one aspect of a woman’s health. “Sometimes I feel like the pro-choice movement – and definitely the anti-choice movement –  talk about abortion like it defines people’s lives. It’s really important that we can talk openly about abortion, but it’s only one part of women’s lives and women’s health.”

Vanessa feels that the right to safe and legal abortion is under threat. “There are people who wake up every morning and say, ‘what am I going to do to make sure there is no more abortion, or no more birth control, in this country?’ They don’t think about what that really means for women. There are people every day who are trying to make our world smaller. We have to wake up in the morning and think of ways to push back.”

Since our early days as B’nai B’rith Women, Jewish Women International (JWI) has fought to give women control over their bodies and over their lives – but forty years after Roe, our reproductive rights are far from guaranteed. Sign the pledge and commit to protecting choice!

Meet Esther Cantor

By Dana Fleitman, Program Coordinator

In celebration of the 40^th Anniverary of Roe v Wade, we’d like to introduce you to another young Jewish woman committed to reproductive justice.

Esther Cantor, 24, is a J.D. candidate at the University of Virginia focusing on the immigrant community, particularly victims of human rights violations and violent crime, and is looking for a career in public service. She may not be on the front lines of the pro-choice movement, but her commitment to pro-choice and women’s issues guides her professionally and personally.

“This is an important issue when it comes to social justice in general —  you can try to fix education or welfare, but until women can control how and when they have children, they can’t take responsibility over themselves and their lives,” notes Esther. “It’s impossible to pull yourself out of a hole when you have choice taken away from you.”

Esther feels a real sense of urgency around the attacks on abortion access, and says that her generation is alarmed and concerned. “Many of us feel very deeply about this but, if we don’t work at an abortion-focused organization, may not know how to be involved. I follow choice in the news, send things on to senators and try to keep aware. I’m not a single issue voter, but for me and most of the people I know who are young, this is an issue they pay attention to while voting.”

Esther was raised in a Jewish household Michigan. “One thing we always talked about was Tikkum Olam – that’s something that’s been very formative in my decision to be in a service career. I’m not sure I would have gone into service if it weren’t for that upbringing.”

She goes on to explain, “in a lot of ways, religion can get a bad rap these days because it can be seen as more repressive than open and more about what we aren’t supposed to do than what we are supposed to do. But at their hearts, most religions are about being good people and making the world a better place. That’s a central tenant of the Judaism I was raised in, and it makes me happy that the Jewish community and Jewish women are upholding that tradition.”

Since our early days as B’nai B’rith Women, Jewish Women International (JWI) has fought to give women control over their bodies and over their lives – but forty years after Roe, our reproductive rights are far from guaranteed. Sign the pledge and commit to protecting choice!

Meet Michelle Farber

By Dana Fleitman, Program Coordinator

Jewish Women International takes great pride in the Jewish community’s commitment to social justice. In honor of Roe v. Wade’s 40^th anniversary, we’d like you to meet another young Jewish female activist working to protect a woman’s right to choose.

“For as long as I can remember, I have always equated a woman’s ability to control her reproduction with her autonomy as a human being” says Michelle Farber, 23. Michelle is an activist with Seattle Clinic Defense, a small group that strives to make clinics a safe space for patients. “We go out when there’s anti-choice demonstrations to take back that space…when anti-choice people want to make that space political, we will take it back. This is a clinic, and it should be a safe space to receive care.”

Michelle is currently studying to be a nurse midwife and feels that “no one should be influencing what’s going on in my exam room besides me and a patient.” She stresses that “every woman has a different story, and no one should be involved in that choice besides her and her healthcare provider.”

Her Jewish background supports her activism. Michelle says, “A lot of my friends who come from different faith backgrounds have had to battle back those ideas that women should not have control over their bodies.  I’m proud that Judaism has always had a handle on that.” She recalls that she “grew up in a religious environment where we were not only encouraged, but required, to ask questions and think for ourselves, and that set me on a path to challenge the system. I’ve always felt proud to come from a religious tradition that is pro-choice and stands with women.”

Michelle’s been involved in pro-choice activism for as long as she can remember. She became political in high school through her chapter of Amnesty International, which set her on a path towards women’s rights and, eventually, reproductive rights. At the University of Connecticut, she started a campus group called Students United for Reproductive Justice in addition to assisting the women’s health clinic on campus.

Michelle feels this issue in urgent and wants people to “remember the history of when women did not have access to abortions – they will do it anyway, and women will die…without these services, women’s lives are in danger.” She stresses that there should be as many abortions as necessary without outside judgment. “It’s not just if a woman was raped, or doesn’t have money, or some other circumstance where other people outside can say that was a ‘good abortion.’ If a woman is not ready to have a child or does not want to have a child with that partner, there should be as many abortions as needed until we have a better social system to take care of women.”

Since our early days as B’nai B’rith Women, Jewish Women International (JWI) has fought to give women control over their bodies and over their lives – but forty years after Roe, our reproductive rights are far from guaranteed. Sign the pledge and commit to protecting choice!

Meet Laiah Idelson

By Dana Fleitman, Program Coordinator

Young Jewish women today are furthering a rich history of Jewish leadership in the pro-choice movement. Today, we’d like you to meet Laiah Idelson.

Laiah remembers writing a report on Jewish perspectives on abortion in high school. “I talked to a rabbi who told me that the mother’s life always comes first, because she is a living being.” This was very impactful for her as a young Jew; “so much of what you hear in the abortion debate doesn’t value a woman’s life or a woman’s judgment. That rabbi’s perspective made me very proud of my Jewish heritage.”

She started participating in activism as early as middle school and feels that Judaism informed her commitment to social justice. Laiah has worked on a variety of issues, including HIV/AIDS and domestic violence.  “I think Judaism teaches us to take care of our neighbors and that life in this world is very important…As Jews, if we believe in the value of the family and we believe in equality, then we must believe in legal and safe abortion,” says Laiah.

Laiah’s college internship with NARAL Pro-Choice America was eye-opening. “I was in the press office, and we were fielding calls from reporters all the time. The conversations around choice were shocking – I had been living in a bubble and thought we had all come beyond the issues being discussed.” Laiah feels that “my contributions to the cause were minimal, but what it left me with was powerful and led to my interest in domestic health issues as well as international issues.” Now, she’s pursuing a Masters in Public Health and focusing on maternal and child health both at home and abroad.

“From a public health perspective,” Laiah says, “it is important to preserve the right to safe and legal abortion because, when abortion access is restricted, we see negative outcomes for families and children, and women die.” She believes that the challenges of abortion access contribute to the rates of maternal mortality in the United States, as rates in the U.S. are higher than in other industrialized countries. “Women and families are equipped to make decisions on their own health – we trust them with many other important issues, and we need to add abortion to the list.”

She is frustrated by the divisiveness of abortion issues and the combative language of “pro-choice” and “pro-life.” “As young people, we can work to highlight the agreements that we have around abortion rather than the disagreements,” shares Laiah. “We can agree that we want healthy babies, healthy families and that abortion is a difficult decision.”

Laiah feels that preserving the right to abortion is urgent. Laiah vows, “my concern and passion for this issue will translate in my life and my career.”

Since our early days as B’nai B’rith Women, Jewish Women International (JWI) has fought to give women control over their bodies and over their lives – but forty years after Roe, our reproductive rights are far from guaranteed. Sign the pledge and commit to protecting choice!

Meet Rachel Lachenauer

By Dana Fleitman, Program Coordinator

JWI is proud that Jewish women have always been at the forefront of the pro-choice movement. Over the next few days, we are thrilled to introduce you to five inspiring young Jewish women who are carrying on this legacy of pro-choice activism today. Rachel, Laiah, Michelle, Esther and Vanessa have different careers and different perspectives, but they are all inspired by their Jewish background and are deeply committed to abortion access for all women. Today, we’d like to introduce you to Rachel.

Rachel Lachenauer, 23, is an Assistant Case Manager at the National Abortion Federation, where she primarily supports the organization’s hotline and counsels low-income patients, assisting them with navigating financial, logistical and emotional challenges.

Rachel explains that “The language has been coopted so that pro-choice people supposedly can’t have a spiritual, moral or religious connection to abortion access. But, to me, people having access to themselves, control over their bodies and being able to fully participate in their lives is spiritual. Everything that’s happening to limit women’s access to procedures is infringing on my moral, religious and spiritual beliefs.”

Rachel grew up in a Reform Jewish family in New York and says that abortion access was always a value that she and her family held. “It was seen as moral and right; there was a lot of flexibility in my household for freedom of expression, for people to be trusted and included. We always realized the inequalities and how marginalized so many groups are.” When she came to D.C. for the March for Women’s Lives at the age of fourteen, she realized she was in the right place. “As a young teenager to be in that environment with all these activists was very empowering,” recalls Rachel.

She continued to be involved through campus activism and pro-choice issues at American University and by volunteering at the DC Washington Area Clinic Defense Task Force, where she helped patients feel safe coming to clinics.

Rachel truly values the opportunity to speak to hundreds of patients and is in awe of the strength that they demonstrate. “The more you talk to patients and hear about them and their strength as they navigate situations you would not know how to deal with…It’s intensely emotional and spiritual….They are incredible, and they have changed my life.”

Rachel believes that abortion access is about trust. “To not give people the freedom or opportunity to make decisions about their lives and their bodies is a way of saying, ‘we don’t trust you,’ and this issue is at the core of who we are as individuals.” She finds that her work around abortion has helped her see “the beauty in the diversity of experiences.”

Rachel notes that “Jewish women have been important to this movement and most social justice movements… this makes me proud to be a part of Jewish culture and Jewish life.”

Since our early days as B’nai B’rith Women, Jewish Women International (JWI) has fought to give women control over their bodies and over their lives – but forty years after Roe, our reproductive rights are far from guaranteed. Sign the pledge and commit to protecting choice!

Jewish Women International: A Legacy of Pro-Choice Activism

By Dana Fleitman, Program Coordinator

“It’s going to be a long fight,” said Barbara Greenberg. “It’s not something that’s going to be resolved in the immediate future. It’s going to be a long time.”

This insight was shared over 20 years ago by a Jewish Women International (JWI) – then called B’nai B’rith Women (BBW) – activist speaking on the right to choose. JWI has a proud and rich history of pro-choice advocacy and continues to fight for reproductive freedom today. On this 40^th Anniversary of Roe v Wade, JWI takes joy and pride in remembering the inspiring activism that our members have spearheaded over the years.

In 1968 —  five years before the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Roe vs. Wade — the delegates of our 1968 Convention passed a resolution calling for the liberalization of abortion laws. After Roe, the 1974 BBW International Convention adopted a platform stating “the right of a woman to plan her family through free choice must be guaranteed. Antiquated laws restricting family planning and contraception information, or forbidding abortions should be abolished.”

BBW continued to mobilize when Roe v. Wade was attacked. In 1989, Webster v. Reproductive Health Services upheld a Missouri law imposing restrictions on the use of state funds, facilities, and employees in performing, assisting with, or counseling on abortion. BBW women took action. BBW activist Paula Weinberger recalls, “We went out and marched…because it really affects us. It shows that the religious right has increased influence in public policy in this country, and where is that influence going to stop?”

A massive demonstration was held in Washington in November of 1989, and hundreds of B’nai B’rith Women members were among the estimated 300,000 people who marched for abortion rights. Showing solidarity, B’nai B’rith Women members marched in other cities across the nation – from Boca Raton to Kansas City to San Francisco. A 1990 article quotes Robin Winner, BBW’s Gateway Region President of Kansas city, recalling  “In terms of the Jewish community, we were the focal point…It was clear that BBW is a leader in the prochoice movement.”

In recent years, Jewish Women International (JWI) has upheld BBW’s legacy by fighting to protect women’s reproductive rights on a national scale. JWI leaders and activists have been vocal in their opposition to dangerous anti-choice legislation and efforts to undermine women’s reproductive health, from abortion services to contraception to family planning, in Congress. JWI leaders have also advocated for many key provisions in the Affordable Care Act, the health care reform law that will give women preventive services like contraception, well-woman visits and domestic violence screenings with no co-pays.

Today, JWI is committed to working with Congress and the Administration to ensure the access to comprehensive reproductive health services that will benefit millions of women and families across the country.  We know that it’s going to be a long fight, and it’s one we’re fighting every day.

Forty years after Roe, our reproductive rights are far from guaranteed. Sign the pledge and commit to protecting choice!