Contraceptive Coverage
The Central Conference of American Rabbis objects strongly to the Trump Administration’s announcement today that health insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act are no longer required to include contraceptive coverage.
Jewish law permits a woman to use contraception. American law should not be governed by Jewish law, but neither ought individual women’s access to contraception be limited by the personal religious views of their employers or of government officials. Every human being, female and male, is created b’tzelem Elohim, in God’s image, with the God-given right and ability to govern their own bodies in accordance with the precepts of their own faith and convictions..
Today’s rule change could deprive millions of American women, particularly those living in poverty, of access to contraceptive care. The problem could be made more acute by the efforts of the President and Congressional leadership to restrict women’s ability to access contraception at Planned Parenthood, the nation’s most trusted provider of reproductive health care and often the only place where a woman can obtain contraceptive care on a sliding-scale fee basis.
We call on President Trump to reverse today’s order immediately, and we implore Congress to adopt legislation that would protect universal contraceptive care.
Rabbi David E. Stern Rabbi Steven A. Fox
President Chief Executive
Central Conference of American Rabbis