November 6, 2024
NEW YORK, NY – With election results in, the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) celebrates victories in seven states that passed ballot measures protecting reproductive rights. The CCAR has a long history of affirming people’s right to bodily autonomy, including their right to access safe and legal abortion care, which is both a core Jewish value and central to Jewish law and tradition. Since 1967, CCAR has consistently gone on record with its support for expanding access to reproductive healthcare across the country.
Statement from Rabbi Hara Person, Chief Executive of the Central Conference of American Rabbis:
“This election will have serious and severe implications for Americans across the country when it comes to their safety, dignity, and wellbeing. As we process the full extent of what this means for all of our communities, the CCAR is compelled to acknowledge the strong message voters in seven out of 10 states sent on abortion, passing ballot initiatives that protect the right to basic reproductive healthcare. This is a meaningful and unadulterated response to federal and state level efforts that aim to take away 50-year-old rights that Reform Jews overwhelmingly support based on our deep commitment to Jewish law. As we enter a second Trump term, the CCAR will continue to make clear that our Jewish communities demand and support reproductive rights, including the right to abortion.”
The CCAR has been a leading voice among faith leaders in recent years in the fight for reproductive justice. Two years after the Supreme Court gutted abortion access in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the CCAR filed an amicus brief in Indiana state Supreme Court supporting a challenge to the state’s abortion ban. The CCAR argued that the abortion ban was an attack on Jewish peoples’ religious freedoms because Jewish moral and rabbinic tradition permits, supports, and even mandates abortion care in certain circumstances.
The CCAR reaffirms its commitment to fighting to protect and expand access to basic reproductive healthcare through the next administration and beyond.
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The Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) is the Reform Rabbinic leadership organization. The CCAR strengthens the Jewish community by providing religious, spiritual, ethical and intellectual leadership and wisdom. CCAR and its members lead the Reform Movement on important spiritual, social, cultural and human rights issues, as it has done since 1889. CCAR also is the center for lifelong rabbinic learning, professional development, and resources for the more than 2,100 rabbis who serve more than 2 million Reform Jews throughout North America, Israel and the world. Since its founding, the CCAR has also served as the primary publisher of the Reform Movement through CCAR Press and its imprint Reform Judaism Publishing.
Contact: Jessica Madris, 914-815-5122, jessica@pythiapublic.com