We thought you would be interested in seeing the following article that appeared in the November 18, 2009 issue of the Jewish Journal and on the front page of the Chicago Tribune website on November 18, 2009.
Groups oppose abortion restrictions
By Shani McManus South Florida Sun-Sentinel
From l-r Harriet Kurlander, American Jewish Congress executive director and Barbara S. Effman, senior vice president of American Jewish Congress South East region. (Janeris Marte, FPG/November 13,2009 )
Two leading Jewish organizations, the American Jewish Congress and National Hadassah, have initiated separate campaigns urging U.S. Senate rejection of the Stupak-Pitts amendment to The Affordable Healthcare for America Act.
The amendment prohibits insurance companies, if they accept any government subsidies, from offering abortion coverage in any health exchange, even if the woman pays for the insurance with private funds.
"The Stupak-Pitts Amendment, which has been added to the health care reform bill, is an unprecedented and unacceptable restriction on the right of women to access the full range of legal reproductive health care," said Harriet Kurlander, executive director of the American Jewish Congress, Southeast Region.
"Currently, most private insurers cover abortion related services, but that practice will, as a practical matter, cease if the amendment remains in the finalized version of the legislation," she noted. "If insurers want to attract subsidized customers, who will be the great majority on the exchange, they will have to offer them plans that do not cover abortion."
Barbara Effman, vice president of the southeast region of AJCongress echoed those sentiments.
"The suggestion that women purchase a separate, single service rider to cover abortion is absurd," she noted. "No woman plans in advance to have an unintended pregnancy, or one that has serious complications that ultimately call for an abortion.
"Abortion is a legal medical procedure that saves women's lives and prevents human suffering," Effman added. "The health care reform bill is not the place to make new law that restricts women's reproductive health care."
Both organizations are asking voters to contact their senators to protest the amendment.
Kurlander said the AJCongress is sending e-mail messages to its broad "feminist data base." Additionally, Kurlander is sending an action alert to all members and supporters in the eight-state southeast region with talking points and names and e-mail addresses of senators.
Visitors to the AJCongress website will find a link to send an electronic message to senators.
Meanwhile, Hadassah on Friday issued a statement asserting the organization, "opposes any attempts to restrict, through state administrative regulations, legislation, or court action, the right to reproductive choice or the delivery of reproductive health services, including abortion."
Carol Weiss, president of the Florida Atlantic Region of Hadassah said the organization has always stood behind women.
"We have always advocated for issues important to women's health such as a woman's right to reproductive choice," she noted. "National Hadassah is urging all its members to contact their senators to keep abortion coverage restrictions out of the Health Care Reform Bill."
Hadassah also is providing an instant e-mail message link to protest the amendment. Visit the Legislative Action Center at the Hadassah website.
Local Jewish religious leaders voiced mixed opinions.
"It's not a blanket yes, or no, issue," Orthodox Rabbi Moshe Scheiner of Palm Beach Synagogue said. "In Judaism, abortion is not allowed, but under certain circumstances, such as rape, or when the health of a woman is in danger, abortion is allowed."
Rabbi Howard Shub of the Conservative Temple Beth Tikvah in Greenacres agreed, but believes Jewish organizations should not get involved in the health care debate.
"Let the AJCongress and other Jewish organizations stick to the original mandate for which it was founded — to combat anti-Semitism," he said. "I agree it's a shanda (shame) that everyone is not covered by healthcare, but where is the money going to come from?"
However, local attorney and civil rights activist Rabbi Barry Silver of Reform Congregation L'DorVa-Dor in Lake Worth, is strident about the added amendment. He also finds fault with the entire Affordable Healthcare for America Act, which he believes falls short of providing universal health care.
"We should not capitulate to the intolerance of those who don't recognize a woman's right to control her reproductive system," he said. "This bill has already been stripped of all meaning. The [amendment] only adds insult to injury. The current health care legislation is a sellout to the big money health care insurance racket, and is a disaster for true health care reform."
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