As a Massachusetts proposal to expand abortion access nears the finish line, a longtime advocate now finds reproductive rights issues “hitting home” particularly hard.
Rabbi Liz P.G. Hirsch of Temple Anshe Amunim in Pittsfield has advocated over the past two years for the Massachusetts Legislature to pass the ROE Act, which seeks to “remove obstacles and expand abortion access.” This year, Hirsch has become pregnant.
“It’s very present, this worry over where you fall in this spectrum of what can happen and what can’t,” she said. “And in pregnancy, it’s not always assured what happens, and there’s a lot of twists and turns that I’m very closely in touch with right now, being pregnant.”
The legislative proposal would codify abortion rights in state law — currently, the law doesn’t say it’s illegal, but also doesn’t say it’s legal. With a new six-to-three conservative majority in the U.S. Supreme Court, many have called on state legislatures to protect reproductive rights in case federal legal precedents fall.
In addition, the age at which people could get an abortion without parental or judicial consent would decrease from 18 to 16, and abortions after 24 weeks would be allowed if a physician deems one necessary to “preserve” a patient’s mental or physical health.
Although Gov. Charlie Baker vetoed the bill Thursday, the House and Senate had voted to re-enact the bill with a veto-proof majority. The 107 votes in the House barely exceeded the 106 necessary for a veto override, which both chambers are expected to pursue in the coming weeks. All Berkshire County lawmakers voted for the legislation.
But, the fight to pass that bill long has been in the making.
Last November, Hirsch demonstrated at a Boston event in support of the bill organized by the ROE Act Coalition, which is led by the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, the Planned Parenthood Advocacy Fund of Massachusetts and NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts. Hirsch was one of the few who made the trip from the westernmost county.
“Everyone kind of says, ‘Wow, you came here all the way from across the state,’” she said. “You can’t just pass a piece of legislation with just Boston. You need the entire state to be in conversation and collaboration.”
For Hirsch and other members of the Reform movement of Judaism, advocacy for social justice stems naturally from Jewish values. Much of Hirsch’s advocacy draws upon the concept of B’Tzelem Elohim, which she translates from Hebrew to English as “in the image of God.”
“Since we are each equally created in the image of God,” Hirsch said, “we should have the same access to human rights,” whether that means reproductive services, food, shelter or fair treatment in the justice system.
Sixteen- and 17-year-olds, who currently require “judicial bypass” to get an abortion without parental consent in Massachusetts, often experience delays in obtaining an abortion. People of color and low-income people are more likely to go through that process.
In February, Hirsch and Temple Anshe Amunim hosted a forum on the bill. She believes that it was one of few such events hosted in a house of worship.
She noted that religious perspectives on reproductive rights often are associated with opposition to abortion. The Massachusetts Catholic Conference, for instance, strongly has opposed current proposals, citing Catholic teachings that life “begins at conception and ends with natural death.”
“It continues to be important to show that voices of faith are not on one side only on the issue of reproductive rights,” Hirsch said.
In a recent letter published by The Boston Globe, Hirsch cited Kavod Habriyot (“respecting individual dignity”). Respecting dignity, she said, means that health-related and medical decisions should be in the hands of people and their doctors, rather than the state or a government entity.
“I think that everyone is going to go through the decision-making process differently,” Hirsch said. “People have different perspectives and should be able to make those very individual, personal decisions without the limits imposed on them.”