38 Years After Roe v. Wade

This Saturday, January 22, marks the 38th anniversary of the Supreme Court's historic decision in Roe v. Wade, which recognized a woman's right to choose. The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism is marking this anniversary with a statement from its director, Rabbi David Saperstein. You can raise awareness of this important issue in your community by placing a letter to the editor in your local newspaper.

We have a sample letter to the editor all ready to go! Click here to find your local newspaper and send it with a simple click. You can also make changes to the content of the letter, if you want. You can send the letter on Friday so that it might appear in the newspaper on the actual anniversary, or send it in a few days in response to any articles about Roe v. Wade or reproductive rights that run in your newspaper this weekend. As you can tell from Rabbi Saperstein's statement and our sample letter to the editor, the next few years will see many legislative attacks on reproductive rights, at both the state and federal levels. Here are some recent news article and op-eds to help you learn more about what's at stake:

• Center for American Progress takes a hard look at the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act (HR 3), which would drastically compromise women's reproductive health and access to abortion. House Speaker John Boehner has called this bill "one of our highest legislative priorities."
• The Nation magazine explores the future of insurance coverage for contraception under the new health care reform law and discusses the threat of the Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act (HR 217),which would severely restrict women's access to affordable reproductive health services.
• Merle Hoffman, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of On the Issues Magazine, reflects on the status of reproductive rights before Roe v. Wade and what we'll need to do in the next decade to preserve the decision.
  

To learn more about reproductive rights and the Reform Movement's position, visit the reproductive rights issue page or contact Legislative Assistant Deborah Swerdlow.