As readers know, I've been interested in the question of abortion and religious exemption claims (see this May 9 post), so when I saw this item by Rabbi Simon, I found it much worth passing along. Rabbi Simon had been a lawyer for 20 years before becoming a full-time rabbi, and who has been an Adjunct Professor of Rabbinics at Gratz College and an Adjunct Instructor in Jewish History at Florida Atlantic University; Temple Beth Kodesh, which is in Boynton Beach, Florida, is "a traditional, conservative, egalitarian congregation." Note that it's a sermon that he plans to deliver tomorrow (we bring you tomorrow's news today), which explains the reference to the Court's decision being "yesterday."
Naturally, there are serious legal questions about whether religious exemption claims from abortion laws should be granted, but I thought it would be good to see this opinion on the subject; if others have other views on religious exemption claims from abortion laws, I'd be glad to forward them as well:
Those of you who've been here for a while know that I do not talk politics from the bimah. But there are three areas that I am willing to, and feel it is my duty to speak about, namely, Israel, Antisemitism, and Religious Liberty. This morning I want to talk about a significant issue of religious liberty, specifically as it relates to abortion.
As you are aware, yesterday the Supreme Court overturned a constitutional right to abortion. It now leaves this issue up to the individual states to decide to what extent, if at all, it will permit abortions. To be clear, I am not speaking about whether I believe the Court was right or wrong or whether I believe there is a constitutional right to an abortion. Frankly, my opinion, as a rabbi is irrelevant. My opinion on religious liberty, is however, very relevant.
As you're probably aware, the State of Florida, for instance, enacted a law limiting abortions after fifteen weeks. Rabbi Barry Silver of Congregation L'Dor Va'dor has already filed a lawsuit challenging that law. There has been quite a bit of press over this lawsuit including in the New York Times and I was interviewed on Monday by the Palm Beach Post about it for thirteen minutes, but my comments were not printed.
So let me share with you a bit about what I told that reporter and what I've been discussing with some experts in the field, especially Professor Josh Blackman who spoke to us on Zoom back in December and will come back to discuss the Court's religion cases next month.
The legalities of Religious Liberty and Church-State issues are complicated and muddled. And there are no easy solutions in a multi-religious society. I can't get into all the nuances or possibilities here. But I'll start with this by way of background.
Remember the controversy over contraceptive coverage in health plans that was opposed by various Christian organizations and businesses as violating their religion? How did you feel about that? What does Judaism say about that?
Notice that I say Judaism. I didn't say Jews. I didn't say rabbis. I said Judaism. As if there is one clear cut version of Judaism opinion out there.
You see, unlike the Catholic Church, Judaism doesn't have one authoritative voice telling us what we can and cannot do. And that is one reason why the debate over contraceptive coverage and the Catholic Church is perhaps a bit puzzling to us as Jews.
But without getting into whether it is right or wrong, or how it should be resolved, since that is beyond my role here, I do believe that we need to be more understanding of that particular religious perspective. And one way of understanding it from a Jewish perspective is to try to reframe the issue with the following example.
