Religious Freedom and Reproductive Rights

The June 2022 Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade has caused people from all walks of life to react strongly. Many people in our communities will ask, “What is the Jewish approach to abortion?” It is a simple question without a single, straightforward answer. While Jewish wisdom has much to say about the subject, different communities approach that wisdom from different perspectives.

At Jewish Learning Venture, it is our role to encourage learning environments that allow children to gain the skills and knowledge to form their own opinions.  As we have in other challenging times, we want to share educational resources about how to speak to your children about the ruling, or share with teens how civic engagement is a form of action and a Jewish value.

Here are some places to start. Additionally, our friends and colleagues at The Jewish Education Project have built a collection in reaction to the Dobbs ruling that you may also find helpful.

• From Moving Traditions: Talking with Teens: Reproductive Rights & Sexual Health
• From the ACLU: Your Right To Religious Freedom
• A Religion and First Amendment lesson plan from PBS Learning Media.
• From Parents.com: How to Talk About Reproductive Rights in Terms Simple Enough for a Child to Understand
• From MyJewishLearning.com: Abortion and Judaism
• A first-person perspective from Kveller.com: What Banning Abortion Means for Carriers of Jewish Genetic Diseases Like Me