Jewish Perspectives on Reproductive Rights

Curated by Olivia Sulkin.

Political and Legal Perspectives across Eras

The intersection of religion and politics is potently manifest in the issue of reproductive rights, especially abortion. Jewish engagement with the subject reaches from the Bible, to early modern rabbinic rulings, and to contemporary political advocacy. These traditions and legal perspectives guide Jews in shaping their own values, and they have moved into the public sphere as Jewish thought leaders speak out to ensure that Jewish perspectives are part of the political discussion.

Plastic-wrapped square in center with image of evil eye on ḥamsa and a rectangular text box explaining that condom will not protect against Christian right wing, surrounded by border of identical square frames with a pillow inside each.

Practice Safe Politics

This postcard was part of a campaign by Jewish Women Watching criticizing the close relationship between Jewish community leaders and conservative evangelical Christians who were against abortion.

View Source

Photograph of the Senate side of the US Capitol building in Washington, DC

Judaism and Abortion

Balfour Brickner’s testimony was presented at hearings before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Constitutional Amendments.

View Source

Clay figurine of a woman with a pillar body, arms clasped under her breasts.

Crimes against Persons

These Exodus verses form part of the Hebrew Bible's legal framework, addressing personal status and punishments for crimes against different social classes.

View Source

Set of curved doors with carving of candelabrum, peacock-shaped vessels, and basket of fruit and flowers on right side and table with compartments, peacock-shaped vessels, and basket of fruit and flowers on left side.

She’elot u-teshuvot yeshanot (Old Responsa): On Marital Deception

This rabbinic responsum, a “response” to a question of Jewish law, addresses the issue of marital deception and its legal ramifications.

View Source

Photo of the United Staes Supreme Court, with a seated figure holding a tablet of law.

This Matter of Abortion

This essay, written after Roe v. Wade, during a time of rising abortion polarization, offers a Jewish legal perspective that shaped national discussions.

View Source

Personal Experiences

The decision to continue or end a pregnancy is a deeply personal one. These sources explore the tension between personal values, religious precepts, and social expectations and judgments.

Gisèle Halimi during the launch rally of the “Front de Gauche."

The Women’s Cause

Gisèle Halimi’s “La Cause des Femmes” highlights and advocates for women's rights and gender equality. As a prominent feminist, lawyer, and activist, Halimi aimed to shed light on the struggles women.

View Source

Outside of an apartment building in the Bronx, New York.

Bronx Primitive: Portraits in a Childhood

This excerpt from Kate Simon’s Bronx Primitive: Portraits in Childhood explores the controversial and secretive decision many immigrant women made to get an abortions, and the means of obtaining one.

View Source

Artistic Explorations

Artistic explorations of abortion grapple with the complexity of abortion and its impact on human rights, addressing cultural connections and the intersection of religion and politics.

Black and white photograph of a young man with a mustache, large bowtie, and suit jacket with light piping on the lapel..

Professor Bernhardi

Schnitzler’s personal and professional experiences, including his Jewish faith and extensive education in medicine, inform the themes he addresses in his literary works.

View Source

Black and white photo of a man with round spectacles and a necktie.

In the Town of Berdichev

Vasily Grossman began his literary career with the publication of In the Town of Berdichev in 1934. This book dichotomously validates the experiences of Jewish families and Russian Revolutionaries dur

View Source

Photo of a red flat-topped mountain with a field of grass in front of it.

A Trumpet in the Wadi

This fictional exploration of interethnic relationships is set in 1980s Israel, a time of significant political and social turmoil owing to the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict.

View Source

Silkscreen depicting face of a woman looking at viewer split in half into positive and negative exposures, with English text across the image reading, "Your body is a battleground."

Untitled (your body is a battleground)

Barbara Kruger produced Untitled (Your body is a battleground), her most famous work, in support of reproductive freedom at the time of the 1989 Women’s March on Washington, DC.

View Source

This collection is the result of a summer internship collaboration between the Posen Library and the Jewish Women’s Archives.