Rabbi’s Message – April 27, 2023
I am reaching out to invite you to join me for a cause that is very important to me and to our community. I am working to put reproductive freedom on the Ohio ballot this year. This is important to me because abortion bans threaten the lives of pregnant people and reduce our sacred access to make personal choices based on our Jewish faith tradition. This non-partisan ballot measure will also explicitly protect birth control and fertility treatments, safeguarding our right to choose life, health, and safety.
In order to get this initiative on the ballot, citizens need to collect a certain number of signatures to prove this is an issue of “public interest”. This includes 417,500 valid signatures from 44 of the 88 Ohio Counties, with at least 5% of the total voters in each county who voted in the previous non-presidential election.
This is a large undertaking, but there are many ways to help.
On May 2, RAC-OH, Temple Israel, and the Ohio Jewish community are taking part in a statewide Day of Action. Our goal is to gather tens of thousands of signatures at polling locations across the state during the Primary Election. This day is crucial to our success because we know that primary voters will be registered to vote and their signatures will all be valid toward our petition.
Sign up online to help. Through this link you will find opportunities to participate as a:
- Polling Location Volunteer: Ready to get out and talk to people? Work a 3-hour shift at a polling location in your area to collect signatures and let Ohioans know about our initiative.
- Polling Location Runner: Caregiver at heart? Work a 3-hour shift running snacks, petitions, and other gear to volunteers in your area to ensure they’re well taken care of.
- Office Admin Staff: Great with a spreadsheet and structure? Work a 5-hour shift to ensure that things are running smoothly in your region.
- Phone Banker: Want to volunteer from home? Work the phones for 3 hours to ensure that Ohioans turn-out to vote AND sign the petition.
On May 7, Temple Israel will host our own Reproductive Rights Drive-Thru Petition Signature Collection from 9:30 – 11:30 a.m. Please stop by and sign from the comfort of your car or stop by during the last day of religious school. If you are able to volunteer to help that morning, please email me at rabbi@tidayton.org.
If you have already been collecting signatures for any organization, thank you! Keep up the good work and please show our coalition what our community can do by tracking all of your signatures through this link.
Do you have questions about this initiative? Read the full text and summary of The Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety petition here.
Looking to better understand the Jewish perspective on reproductive freedom? Consider reading the following editorials from Jewish organizations and authors:
Reform Movement Leaders Denounce Supreme Court Decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Health Organization
Kveller: I’m a Rabbi & a Mom. And I had an Abortion.
Hey Alma: Abortion is a Jewish Value
Jewish Telegraphic Agency: What do Jews say about abortion?
My Jewish Learning: Abortion & Judaism
The New Yorker: We’re not going back to the time before Roe. We are going somewhere worse.
Thank you for your help in standing up for the right to reproductive health care in Ohio. Together we can make a difference.
THANK YOU! A former Daytonian with ties of family who long-lived there, and a former PPFA and NARAL worker, and NON volunteer, I am thrilled to read this and will pass the word.
The abortion issue should have never been a political issue. It was also not an issue that the supreme court should have been involved in, at the time. You are going about this issue correctly; it is a states right and if the people want to allow abortion, then sign and vote for it. Hopefully all states will approve the issue at the polls.
Thank you for championing this!