NCJW Weekly Advocacy Wrap-Up:
Friday, June 3, 2022
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In this issue...
Participate in #WearOrange Weekend
Learn about Abortion Justice from NCJW's Rabbi
The Reproductive Landscape Post-Roe: A conversation with Dean Erwin Chemerinsky and Professor Michele B. Goodwin
NCJW Alert: Gun Safety Legislation & Medication Abortion
View Recorded LWV Candidate Forum
Provide Input on Local Priorities for Federal Funding!
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The tragic mass shootings back to back have served as a shocking reminder of the toll gun violence takes on our communities. NCJW is once again cosponsoring Wear Orange, June 3-5, a weekend to honor the more than 40,000 people who are killed by guns each year and the approximately 85,000 who are shot and wounded each year. We understand many marches are held on Saturdays, and encourage you to engage as your Shabbat observance allows.
“Wear Orange” weekend was created in honor of Hadiya Pendleton, a 15-year-old high school student from Chicago who was tragically shot and killed in 2013 while standing with friends at a playground after taking her final exams. Hadiya's friends commemorated her life by wearing orange, the color hunters wear in the woods to protect themselves and others. Wear Orange Day is now observed nationally to honor the countless victims and survivors of gun violence and demand change.
Join a rally and vigil to end gun violence Saturday, June 4th at 5:30 pm with Orange County gun violence prevention advocates as well as gun sense lawmakers & candidates and more. Gather at Seal Beach Pier/Eisenhower Park, Ocean Avenue and Main St, Seal Beach, for the rally and hear from speakers, then we’ll head to the pier for a candlelight walk and vigil.
You can also join Orange County volunteer leaders for a virtual roundtable to hear about the many ways you can join the work to end gun violence on Thursday, June 16, 7:30 pm.
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Learn about Abortion Justice from NCJW's Rabbi
Saturday, June 4, 5:30 pm
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NCJW Scholar-In-Residence, Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg, will speak on “The Torah of Abortion Justice” for Shavuot for MetroWest Boston’s Community-Wide Tikkun Leyl Shavuot. Saturday, June 4, 8:30 pm ET/5:30pm PT.
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The Reproductive Landscape Post-Roe: A conversation with Dean Erwin Chemerinsky and Professor Michele B. Goodwin
Wednesday, June 8, 11:00 am, Virtual Event
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As the leaked draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization clearly underscored, the Supreme Court appears poised to overturn the historic and precedential decision in Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey and eliminate the constitutional rights to abortion. Join California Woman’s Law Center for an intimate discussion between Berkeley Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky and UCI Law School's Chancellor's Professor and author, Policing the Womb: Invisible Women and the Criminalization of Motherhood, Michele B. Goodwin. Dean Chemerinsky and Professor Goodwin will examine the current moment in constitutional jurisprudence, survey the broader legal landscape, and forecast the outlook for reproductive rights in a seemingly imminent post-Roe America. These Constitutional scholars will discuss the broader implications a decision to overturn Roe could have on other Supreme Court decisions that rely on it to protect aspects of personal privacy such as contraceptive use, marriage, child custody, consensual sex among adults, and others.
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National Council of Jewish Women grounds our advocacy for reproductive health and rights in the reproductive justice framework. Created in the mid-1990s by Black women and other women of color, reproductive justice includes the right to live and/or raise a family in a safe and healthy environment. Our work on abortion access is inextricably tied to our work on passing common sense gun violence legislation. In this email, you will find three ways to take action today to empower and protect our communities.
In the week following the murders of 19 children and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas, there have been at least 15 other mass shootings. The House of Representatives has already passed two important measures to enhance background checks: The Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021 (HR 8), which would expand background checks for all firearm sales or transfers, and The Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2021 (HR 1446), which would close the loophole (known as the “Charleston loophole”) that allows a gun sale to go forward if background checks are not completed in three days. The ball is in the Senate’s court, and they must act.
Medication abortion — two pills taken within a short window — is safe, reliable, and can offer an important option for many who are ten weeks pregnant or less. But the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) unnecessarily regulates medication abortion due to political, not medical, concerns. Urge the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the FDA, to remove these obstacles and facilitate medication abortion access.
NCJW’s Jewish Fund for Abortion Access, in partnership with the National Abortion Federation, provides emergency relief by providing funding for the nation’s largest abortion hotline, case management, coverage of travel and related expenses, and medical care. Donate now to connect real people who need abortions with the money they need to access care.
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The issue: Gun violence is an epidemic in America and now the leading cause of death in children.
The good news: The House of Representatives passed two critical gun safety bills: HR 8, The Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019 and HR 1446, The Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2019.
Our task: Urge the senate to pass the commonsense gun safety measures that would expand background checks and save lives.
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The issue: Medication abortion, two pills taken within a short window, is safe, reliable, and can offer an important option for many who are ten weeks pregnant or less.
The good news: In December, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) permanently repealed its in person dispensing requirements for medicaiton abortion.
Our task: The FDA left in place several barriers that continue to unnecessarily restrict and stigmatize this safe medication. Urge Health and Human Services, which oversees the FDA, to remove the remaining obstacles and facilitate medication abortion access.
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View Recorded LWV Candidate Forum |
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A judicial candidate forum presented in May is now available online for viewing.
Junior League of Long Beach and League of Women Voters hosted the forum and created the videos of 25 candidates seeking judgeships. Each candidate makes an opening statement, then answers a question in one of five relevant breakout room sessions. Each breakout room session can be viewed and shared separately.
The five breakout room topics were:
- The role of the Superior Court
- Objectivity and racial biases
- The juvenile justice system
- Pandemic and civil unrest impacts
- Diversion & collaborative court
You can watch the recording here:
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Provide Input on Local Priorities for
Federal Funding!
Thursday, June 9, 5:30–7:30 pm
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Are you interested in more affordable housing opportunities for your family or older loved ones?
Does your neighborhood need park improvements or after school programs?
Are you a small business owner in need of resources and assistance?
The City of Long Beach wants to hear from you!
The City of Long Beach is in the process of developing the 2023-2027 Consolidated Plan, a five-year plan that prioritizes what types of neighborhood activities are funded by Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) federal funding and needs your input.
Attend this virtual meeting to learn more and have your voice heard!
Thursday, June 9, 2022, 5:30–7:30 pm
Join by phone: 213.338.8477
Meeting ID: 958 7359 2180
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