From abortion, to birth control, to LGBTQ+ issues, the Jewish faith informs many advocates, leaders, and believer’s work on sexual and reproductive health and rights. Rabbi Danya Ruttenburg, Scholar in Residence at the National Council of Jewish Women, sits down with us to talk about the ways Judaism and reproductive health and rights intersect.

Judaism teaches that abortion is permitted and is often required if the life of the pregnant person is threatened. Some stories in Jewish texts make it explicitly clear that, if the head has not emerged from the body, the life of the pregnant person takes precedent. Other stories in ancient texts describe the permitted use of medication abortion. In Jewish communities, these are the stories that inform conversations relating to conception, personhood, and the question of when life begins.

In the more patriarchal communities in Judaism, many practitioners approach Rabbis for permission to use birth control and continue to tie birth control usage to marriage status. Still, while Judaism has threads of pro-natalism and patriarchy within it, contraception is a much less hot-button topic than in Catholicism. In fact, when it comes to birth control, many methods are described in the Talmud. These methods include the mokh (an absorbent, wool insert) as well as the kos shel ikkarin (an herbal mix made up of roots). 

Many scholars argue that mentions of LGBTQ+ issues in Jewish writings are consistently up to interpretation. Still, Jewish texts mention upwards of six or seven different sex and gender identities, and instead of rejecting, banishing, or ignoring, Judaism seeks to find ways to welcome gender nonconforming or gender non-binary people.

Links

National Council of Jewish Women on Twitter

National Council of Jewish Women on Facebook

Rabbi Danya Ruttenburg’s Twitter Thread

Transtorah.org

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To learn more about the ways LGBTQ+ issues and Judaism intersect, find transtorah.org here.

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