Reproductive Justice Initiative (RJI)
1) Shining a Light on Reproductive Justice: An Issue for Us All: Warm thanks to all who joined us at this RJI May 12th kick-off. We were delighted by the at-capacity turn out. Krisitie Monast, Executive Director of Health Q Health Services and Claire Teylouni, Director of Government Affairs, Reproductive Equity Now, were exceptional speakers. They offered an excellent snapshot of abortion services in MA as well as a comprehensive view of the national landscape. Their overall message: while overall it is extremely disturbing, we can feel grateful at this time to live in Massachusetts. The goal of the anti-choicers is to abolish abortion everywhere, so it is incumbent upon us to stay informed.
We were grateful that Rabbi Berry incorporated prayers and messages about reproductive justice into the Friday night service that preceded the educational portion.
If you were unable to attend the event, here is a link for the educational program. Passcode: 0zfuJbS^. NOTE: On the link, the presentation begins around 3:05 and ends around 1:17, followed by 10 minutes or so of people talking and cleaning up.
Many members of the RJI task force played a key role in the success of the evening, but special shout outs to Susie Gudema and Marion Pollack, who arranged the delicious dinner and dining room set up, and Laura Scharf and Abby Fireman, who brought their sons to the event and worked earnestly to invite other teens, reflecting their commitment to educating young people about the issue.
2) NECHAMA COMFORT PACKAGES FOR POST-ABORTION CARE: The evening was the kick-off for our campaign to create 150 comfort packages to donate to Kristie Monast's Health Q Reproductive Clinic in Lawrence, MA. YOUR HELP IS NEEDED TO MAKE THIS EFFORT A SUCCESS! We are in particular need of $10 gift cards to either CVS or Target so that recipients can purchase over-the-counter pain relief. Please bring gift cards to the Temple - during business hours, leave them in the office with Gray or Scott; after business hours, leave them in the locked collection box on the first floor near the reception desk OR contact Susan Goodman at susan.d.goodman@gmail.com to arrange a pick up. There are still other items needed on our Amazon registry.
The campaign extends through June 30. We will be assembling the packages at the Temple either at the end of the summer or early fall so that we can bring them to Health Q in mid-September. Contact Wendy Case at wbcase@aol.com if you would like to participate.
We would be remiss not to offer a shout out to Temple Shalom Sisterhood, which is purchasing several of the essential items needed for the comfort packages, and Temple Beth Elohim, one of our partners in the comfort packages campaign, for offering us guidance and resources.
3) ADVOCACY ALERTS: Joy Elbaum is sending out terrific legislative updates on bills that reflect our Temple's commitment to reproductive justice - the ability to choose whether to have children and the ability to raise them in safe, healthy environments. Thanks to JALSA - Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action - for initiating many of these alerts. To be added to Joy's distribution list, email her at j.elbaum@verizon.net
4) JOIN OUR TASK FORCE! Our immediate goal is to complete the Nechama packages in the fall. Help us navigate our next directions! Email either Susan Goodman. or Wendy Case - we look forward to hearing from you!
Thanks - Wendy Case (wbcase@aol.com) and Susan Goodman
(susan.d.goodman@gmail.com)