JALSA Alert
Supporting Abortion Rights: Jewish Community Joins in Ohio Ballot Phone Banks Every Thursday at 6pm Eastern September 28 through Election Day
Ohio residents will be voting on a ballot measure on November 7 that will protect abortion rights and reproductive health in Ohio. As part of the efforts supporting the measure, JALSA will be coordinating phone banks for the Jewish community around the country every Thursday between now and Election Day at 6 PM (Eastern).
We will be contacting people who are likely to support abortion rights, but might need a reminder to get out and vote. These conversations could have a tremendous impact on the ballot measure's outcome. As we gather each Thursday, we will be having discussions about why the measure is so important to the Jewish community while also going through the phone bank process.
JALSA's partners will have opportunities to participate in texting and postcarding efforts reaching out to Ohio residents about the ballot measure. If you're interested in those opportunities, please follow this link to view the form and let us know you are interested by filling out the last question.
If you have any questions you can contact JALSA's Organizing Director, Bryan Scrafford, at bryan@jalsa.org.
JALSA Advocacy Alert: Oct. 12th Jewish Community Zoom event about the Location Shield Act, aimed at curbing use of personal location data that creates risks for those visiting abortion clinics, those experiencing intimate partner abuse, and others.
JALSA and its partners will be hosting an online Jewish Community gathering to talk about the Location Shield Bill. This bill will ban the sale of location data, protecting pregnant people who come to Massachusetts for an abortion. If you would like to attend this Zoom event, you can sign up at this link.
According to the ACLU of Massachusetts, “Every day, unregulated data brokers buy and sell personal location data from apps on our cellphones, revealing where we live, work, play, and more. To protect our privacy, safety, access to abortion and other essential health care, Massachusetts needs to ban this practice now by passing the Location Shield Act.” This bill has major implications for the future of reproductive rights in Massachusetts. The ACLU of Massachusetts recognizes that “In the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision... journalists found that data brokers have continued to buy, repackage, and sell the location information of people visiting sensitive locations, including abortion clinics. This puts people who seek or provide care in our state at risk of prosecution and harassment, creating a vulnerability in our state’s post-Roe protections.”
In addition to the risks posed to abortion seekers and providers, the ACLU has also identified these groups who might use location data to cause harm:
- Domestic abusers can purchase location data to track the whereabouts of their victims;
- Foreign governments can buy location data and use it to track intelligence personnel, elected officials, military employees, police officers, and scientific researchers; and
- Employers can buy cellphone location data to track and discriminate against employees
To spread awareness and advocate for the Location Shield Act, JALSA is hosting a Jewish Community gathering on Zoom with groups like NCJW, ADL, and JCRC about how the Location Shield Act impacts people who can get pregnant, the LGBTQ community, the Jewish community, and others. The event will also include actions people can take to advance this important piece of legislation.
When: The event is on October 12th from 7pm-8pm.
How: Here’s the RSVP link for the Zoom. (If this page is already filled out, simply replace the information with your own.)
Finally, here’s a link to a website that the ACLU of Massachusetts created about the Location Shield bill.
