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Week of Action Recap: Our Work Continues

May 13, 2022

This week, over 650 JDCA activists and members from across the country participated in JDCA’s second annual Week of Action, which included 51 congressional meetings and a kickoff event with NJ Senator Cory Booker, MI State Senator Mallory McMorrow, and Amy Spitalnick. JDCA members met with dozens of members of the House and Senate, including Senators Jon Ossoff (GA), Raphael Warnock (GA), Kirsten Gillibrand (NY), Catherine Cortez Masto (NV), Jacky Rosen (NV), Gary Peters (MI), Ben Cardin (MD), Chris Van Hollen (MD), Sherrod Brown (OH), and Bob Casey (PA).

In our dozens of virtual Hill meetings, JDCA thanked members of Congress for their work advancing the priorities and values of Jewish voters and called on them to continue to support efforts to: (1) defend our democracy and voting rights, (2) codify and protect abortion access and (3) combat antisemitism and extremism.

Thanks to everyone who participated, our efforts were successful – multiple members of Congress committed to co-sponsoring the Election Worker and Polling Place Protection Act and supporting increased funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which will help keep our synagogues and religious institutions safe. Read more about JDCA’s second annual Week of Action featured in Jewish Insider and click here to watch our inspiring kickoff event.

While our Week of Action is over, our work continues. Here are four immediate steps you can take to stay engaged in the fight for our values:

  1. In the next few days, there will be Bans Off Our Bodies rallies held across the country and we encourage you to attend a local rally. Jewish Dems will be marching in Washington, D.C. this weekend, and we are proud to cosponsor the Jewish Rally for Abortion Justice on Tuesday at 9:00 am. If you want to join us, look for the Jewish Dems signs!
  2. Download and print out your own JDCA sign to represent Jewish Dems at your local rally and make sure everyone knows that abortion justice is a Jewish value. Post a picture of you and your sign on social media, tag us, and use the hashtag #JewsForAbortionJustice. We will share it on social media.
  3. JDCA’s state chapters play a critical role in our success. Join your state’s Jewish Dems chapter to help grow our grassroots movement of Jewish Dems around the country. If your state doesn’t have a chapter, contact [email protected] to help start one!
  4. By becoming a member of JDCA, you help expand our efforts to advocate for Jewish and Democratic values and support candidates and elected officials who share these values. Members gain access to exclusive events with elected officials and policy experts, briefings, and more. We encourage you to join our membership program today.

Make no mistake – our fundamental rights are on the line. Click below to download your Jewish Dems for Abortion Justice sign and read more about why access to abortion is a Jewish value.

JOIN YOUR LOCAL CHAPTER

DOWNLOAD YOUR SIGN

Access to abortion is a Jewish value, and Pew polling shows that 83% of Jewish Americans believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases — the highest level of support of any religious group in the country. That includes 67% of Jewish Republicans and 58% of Jews who identified as politically conservative. Abortion justice is a bipartisan issue in the Jewish community. That’s why it is shocking and a betrayal of Jewish values for the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) to refuse even to comment on women being stripped of this fundamental right. The RJC’s deafening silence proves that they and the GOP are out of step with Jewish Americans, including most of the few Jewish Americans who identify as Republicans. Jewish Americans, including Republicans, overwhelmingly support access to abortion, so who exactly is the RJC representing?

Read JDCA’s statement about Republicans blocking the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA) earlier this week and JDCA Vice-Chair Barbara Goldberg Goldman’s op-ed in the Washington Jewish Week on why we can’t go back to a time before Roe. V Wade.

Thank you for your continued support and partnership.

Shabbat Shalom,

Hon. Ron Klein,
Board Chair, Jewish Democratic Council of America

Halie Soifer
CEO, Jewish Democratic Council of America