JWI Responds to the Alabama State Abortion Ban
Washington, D.C. – Jewish Women International (JWI), the leading Jewish organization working to end violence against women and girls, responds to the Alabama legislature’s decision to outlaw abortion at any stage of pregnancy – including for victims of rape and incest – and criminalize the procedure for doctors. In the wake of an unabating series of state legislative initiatives aimed at preventing women from and penalizing women for seeking out abortion services, Lori Weinstein, CEO JWI issues the following statement:
“The Alabama Senate’s passage of HB 314 is the latest, most egregious encroachment on women’s constitutionally protected reproductive freedom. Once again, Republicans’ defense of privacy and personal liberty falls by the wayside when it comes to women’s rights and agency. As Alabama State Senator Linda Coleman Madison so powerfully said, ‘Now you're in my womb. I want you out - you don't control this, you don't own this.’ Punishing women for their personal health care choices is misogynistic and threatening abortion providers with life imprisonment is shameful. Under these reprehensible provisions, doctors who perform abortions could actually serve more prison time than men who commit rape and incest.
This year’s spate of attacks on women’s rights in Mississippi, Kentucky, Ohio, Georgia, and now Alabama is nothing more than a ploy to dehumanize women and strip them of bodily autonomy. As an organization that has been a staunch and longstanding supporter of women’s reproductive self-determination, we decry this anti-choice streak. Alabama’s abortion ban is specifically designed to challenge the Supreme Court’s ruling on Roe v. Wade, and is antithetical to JWI’s commitment to empowering all women and girls. We strongly urge Gov. Kay Ivey to veto this miscarriage of justice – women’s lives nationwide depend on it.”
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Jewish Women International (JWI) is the leading Jewish organization working to end violence against women and girls domestically and internationally. JWI is a Steering Committee member of the National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence Against Women and an active member of the Religious Advocates Working Group (RAWG), and the Small Lobby coalition convened by Planned Parenthood Federation. JWI’s advocacy efforts focus on the passage of legislation that supports women and girls, ensures their economic security, and protects their right to live free of violence.
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