Jews for Choice: How Jews Have Been Active in the Fight for Reproductive Justice

with Michal Raucher (Rutgers)

The dominant narrative in the United States often portrays religion as inherently opposed to abortion, largely due to the influence of certain Christian groups. However, the reality is more complex: the majority of religious individuals in the United States actually support legal access to abortion. For decades, Jewish communities have played a key role in challenging this narrative and advancing reproductive rights. In this session, we will explore how Jews have been at the forefront of this advocacy—through efforts in women’s health, legal action, religious engagement, and the power of personal storytelling around abortion.

Michal Raucher is Associate Professor of Jewish Studies at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, where she teaches courses on religion and reproduction, women and gender in religion, and Israel/Palestine. Her research focuses on women in contemporary Judaism, reproductive ethics, and religious authority. Raucher is the author of “Conceiving Agency: Reproductive Authority among Haredi Women” (Indiana, 2020), an ethnography of Israeli ultra-Orthodox Jewish women’s reproductive ethics. She recently completed her second book, The New Rabbis, an ethnography of women rabbis in American Orthodoxy. Dr. Raucher is a PI on two studies exploring the intersection of religious identity and abortion. She has interviewed over 100 Jews who have had abortions in America since 1973.  Dr. Raucher is the co-editor of the Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion. She earned her PhD in Religious Studies from Northwestern University. She also has degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, The Jewish Theological Seminary, and Columbia University.

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