Abortion, American Jews, and the First Amendment

Bioethics Colloquium

Rachel Kranson, PhD
Director, Jewish Studies Program
Associate Professor of Religious Studies
University of Pittsburgh

Abstract: In the latter decades of the twentieth century, the legal teams representing American Jewish organizations developed arguments that defended abortion access as a religious right. Relying on the establishment and free exercise clauses of the first amendment, they contended that restrictions on abortion violated the rights of American Jews and other religious Americans whose traditions allowed for, or might even require, the termination of a pregnancy in certain circumstances. This work-in-progress considers the impact of these arguments on the history of reproductive politics, and on the political investments of American Jews.

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