Safeguarding Women’ s Rights

For information on upcoming legislation that affects women, read the newsletter of The Commission for Women’s Equality of the American Jewish Congress. Appropriately, their tag line is “Proudly Jewish. Actively Feminist.” It reports on issues such as the fight to maintain Roe v. Wade, the debate over mammography, and federal health insurance for children. American Jewish Congress, 212-879- 4500; www.ajc.org

• On the state level, the New York UJA Federation formed a new Women’s Public Policy Task Force, 212-836-1858. In April, women met with legislators in Albany to discuss privacy issues around genetic testing and to request increased funding to combat family violence. They also noted the recently increased Medicaid coverage for the treatment of breast and cervical cancer, www.ujafedny.org; e-mail; TaskForceJ.Wonian@ujafedny.org

• “As a Jewish and women’s organization, we can’t sit silently by in the face of sweeping changes,” says Sammie Moshenberg, director of Washington operations of the National Council of Jewish Women. Moshenberg was referring to the movement afoot to overturn Roe v. Wade. In response, NCJW has recently undertaken the “Benchmark” campaign to lobby senators to vote against appointing any federal judicial nominee who is anti-choice. “The Jewish community is overwhelmingly pro-choice,” says Moshenberg. “But people don’t realize how much is decided at the federal circuit court level. If people don’t stand up and take notice, our rights could be gone.” www.ncjw.org.