The National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) recently joined more than 110 activists from nearly 30 states in Washington, D.C. to urge Congress to advance federal legislation safeguarding access to abortion nationwide.

NCJW leaders from throughout the nation and California gathered on Capitol Hill to urge federal elected officials to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act (S 217/HR 448). The events were coordinated by the Act for Women Campaign, which unites organizations in support of the federal legislation. Dispelling a myth that religious communities oppose abortion access, NCJW is one of several faith-based organizations that have endorsed the measure.

Rosalind Helfand of NCJW/LA spoke about the issue from a Jewish values perspective.

“While everyone should be free to make their own personal decision about abortion, this constitutional right is being stripped away state by state as politicians impose arbitrary regulations, like clinic shutdown laws, which a woman must overcome to access care,” Helfand said. “As a member of the National Council of Jewish Women, I believe that impeding access to care – whether through restrictions on patients or on providers – erodes our nation’s bedrock principle of religious liberty, by interfering in a woman’s right to make critical decisions about her health and body according to her own religious or moral beliefs.”

The Women’s Health Protection Act will provide federal protection against state restrictions that risk women’s health and interfere in a woman’s personal decision making about abortion, according to NCJW.

It would invalidate state laws that single out abortion care or providers with medically unnecessary restrictions which threaten women’s health or limit access to abortion services. Among state restrictions that would be overturned by the bill are mandatory waiting periods or ultrasounds, which can increase the attendant costs of obtaining safe care, and bans that deny abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

Additionally, the bill would reverse medically unnecessary mandates imposed on clinics and abortion providers, such as the onerous building standards and hospital admitting privilege requirements proscribed in Texas’ omnibus anti-abortion law of 2013.

That law shut down nearly half of all clinics in Texas, eliminating abortion access in large regions of the state. Such provisions are currently being challenged by a group of medical providers at the U.S. Supreme Court in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, in which NCJW joined an amicus brief.

“The Women’s Health Protection Act would ensure that access to safe, legal abortion remains accessible no matter where a person lives. No matter how the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the Whole Woman’s Health case, Congress has a responsibility to act in order to safeguard access to care nationwide.” said Shelli Dodell, president of NCJW/LA. “When a woman makes the decision to seek abortion, her ability to access care should not be based on her zip code. NCJW Los Angeles is committed to achieving the goals of reproductive justice, which affirms each person’s right to make their own decisions about their body, health and future regardless of their race, how much money they have, where they live, or any other factor.”