I was asked to testify at a Senate hearing today on behalf of two Bills that ensure the rights of people to access emergency health care and further protect access to reproductive health care. This is my testimony:
Testimony on behalf of SB25-129 and SB25-130
Rabbi
Joseph R. Black – Temple Emanuel, Denver, CO
February
12, 2025
Chairperson
Gonzales and members of the Senate Judiciary Committee:
My name is
Rabbi Joseph Black. I serve as Senior
Rabbi of Temple Emanuel in Denver. We
are the largest Synagogue in the State of Colorado with over 6,000 individual
members. I am here on behalf of those in our state who are passionate about
protecting the rights of all Coloradans to receive essential reproductive
healthcare – regardless of their religious beliefs or practices. As a Jew – as
a person of faith who knows all too well the dangers of Governmental attempts
to coerce, impose or restrict and oppress those whose religious practices are
seen as aberrant, I am deeply concerned about any attempts to impose limits on
individuals’ fundamental rights.
SB25-129 and
SB25-130 both protect the rights of providers and patients engaging in
protected healthcare activity. Any attempts to restrict patients from receiving
essential reproductive health care in Colorado are antithetical to the free
exercise of religious practice that is guaranteed in our nation’s constitution.
These two bills are essential to ensure that all individuals who seek emergency
health care and medical providers who are committed to serving them are able to
do so - free from interference of any kind.
These bills
address the very real threats that we see playing out in States around the
country where anti-Abortion activists – many inspired by their own religious
beliefs - are working to take away fundamental rights from people in need. The
consequences of not protecting Abortion access could very well be the
difference between life and death for those who are pregnant and in crisis.
Religion is
not monolithic. One of the blessings of living in a pluralistic society where
freedom of religion is an enshrined value is that we can agree to differ and
not face persecution. There is always room for dialogue and discussion – but forcing
the religious beliefs of one segment of society on everyone is just plain
wrong.
In the book
of Deuteronomy, Chapter 30, verse 19, we find the following text that is often cited
by those who oppose universal access to reproductive health care. It reads as
follows:
I call
heaven and earth to witness against you this day: I have put before you life
and death, blessing and curse. Choose life, that you and your descendants may
live!
The words,
“choose life” are quite powerful. But
they also can be spun and defined in a variety of ways. They can used to
motivate us to live to our highest potential – choosing God’s loftiest ideals
for our daily living and the choices we make, or they can be used as a weapon
to narrowly define an agenda of intolerance.
There are too
many individuals and organizations who want to impose their own fundamentalist
and draconian definition of when life begins – For those who oppose Abortion
Care, this means that the government has both the ability and responsibility to
legislate and prevent access to health care without regard to personal freedom,
physical or mental health, abuse, rape, or economic hardship.
For me – the
words, “Choose Life” mean that as humans – created in the Divine image and blessed
with the precious gift of life, we have a responsibility to live our
lives in ways that affirm the highest aspirations of humanity. It does not mean imposing our
narrow understandings of life’s questions, traumas and values on others – nor
does it disavow us from disagreeing on the many complex paradoxes with which we
are confronted on a daily basis.
I urge you to
reject any attempts to legislate morality or impose religious beliefs on the citizens
of our State. Thank you.
