More than half of women of reproductive age enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP live in states that ban assistance coverage for abortion, with very rare exceptions. And about half of those women are women of color. That is according to the National Council of Jewish Women. At a recent event for the local chapter of NCJW, Allison Tombros Korman, founder of The Red Tent Fund, assisting those who need care is a fundamental Jewish value. “For me, Tikkun Olam needs to be more than just repairing a broken world. It needs to be about being proactive in preventing those things in need of repair from happening in the first place.”
Korman founded the Red Tent Fund following the terrorist attacks of October 7th. At the time she was working for the DC Abortion Fund and found herself the target of what she says is antisemitic conduct by staff and board members, something she says is becoming widespread throughout other abortion fund across the country. “After October 7th, I was the only Jewish person on staff, there were no Jewish board members and my colleagues, and the board members were really insistent that the DC Abortion Fund say something about what was happening in Gaza.”
Her view that donors were mostly focused on funding local abortions, rather than advocating for what she says are geopolitical issues, was largely ignored. So she pushed for acknowledgement that as a reproductive justice organization, it was necessary to also recognize the sexual violence carried out on October 7th. The response at that point was swift and dramatic. “Over those few weeks between October 7th and when I resigned in mid-November I was pushed out of the organization by my colleagues. People would not speak to me because I didn’t adhere to their perspective on what was happening in the middle east.”
Korman explains the concept of reproductive justice was developed about 30 years ago by Black woman activists that asserted that justice itself, rather than simply health, means that people have the right to decide whether to have a family through reproductive means. She says this framework, which was developed in the United States, does not entirely apply to the situation in the middle east. “You have evidence of a lot of people involved in this conflict who say this isn’t a framework that doesn’t necessarily lay completely on top of the lived experience folks are having there.”
At this point, Korman realized she was not alone. After publishing her story in an article in Table magazine, she heard from others. “I heard from so many people, specifically Jewish people who were active in progressive movements and in the reproductive health and abortion movements. And it made me feel like this is such a false choice that you should have to choose between your Jewish identity and your support for reproductive health.”
Korman set out to create what she says is the first ever Jewish direct service abortion fund. She points to halacha, or Jewish law, as the core of the organization’s mission. “That is where our affirmation of the right to abortion comes from.”
Rabbis agree that abortion is a fundamental Jewish mandate. Rabbi Laurie Rice of Congregation Michah says, “As Jews, pikuach nefesh is a commandment of the highest order. We are meant to do everything we can to safeguard and preserve our health. Even In our daily prayers the prayer for our body is separate from the prayer for our soul. If our bodies are not functioning to best of our ability, we are not able to literally supplicate to God.”
When discussing the idea of helping provide health care to everyone, regardless of faith, Rice says organizations like the Red Tent Fund are part of a long history of Jewish organizations working for the betterment of humanity in general. Torah is meant to teach us about how to interact and behave in the world, not just with our own people.”
Currently the Red Tent Fund supports five clinics in four states using the block grant model of directly funding abortion clinics. The funds are available to anyone in need of support, regardless of religion, background, or gestational age. In the coming year, the organization is building out a warm line that would refer callers in need of assistance to a list of abortion funds, with the Red Tent being one of those.
Korman credits NCJW as being a leader around abortion and reproductive health. She says nationally, NCJW has been doing the work for several years. “They’re at the 30,000-foot level doing the advocacy, the fundraising, the lobbying. And Red Tent is more on the 1,000-foot level of direct service.”
Tennessee is one of the states that has a near total ban on abortion, with few exceptions, so abortion seekers must look elsewhere for providers. Pam Kelner, Executive Director of Jewish Family Service, says, “If someone is needing to go elsewhere, we’re able to connect them with different resources in the country.”
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Kelner says immediately after Roe v. Wade was overturned, the Network of Jewish Human Services Agencies, presented an informational session about the National Abortion Federation, the primary national abortion resource. “They have what they call ‘navigators,’ and they have them all over the country. They know all the resources in specific areas so they can help facilitate appointments. They have resources for financial assistance.” She says JFS does not provide assistance for medical procedures, but it does help with referrals to appropriate resources.
According to La Quita Martin, vice president of advocacy for NCJW Nashville Chapter, there are funds in state available to help people who need to travel. She says nationally NCJW has raised nearly $2 million to provide access to abortions, and those dollars are available to anyone who needs it. “There is money that was raised by Jewish people in this country to allow not only Jewish women, but all women access.”
Martin says currently, reproductive health issues nationally and at the state level are in flux since the election. “We had our high hopes that the Federal position would change. And we also were really looking for some seats to be flipped in the state. That would have made a much more powerful path for us.” She says expects to see the usual bills seeking to completely overturn the state’s abortion ban. More realistically, she’s hoping for some progress in lifting restrictions on physicians and health care providers, as well as looking into funding for clinics that provide prenatal care without any education on options for abortion.
Another area to watch, says Martin, is the ongoing discussion around license plate readers which she says pro-choice advocates oppose. “Because of the ongoing prosecution of people taking someone across state lines to help them receive an abortion. This is something we continually fight based upon that.”
Martin says she is shocked by what happened to Korman and angry at what she perceives to be a double standard. “I’ve had people ask me what I thought about what happened and what’s going on in Gaza. You know I think what’s going on in Gaza is terrible. But I also think what Hamas did on October 7th was terrible. There is no winner in this. Everyone is losing.”