Since Abdul El-Sayed won the Democratic primary, I’ve witnessed righteous, emotionally charged debate within the Jewish community about whether we should support him in November. For this Jewish woman, the stakes for reproductive health are too high to not vote for a pro-choice candidate this election.

In 2020, my partner and I were trying to start a family and I became pregnant for the first time. In the beginning of the second trimester, I experienced a life-threatening hemorrhage. An ER doctor at Henry Ford Hospital performed an emergency abortion. I was able to recover, and eventually, to conceive again.

Had I lived in Arkansas or Alabama, where abortion is restricted, delayed – or even denied – intervention might have resulted in an emergency hysterectomy or, G-d forbid, worse. I encourage you to read the recent ProPublica reporting on miscarriage care in abortion ban states. The decisions I was able to make with my doctor at a moment of crisis saved my life, and my fertility. My partner and I are now blessed with two beautiful young children.

As a Jewish woman, I am guided by our religious tradition, which has a lot to say about abortion. It is clear in the Mishnah (Oholot 7.6) that existing life – the life of the mother – is to be valued more highly than potential life. My Jewish community supported our family through the heartbreak of the pregnancy loss. And finally, my Jewish heritage empowered me to take civic action.

In 2022, I was among thousands of Michiganders who collected signatures to protect a person’s right to make their own choices about reproductive health care. I want to uplift the work of the National Council of Jewish Women and Detroit Jews for Justice in that campaign. That post-Roe summer of action led to Michigan voters giving reproductive health care the strongest possible legal protection, enshrining it in the State Constitution. 

Now that protection is under extreme threat from MAGA loyalists like Mike Rogers, who has moved back from Florida at Donald Trump’s behest to run for Senate. Trump’s Attorney General, Todd Blanche, has vowed to use the tools of the Department of Justice to restrict abortion across the country, regardless of State’s and voters’ wishes. “Victory,” he said, “will be soon and it will be permanent.” If MAGA Trump loyalists like Mike Rogers gain power, a national abortion ban would supersede our state constitutional protections.

Already, federal funding cuts have closed three Planned Parenthood locations in Michigan. The State cannot absorb the cost of federal abandonment of those women’s health centers.

I am not a one-issue voter. But if I were, reproductive rights might be that issue. 

I know many in my Jewish community are worried about Dr. El-Sayed’s criticism of Israeli government policies. I understand. And I would remind you that one vote in the Senate will not fundamentally alter US policy towards Israel – but one vote could make all the difference in a vote on a national abortion ban. (And there are other good reasons to support Dr. El-Sayed: free and fair elections; humane immigration policies; healthcare; regulating AI; and fighting government corruption.)

In an effort to curry favor with moderate voters, Mike Rogers has begun to downplay his previous hard-line anti-choice health positions. Don’t be fooled. His record and his loyalty to Trump speak for themselves. If you collected signatures or voted to protect Reproductive Freedom in 2022, we need you to show up again in November. If you were inspired by the legacy of Gloria Steinem, z”l, we need you to vote pro-choice this election cycle, up and down the ballot.

In this election, I’m fighting for my life, my kiddos’ lives, and the lives of countless others who deserve to be able to make the right choices for themselves, in consultation with their doctors, without the interjections of Trump MAGA loyalists like Mike Rogers.

Jewish tradition states that to save a life is to save an entire universe. The right to an abortion saved my life.

Photos by Nick Hagan

Susannah Goodman is a mom, artist and community organizer in Detroit. She’s an active member of the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue, Congregation T’chiyah and the Jewish Women’s Foundation of Metro Detroit.