My name is Peter Miesler

Introduce Yourself
22

Here’s an update, lots happening but the most important one is my attempt at postcard activism.

I believe there are too many misinformed individuals out there, and that Democrats need to work harder at gaining and sharing basic solid information and arguments.

It would help enable the choir to become more persuasive in our regular interactions and discussion with people, friends, & family. After all, if we aren’t changing minds, we are losing.

I believe that the better we can verbalize the issues, the easier it is to engage and stand up for justice. The better our chances to help evolve people’s thinking on issues that matter.

I’ve taken that challenge personally and produced this “In Defense of Women” summary concise enough to fit onto a postcard. No envelope for better visibility and hopefully to encourage sharing.

My dream is that someday our society can learn to acknowledge that it’s the mother who, above all others, possesses the situational awareness, along with the moral, ethical, and legal standing to decide the future of the growing life within herself.

Thank you,

In Defense of Women

Birth & death are part and parcel of our human condition. They can’t be moralized out of existence. A pregnancy is never a guarantee. This isn’t about the fate of the embryo. This is about who has the most “situationally” awareness and who has the most realistic ethical moral ‘Standing’ to make that fateful decision.

An embryo certainly is human, but it’s a potentiality, a person in the making, the fetus doesn’t take on the mantle of personhood until those first breaths of life-giving air start infusing its lungs, arteries and tissues with oxygen.

In a free society, legally speaking, shouldn’t a woman deserve the Right to Her Own Self-Defense - along with Sovereignty Over Her Own Body?

Why wouldn’t a just society clearly acknowledge: “A woman’s life is more precious to her existing family, and to society, than an unborn potentiality.”?

Life can force impossible situations upon people, who are we to judge them? Why not some compassion for the most difficult decision in a person’s life.

It is significant that abortion is as old as civilization, even Jewish scripture presents the Abrahamic God’s perspective on the crisis in a forgiving humane manner.

Entrust the woman with the responsibility of making their own best informed choices about their own pregnancies.

23

For example,

Do Abortion Bans Violate Jews’ Religious Rights?

Lisa Fishbayn Joffe - June 16, 2022 (1200 words of lucid persuasion)

Lisa Fishbayn Joffe is the director of the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute and director of the Project on Gender, Culture, Religion and the Law which explores the tension between women’s equality claims and religious laws. Her research focuses on gender and multiculturalism in family law and on the intersection between secular and religious law. She is a co-founder of the Boston Agunah Task Force, devoted to research, education and advocacy for women under Jewish family law.

“… there is widespread agreement among scholars and rabbinical authorities that a complete prohibition on abortion is inconsistent with Jewish law and tradition. Under Jewish law, an abortion to save the life of the mother is permitted.

“For this reason, Lisa Fishbayn Joffe, the Shulamit Reinharz Director of the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute, argues that extreme anti-abortion laws risk infringing on Jews’ religious freedoms. Earlier this week, a Florida synagogue made this argument in a suit filed in a state court against Florida’s law banning abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. …”

“Are Jews across denominations arguing that anti-abortion laws infringe on their religious freedoms?

“Yes. It’s an argument being put forth by advocates like the National Council of Jewish Women. It holds that since Jewish law supports reproductive rights, abortion restrictions violate Jewish people’s right to make choices about their lives in accordance with Jewish law. This position has many strengths. …”