Antiabortion groups in California have accused the Jewish community of leading a pro-abortion fight in the state Legislature, with an unaffiliated Jew acting as a leading spokesman for that charge, according to a report scheduled for publication this week in the San Francisco Jewish Bulletin. The Jewish State Assembly floor leader, Howard Berman, called the charges "revolting and disgusting," and "racist."
The Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) of San Francisco received three mailgrams and a number of telephone calls within a few days from three anti-abortion groups: Mobilization for the Unnamed, Crusade for Life, and the Pro-Life Medical Association of California, Phil Bronstein, Bulletin assistant editor, reported.
Anti-abortion spokesmen threatened, in the telephone calls, to picket Jewish organizations if the "Jewish community" did not "change its position on abortion," Bronstein wrote. The mailgrams changed that "political support for abortion funding" by the state come "mainly from various Jewish organizations" and that "political pressure" was applied by "the Jewish community" on legislators to include abortion funding in the state budget. The mailgrams also cited "Gentile support for Jewish issues," mentioning Israel specifically and asked for a Jewish return of that "favor."
Some legislators had proposed inclusion of funds for abortions in the state budget, but after a lengthy and bitter debate the Legislature eliminated funds for abortion from the budget with a few exceptions, the Bulletin reported. These included state-funded abortion for rape victims and cases where the mother’s life would be endangered by her pregnancy.
The Jewish anti-abortion spokesman, one of those calling the JCRC here, is Tom Mitzner of Torrance, Calif., who is connected with the California Pro-Life Council, an umbrella agency for some 26 anti-abortion groups.
WARNING ON PRO-ABORTION LEGISLATION
Mitzner reportedly told the JCRC that "everyone," Jews and non-Jews, "knows Jews are behind the pro-abortion drive" in Sacramento, the state capital, and that Assembly Speaker Leo McCarthy and Gov. Jerry Brown, who both favored liberalized abortion funding, "are supported by Jewish money." He reportedly said "the Jewish community" should "call off" pro-abortion legislation or Jewish hospitals and organizations would be picketed and Jews would be accused of "genocide."
Earl Raab, JCRC executive director, told the Bulletin that the JCRC had no position on abortion, does not advocate a position and does not discuss the issue with legislators.
Mitzner, an aerospace scientist in southern California, is a special adviser to Raoul Silva, president of the Pro-Life Council. Mitzner, contacted by the Bulletin, said seven Jewish groups–including the American Jewish Congress, the National Council of Jewish Women and the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC)–belong to the National Coalition for Abortion Rights.
But, according to the Bulletin, these groups do not favor unrestricted abortion but suggested that decisions on abortion should be left to the woman, her doctor and her rabbi, if she is Jewish. Mitzner said the Pro-Life Council position is that abortion should be illegal except where the life of the mother is directly threatened.
WIDE DIFFERENCES OF OPINION
The Bulletin said that there are wide divergences of opinion on the issue among Jewish groups, but Mitzner told the Bulletin that "beyond those public positions" of the Jewish agencies, "we have the abortion policies of Jewish hospitals like Mount Zion."
A Mount Zion spokesperson replied that the hospital "has no position on abortion. We perform them on demand with medical considerations being the only criterion, which is in compliance with all laws," a reference to a 1975 Supreme Court ruling liberalizing abortion requirements.
Berman, a Democrat, who led the fight for liberalized abortion funding in the legislature, and who called Mitzner’s charges "revolting and disgusting," said his action and that of other legislators who shared his views "had nothing to do with the Jewish community. I don’t even know what their position is."
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