A post-Roe crisis: Fetal personhood laws threaten Jewish religious freedom
For years, Jewish organizations have fought for abortion access as a matter of religious freedom.
Jewish law is clear: Life begins at first breath, not fertilization. Until that moment, a pregnancy is considered an extension of the pregnant person, and their health takes precedence over potential life.
But even as the White House distances itself from campaign pledges to expand access to in vitro fertilization care, according to news reports, the wave of fetal personhood laws sweeping the country reveals a more fundamental crisis: an assault on religious liberty that extends far beyond abortion — threatening the very foundation of Jewish fertility care.
When Alabama’s Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are children under the state’s fetal personhood laws early last year, the theoretical became frighteningly real.
Fertility clinics immediately shut down. Patients mid-IVF cycle had treatment halted. At the Jewish Fertility Foundation, we scrambled to relocate Alabama patients to Atlanta so they could complete cycles without starting over.
Two of these patients recently delivered their miracle babies, but the chaos exposed how fetal personhood laws don’t just restrict abortion; they criminalize routine Jewish health care decisions.
Rulings on IVF and then Dobbs created panic and confusion
In July, a Kentucky appeals court allowed a Jewish woman to challenge the state’s abortion ban, specifically citing concerns over her nine frozen embryos under state law. Her case argues that personhood laws violate Jewish religious freedom — a groundbreaking legal recognition that these restrictions conflict with fundamental Jewish beliefs about when life begins.
The overturn of Roe v. Wade — a 50-year-old Supreme Court ruling that protected abortion rights — blurred critical lines between abortion care and fertility treatment in ways many Americans don’t realize.
During IVF, multiple embryos are typically created, tested and stored — with many ultimately unused or discarded. Under Jewish law, these are medical decisions consistent with our religious teachings.
But when states define embryos as persons from fertilization and criminalize these standard practices, they’re effectively criminalizing Jewish religious practice in reproductive health care.
While IVF remains technically legal nationwide, state-by-state authority means families now face a patchwork of laws that may or may not respect their religious beliefs. Patients and providers navigate an increasingly dangerous landscape where expressing their religious beliefs could result in criminal prosecution.
Organizations like ours have witnessed this crisis firsthand.
After the Dobbs v. Jackson ruling that overturned Roe, the Jewish Fertility Foundation and organizations supporting reproductive choice were flooded with panicked calls from families across religious affiliations asking whether their embryo storage decisions aligned with new state laws, whether their scheduled abortion or fertilization procedures would still happen and whether getting care consistent with their religious beliefs might end in criminal charges.
At JFF, we moved quickly after Alabama’s ruling: coordinating with fertility clinics and reproductive attorneys, funding patient treatment in other states through emergency grants, hosting educational sessions for thousands and creating guidance for transporting embryos to states that respect religious freedom in reproductive decisions.
Patients must spend money to travel for reproductive care
The Red Tent Fund, founded in 2024 as a national abortion fund rooted in Jewish values, has seen fetal personhood laws creating the same barriers to seeking care caused by state abortion bans. In fact, new Guttmacher Institute data shows patients now must travel out of state for abortion care at roughly double pre-Dobbs rates.
In May, our funding recipients traveled an average of 250 miles to reach appointments, often arriving unable to afford procedures after exhausting funds on travel. Over the past 10 months, the average Red Tent Fund patient grant was $384, and the smallest grant given was $20.
It bears repeating. Just $20 stood between a pregnant person and their ability to make a choice over their own health care.
In 2025, Red Tent will fund over $500,000 in abortion procedures. But even with funding in hand, abortion seekers still must confront the reality that the care they are seeking might be considered criminal, even if it is consistent with their religious beliefs.
We’re fighting this religious freedom crisis with education and action.
JFF’s “Post-Roe World” series breaks down state-by-state guidance for protecting religious liberty in reproductive decisions. We’re amplifying stories of Jewish families navigating this landscape and normalizing conversations about how our religious beliefs guide these deeply personal choices.
But we need broader recognition that fetal personhood laws and abortion bans don’t just restrict health care — they impose a restriction that violates Jewish freedom to exercise our religious beliefs. When states criminalize decisions guided by Jewish law, they’re establishing a religious test that undermines the First Amendment.
To anyone feeling overwhelmed navigating this precarious reproductive health landscape: You’re not alone.
This is about more than health care access — it’s about preserving religious freedom, a value we hold dear in this country.
Share your story about how your faith guides your reproductive decisions. Support organizations defending religious liberty and reproductive health access on the front lines. Most importantly, demand that lawmakers respect the separation of church and state.
Our religious freedom depends on it.
Elana Frank is CEO and founder of the Jewish Fertility Foundation. Allison Tombros Korman is founder & executive director of The Red Tent Fund, a national abortion fund rooted in Jewish values.
