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Sarah’s Jewish Abortion

12 years ago
3 Comments
by ck
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I’m not much of a Mommy Blog reader but Sarah Emily Tuttle kind of transcends the genre, know what I mean? She’s articulate, interesting, edgy and honest and much of that was in great evidence in her recent post for the Kveller titled My Jewish Abortion. Picture a knocked up, pretty much broke, 19 year old Sarah, a freshman at UC Berkeley. She does what anyone in her position would do, and talks to a counselor at Health Services. She’s just been told that the procedure will cost $250:

“Hypothetically speaking, what if someone doesn’t have enough money?” I asked.

The social worker looked at me, her eyes alighting on the silver Jewish star necklace I was wearing.

“Are you Jewish?”

I nodded. My face flushed, and I looked down at my shaking hands. I taught Hebrew school at my synagogue. I received the Rabbi’s Scholarship for Outstanding Work in the Jewish Community. I kept kosher. And I was 19 and pregnant.

“Ok that’s good, because there is a philanthropic Jewish women’s group that offers a scholarship of $250 to help cover costs. Would you be interested in that sort of thing?”

I wondered if I would have to write an essay or give them my SAT scores or show them my Bat Mitzvah certificate.

“How would I qualify?”

“By being pregnant, and by not wanting to be pregnant. And by being Jewish,” she replied. “Look, I’ll contact the president of the organization, and I can have a check made out to you by the end of the week. Sound good?”

It sounded great. And not because I had found a way to finance my abortion. But because for the first time since I found out I was pregnant, I realized that I wasn’t the first–nor would I be the last–knocked up Nice Jewish Girl.

Read the full post over at the Kveller. You can read more of Sarah’s messy, complicated, funny and inspiring writing over at her personal blog at The Crazy Baby Mamma.

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ck

Founder and Publisher of Jewlicious, David Abitbol lives in Jerusalem with his wife, newborn daughter and toddler son. Blogging as "ck" he's been blocked on twitter by the right and the left, so he's doing something right.

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3 Comments

  • I’m very touched you posted this. I sent an email to the organization, and pending their approval, I will tell you who they are should you want to send a donation…

  • Buggin Dovid: Great handle. My guess, not that anyone asked, is that it is Hadassah. I can’t imagine who else it would be.

    Thanks for pointing out this really touching piece of writing. I would never have otherwise read it because I’m not quite in the target demographic for Kveller, even though I love Mayim Bialik. Make sure to read some of the eye opening comments!

  • Did Ms. Tuttle mention what “philanthropic Jewish women’s group” offered her the scholarship? I’m guessing it’s Hadassah but who knows. Maybe Larry knows?