JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
When it comes to abortion, the Jewish legal source material is relatively thin. But what does it say, and how has it formed Jewish opinions on the topic? These questions gained new urgency after a Supreme Court draft opinion was leaked late Monday: it lays out an argument to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973…
(Kveller via JTA) — About a year ago, I decided to be completely honest on Facebook and found out the true connective power of social networks: I told my friends that my youngest child would die from a rare genetic disease. Before revealing her illness, I used Facebook like many others. I was “on brand”…
Not long ago, having a baby was a fairly straightforward venture. When a couple decided to have a child, they’d ditch the birth control pills and dim the lights. But with no plastic wand with twin purple lines to offer instant at-home confirmation, there was no easy way to gauge success. The first home pregnancy…
They thought he might just need glasses. Lorelei Sandoval and her husband had noticed that their four-month-old son, Isaac, had a small wiggle in his eye, so they brought him in to the pediatrician. It wasn’t until the doctor wouldn’t stop asking them questions — including if they were of Jewish descent — that Sandoval…
Every morning, while her college roommate is still asleep, Hayley Snider gets up and puts on a vest that vibrates and inflates to clear out the thick mucus in her lungs. Later, after evening marching band practice, the 19-year-old student forgoes hanging out with friends to return to her dorm at the University of Houston…
Sitting next to her husband in their Palm City, Florida, living room, Oralea Marquardt describes the last few moments of her 8-year-old son William’s life. Displayed prominently behind the Marquardts are photographs of William, who died in February from GM1 — a genetic disorder that causes a progressive loss of cognitive and motor functions. “He…
Scanning her inbox last fall, Becky Benson happened upon an unusual request from a pregnant friend, Emily Rapp: Would she mind if Rapp gave the baby a middle name to honor Benson’s younger daughter, Elliott? If the proposition sounded weird to her, the email went on, she should just feel free to forget it. “I…
For three days in April, about 70 families whose lives have been upended by Tay-Sachs disease gathered in San Diego for the annual National Tay-Sachs and Allied Diseases conference. The event — which attracted families caring for children with Tay-Sachs, as well as those who have lost loved ones to the degenerative disease that claims…
