Legislator links Holocaust and abortion 

I am disgusted by Missouri Rep. Mike Moon’s attempt to use the Holocaust as a prop in his crusade against reproductive rights. The Kansas City Star quoted Moon as saying: “The silence of those who want to protect the unborn is similar to the silence of Germans who stood by and allowed Jewish people to be slaughtered by the Nazis.”

As an American, my reproductive choices are mine by law; as a Jewish woman, they are mine by God. Moon is not that God, nor has he been targeted for genocide, nor will he ever have to deal with an unexpected or life-threatening pregnancy. It is absolutely outrageous of him to twist my people’s trauma and oppression to justify banning abortion and common forms of contraception.

If Moon is so interested in ethics and the Jewish people, he might have done his research and discovered that Judaism overall supports the right to abortion: in fact, Jewish law actually requires abortion when the life of the woman is in danger.

The fact that Moon chose to use the Jewish people as an example to support a law that goes against our beliefs shows that he doesn’t care about Holocaust victims or Jews, unless he can use us as rhetorical props for his political agenda.

I refuse to allow him to use my own family history against me or against Missouri women. If he has any sense of decency, Moon will withdraw the bill and issue an apology immediately.

Hana Hartman

St. Louis

 

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I recently became aware of Missouri Rep. Mike Moon’s use of his official Facebook page and a press release to draw a comparison between the Holocaust and abortion. My grandparents were Holocaust survivors. My great-grandparents were murdered at Auschwitz. Moon has no idea what he is talking about.

Obviously, for those of us who support reproductive justice, to even entertain such a farcical comparison is wildly offensive beyond belief. For Moon, a man who likely has never faced much in terms of oppression, the co-opting of Jewish tragedy, a tragedy that is still very fresh for survivors and their descendants alike, is beyond all sense of decorum. The fact that he finds an unquestioning equivalence between living people systematically murdered for their religious identity and an embryo or fetus speaks volumes to his character.

Even before the Internet codified Godwin’s Law (the longer a discussion gets, the more likely someone will be compared to Hitler), the anti-choice movement has been using this offensive rhetoric. This is precisely the reason that for the majority of people in this country, anti-choice extremists like Moon are considered to be among the fringe who utilize hurtful rhetoric and ridiculous hyperbole for their own agendas.

Jennifer Bernstein

Creve Coeur

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Reactions to cartoon apology

Thank you both for your professionalism and grace in dealing with the significant controversy over your publication of the offensive cartoon a few weeks ago.

The Jewish Light has both a strong journalistic and community mission. Your transparency both about how your decision was made and then, after thoughtful deliberation, your publication of an apology in response to the outcry, sets a high bar for integrity and humility in the service of your mission. 

If some now castigate you for having been too slow and others object that you apologized at all, you know you have done it just right. 

Thank you for your responsiveness to the community outcry. And more importantly for the work you and your staff does every day to promote thoughtful and sensitive coverage of issues that are so close to the hearts of so many of us. 

Andrew Rehfeld

President and CEO, 

Jewish Federation of St. Louis

 

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Regarding “A note of apology to our readers” (May 4) in which Jewish Light Publisher/CEO Larry Levin and Editor Ellen Futterman apologized for publishing the controversial cartoon in the April 13 issue, may I state my utter contempt for their decision.

To give in to those who opposed the publication of the cartoon makes my blood boil. I can’t begin to express my complete shock that the Jewish Light would surrender its valued principles to a plethora of critics who voiced their anger and dismay. 

Until now, the Light has always supported and advocated for free speech and freedom of the press, as part of the precious First Amendment. To censor free speech, no matter how controversial, is reprehensible. We’re not living in Russia, China, North Korea or Iran—totalitarian regimes where freedom and liberty are only fantasies.

I suggest the Light heed the words of biographer Evelyn Beatrice Hall, who summarized the position of 18th century French philosopher Voltaire on the issue: “I’ll not always defend what you say, but I’ll  defend to the death your right to say it.”

Unlike the Jewish Light, Voltaire was brave and courageous.

Gene Carton

Olivette

 

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On March 24, an Israeli soldier killed a Palestinian as he lay wounded  [after he and another attacker stabbed Israeli soldiers on the streets of Hebron]. This created an uproar from some Jewish Light readers. They were incensed that the Light published a cartoon that dared compare this atrocity to an atrocity committed many years ago in Vietnam. The Light (eventually) responded to the pressure by issuing an apology. 

The irony is that the cartoon deserves to be criticized, but not for the reasons suggested by readers in their letters. The cartoon misleadingly refers to the killing as “‘Street justice’ that undermined the rule of law and damaged democratic principals, and gave the other side a propaganda tool.” This was not street justice, it was carried out by a uniformed soldier. 

With or without one killing more, the situation in Hebron mocks the very concept of rule of law and democratic principles—novelist Michael Chabon recently called it “the most grievous injustice I have ever seen in my life.” The people suffering under Israeli occupation don’t need to cynically look for propaganda tools. 

Michael Berg

St. Louis