National Council of Jewish Women Announces Fall 2025 Section Grantees from Jewish Fund for Abortion Access

Eight NCJW sections across the country to receive grants to mobilize Jewish communities in the fight for reproductive freedom

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, November 20, 2025
PRESS CONTACT: press@ncjw.org

WASHINGTON, DC — National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) today announced the latest round of their flagship Jewish Fund for Abortion Access grants, aimed at supporting organizations mobilizing Jewish communities to protect and expand access to reproductive health care. Eight local NCJW sections, representing communities across the United States, will receive grants to support their critical work ensuring that everyone, everywhere, at every income level, can access the reproductive health care they need.

Since its launch in 2022, the Jewish Fund for Abortion Access has raised more than $1.5 million and, to date, has provided grants to more than 25 partners across the country. The Jewish Fund has supported partners in providing care to over 20,000 people, funded travel costs for more than 10,000 patients seeking abortion care, and mobilized 3.5 million advocates fighting for reproductive freedom.

“As attacks on abortion and reproductive health care continue to escalate across the country, it is critical that the Jewish community shows up powerfully in every state to defend, protect, and expand access to reproductive health care,” said Shira Zemel, NCJW abortion access campaign director. “These grants empower our local Jewish advocates to fight for change where they live — through community education efforts, advocacy campaigns in statehouses, and ballot measure campaigns to protect and expand reproductive freedom. Our grassroots advocates are the backbone of this movement, and we are proud to invest in their essential work.”

The Jewish Fund for Abortion Access was created by NCJW in May 2022 as a uniquely Jewish, community-driven response to the growing threats to abortion access and the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. Inspired by the wisdom of the Jewish sage Hillel — who taught “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?” (Pirkei Avot 1:14) — the Jewish Fund empowers local Jewish communities to drive change in their states and ensures the Jewish community remains a powerful force for reproductive freedom. 

The eight NCJW section grantees for fall 2025 represent a diverse cross-section of Jewish feminist advocates, united in their unwavering commitment to ensuring reproductive freedom in their communities and grounded in the Jewish values that teach us abortion access is health care and a matter of religious freedom.

“The Jewish community has always been at the forefront of the fight for civil rights and social justice — and advocating for reproductive freedom is a core part of doing exactly that,” said Laura Monn Ginsburg, NCJW board chair and president. “Through the Jewish Fund for Abortion Access, we are building a powerful network of Jewish advocates and partner organizations across the country who fiercely advocate for reproductive freedom, ensure access to care, and uphold dignity and bodily autonomy for all. These grants are an investment in grassroots power and a future where everyone can control their own bodies, lives, and futures.”

This round of grantees includes:

• NCJW St. Louis will support their recently launched PATH (Protect Abortion and Truth in Healthcare) Coalition, which is leading a coordinated, community-driven effort to defeat Amendment 3 — a measure that puts the legal right to abortion in Missouri at risk. This new grant builds on NCJW St. Louis’s previous Jewish Fund support, which helped secure the successful 2024 ballot initiative restoring the legal right to abortion in Missouri. With opponents now mobilizing to reverse that victory, the PATH Coalition is organizing the community to ensure Missourians don’t lose the rights they just regained.
• NCJW Pittsburgh will support their Tikkun Yachad (Repairing Together) program, which is laying the foundation for deeper community engagement for Reproductive Justice. The grant will also support NCJW Pittsburgh’s leadership in a Crisis Pregnancy Center (CPC) coalition, working in deep partnership to educate the public about the dangers of CPCs and to offer trusted, compassionate alternatives for care.
• NCJW Virginia Action Team will support the launch of a new Virginia Reproductive Freedom Interfaith Coalition to engage clergy and lay leaders in advocating for and protecting reproductive health care access in Virginia. The funds will also support NCJW’s participation in the Virginians for Reproductive Freedom coalition, specifically supporting the statewide campaign for a constitutional amendment to protect reproductive freedom in Virginia.
• NCJW Minnesota will help develop a cohort of skilled volunteers committed to protecting abortion access and reproductive health care in Minnesota, in partnership with coalition partners Jewish Community Action Minnesota and Unrestrict Minnesota. Through education and training, they will build a cadre of informed and confident advocates equipped to protect and advance reproductive freedom in the state.
• NCJW Louisville will launch their new teen Jewish and interfaith education program focused on medically accurate information about contraception, pregnancy, and abortion and the landscape for accessing reproductive health care in Kentucky.
• NCJW Colorado will support their annual Havdalah and Hora for Repro Shabbat program and an IVF Happy Hour event in partnership with the Jewish Fertility Foundation. The Havdalah and Hora for Repro Shabbat is an annual gathering that brings together the local Jewish community around reproductive freedom. The IVF event will explore the challenges surrounding fertility care access today.
• NCJW San Antonio will support community education and service around Texas’ restrictive abortion laws. The section will engage the community through Repro Shabbat programming and year-round efforts to educate advocates about the landscape of accessing care and will distribute Plan B as part of their outreach.
• NCJW Essex and NCJW Bergen County will support their campaign in collaboration with New Jersey Family Planning League to educate New Jerseyans about family planning services including abortion care in the state.

“The Jewish Fund for Abortion Access has been instrumental for our work here in St. Louis,” said Ellen Alper, CEO of NCJW-St. Louis section. “Last year’s grant helped fuel the historic win that restored the right to abortion in Missouri, and this new investment strengthens our ability to protect that hard-won progress. The Jewish Fund’s continued support allows us to stay in the fight and prove that when the Jewish community shows up powerfully, we can defend our values and our freedoms.”

With more than half of states having banned or severely restricted abortion care, and 200 Planned Parenthood health centers across 24 states facing potential closure, the work of the Jewish Fund for Abortion Access is more urgent than ever. NCJW remains committed to meeting this moment with care, compassion, and action — affirming that abortion access is a Jewish value and that no one’s faith should be used to deny another’s freedom.

To learn more about the Jewish Fund for Abortion Access or to make a donation, visit www.jewsforabortionaccess.org/the-fund.

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National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) is a 133-year-old Jewish feminist civil rights organization working for equity and justice for women, children, and families in the United States and Israel. Through the efforts of our 250,000 grassroots advocates and 46 local sections, NCJW combines education, direct service, and advocacy to effect lasting social change at the local, state, and national levels. We approach our work through the intersections of gender, economic, and racial justice to center those most impacted in a uniquely Jewish way. Learn more at NCJW.org and on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.