by Jill Finkelstein

Link Roundup: A Fight for Reproductive Rights

Welcome to this week’s installment of Lilith’s Link Roundup. Each week we post Jewish and feminist highlights from around the web. If there’s anything you want to be sure we know about, email us or leave a message in the comments section below.

This week, Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) announced its plans to sign onto Advancing Women Professionals and the Jewish Community’s (AWP) Better Work, Better Life Campaign and adopting the campaign’s family-friendly policies. Policies promoted by the campaign include a longer paid maternity/paternity leave for new parents, flexible work -hours, and the ability to work from home if needed. [The Forward]

On Tuesday, the U.S. House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution held a hearing on “H.R. 3, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act.” During the hearing, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) argued that the H.R. 3 provisions could hurt the tax-exempt status of religious groups. [Huffington Post]

One of the provisions for H.R. 3 includes denying government funding to any organization providing abortion services. Slate pointed out that cutting funding from Planned Parenthood would actually end up costing taxpayers more since the organization’s family planning efforts currently save Medicaid $4.02 for every $1 received from the federal government. [Double X]

In other political news, as part of his repeal attempts, U.S. Speaker of the House John Boehner plans to reintroduce the “global gag” rule, also known as the Mexico City Policy.  This policy “prevents US overseas assistance from going to [organizations] that provide information on abortion, perform abortions or direct women to abortion providers.” [Guardian UK]

Yesterday, the IRS revealed that it would be giving tax breaks to breastfeeding mothers to help pay for the cost of pumps and other nursing supplies. [Ms. Magazine]

Throughout history, men have largely dominated the technology field. However, the American Association of University Women (AAUW) recently released the results of three studies that revealed the reason behind this problem and offered solutions to increase the female presence in the field. [Huffington Post]

Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion recently announced that it would be renaming its School of Sacred Music in memory of Debbie Friedman. Debbie had served as a faculty member since 2007. [eJewishPhilanthropy]