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JEWISH PRIDE
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Ben M. Freeman wants Jews to be galvanized by a sense of pride in their Jewish identity
Local woman starts calling service to help caregivers
1948
YEARS
2023
OCTOBER 6, 2023 | TISHREI 21, 5784 | VOLUME 76, NUMBER 1
Jewish organization Daniel Efron, Mesa cancer survivor, is part of effort goes to Washington to get abortion amendment ‘across A the finish line’ SHANNON LEVITT | STAFF WRITER
SHANNON LEVITT | STAFF WRITER
R
oughly a year after a Pima County Superior Court judge’s ruling lifted an injunction on a Civil Warera total abortion ban in Arizona, marking the state’s first big fallout from the U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade, the National Council of Jewish Women Arizona (NCJW AZ) hosted an event designed to rally its members for the long and expensive battle to “get abortion on the ballot.” Last September’s ruling came two days before Rosh Hashanah and inspired an interfaith clergy-led prayer circle, which included six local rabbis. Though the Arizona Court of Appeals issued a stay shortly afterward, allowing the law to revert to the 15-week abortion ban signed a few months earlier, the last year has left a muddled landscape regarding abortion rights in Arizona and a lot of uncertainty about what’s to come. Even with a Democrat in the governor’s office, passing new abortion legislation through the GOPled Legislature would be a heavy lift, requiring two Republican votes in each chamber to reach a majority. Recognizing the unlikelihood of that happening, Gov. Katie Hobbs, who campaigned on “restoring reproductive freedom,” suggested last spring that voters may ultimately need to figure it out for themselves with a ballot initiative. Arizona for Abortion Access, a coalition of abortionrights and justice organizations, including Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona, NARAL Arizona (Reproductive Freedom for All), Healthcare Rising
t only 41, Mesa’s Daniel Efron has already survived two separate instances of brain cancer. He shared his againstthe-odds story with members of the United States Congress, including Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, as part of the 17th annual American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) Leadership Summit and Lobby Day in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 19. In fact, Efron’s personal narrative was so compelling to organizers it stood out as Arizona’s “pillar story,” according to Alex Wiles, ACS CAN senior regional media advocacy manager. Efron, who called himself “a big-time Jew,” joined more than 700 cancer patients, survivors and their loved ones from across the country to meet lawmakers and urge them to pass adequate research funding and make quality health care more affordable. “Roughly one in three Americans will hear the words ‘you have cancer’ in their lifetime. We need a full and unwavering commitment from Congress to take action to help prevent, detect and treat cancer,” Efron said. “We want our lawmakers to know that volunteers from Arizona, and every state across the country, are counting on them to take a stand.” Those three words, “You have cancer,” are not just a bit of rhetorical flourish for Efron. He has heard them personally twice. Additionally, he lost both of his parents, an aunt and a grandmother to cancer. Efron grew up in Sleepy Hollow, New York, where he became a bar mitzvah. He loved growing up in a town where playing Ichabod Crane in his eighth-grade theatrical production of
Daniel Efron spoke with U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema at the 17th annual American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network Leadership Summit and Lobby Day in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 19. COURTESY OF DANIEL EFRON SEE SURVIVOR, PAGE 3
Vandalism at ASU In the pre-dawn hours of Wednesday, Sept. 27, ASU Police Department officers discovered pro-Nazi graffiti on the downtown campus. See page 8. COURTESY OF EFREN TREJO PANTALEON
SEE AMENDMENT, PAGE 2
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