Intern Lobby Day: Advocating for the Right to Contraception Act

NCJW’s Spring 2025 Government Relations & Advocacy Interns, Hailey Fried and Ilyssa Lapp, spent April 16th and 17th urging their Members of Congress to support and help pass the Right to Contraception Act (HR 999/S 422). With reproductive freedom under relentless attack, it is more important than ever to protect the right of each individual to access the contraceptive care they need to exercise bodily autonomy. Hailey met with staff from Senator Angela Alsobrook’s office, Senator Chris Van Hollen’s office, and Representative Johnny Olszewski’s office. Ilyssa met with staff from the offices of Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Senator Chuck Schumer, and Representative Mike Lawler. 

Reproductive freedom is a Jewish value. Judaism teaches that we should all be able to make our own moral decisions about our body, health, and family – and access to contraception is a fundamental component of reproductive freedom and health care. In the wake of the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, reproductive health care has faced unprecedented threats across the country. While much attention has focused on abortion access, other essential health services, including contraception, are also endangered. Contraception is highly effective and widely used, yet lawmakers at the federal and state levels seek to erode its accessibility and coverage. 

When Hailey and Ilyssa advocated for the Right to Contraception Act, they made it clear that access to contraception must be enshrined in federal law. Hailey shared how her belief in reproductive freedom is deeply tied to her belief in religious freedom and spoke about her grandmother’s influence on her advocacy for women’s rights. Ilyssa emphasized the Right to Contraception Act’s ability to protect providers from politically motivated consequences, drawing from her experiences as an activist for reproductive health, rights, and justice, carrying the perspectives of the Jewish women in her life into each of her lobby meetings.