Womens’ health was the No. 1 priority at the Hillel meeting Wednesday night.

The Hillel… Womens’ health was the No. 1 priority at the Hillel meeting Wednesday night.

The Hillel Sisterhood and the American Civil Liberties Union of Pittsburgh co-sponsored the event “Of Mind and Body: Sexual Wellness” as part of a monthly discussion group held by the Sisterhood.

Complete with fondue, comfortable couches and a pool table, Hillel Jewish University Center on Forbes Avenue provided a casual atmosphere for women to ask questions and discuss topics like abortion, abortion legislation and anything else on their minds.

Senior Shoshana Rosen, an intern at the Greater Pittsburgh’s ACLU chapter, coordinated Wednesday’s event with Hillel Sisterhood’s co-chair Jennifer Kurtzman, who plans the monthly talks. Rosen, who has been active in Hillel for four years, also worked with Brenda Lee Green, vice president for Education of Planned Parenthood and member of the ACLU’s Reproductive Rights Committee.

Green kicked off the event with what she called a “facilitated discussion” on issues regarding reproductive rights, sexual health issues and legislation regarding abortion.

“We’re not talking strictly about abortion but how we battle abortion and how it’s trickled down into other issues regarding women’s health,” she said. “It relates to everything from stem-cell research, access to medication, family planning, access to health care and a number of issues.”

Green stressed that separation of church and state is necessary in these issues because abortion, among other things, is a women’s health issue, not a religious one.

One example Green used of how the government can get in the way of issues that can harm women’s health was the recent controversy over the new vaccination Gardasil, which prevents the Human Papilloma Virus. HPV causes 90 percent of genital warts as well as cervical cancer.

“That’s why the FDA recommended it for over-the-counter 10 years ago, but then the government got involved,” Green explained. “This drug is a huge step forward in reducing one of the most common sexually transmitted infections in the country, and it’s huge in the prevention of cervical cancer.

“But there were people in Congress who really fought the FDA on the drug trials because the big thing was, if you have this vaccine then if people know they don’t have the threat of HPV, then they’ll just have sex.

“That was a major issue when penicillin came out because it could be used to treat diseases like gonorrhea, and the government didn’t want to appear to encourage sex,” Green said.

Green informed the group that Planned Parenthood has already decided that part of their mission is to provide this vaccination to women who can’t afford it. This is the kind of work she deals with everyday.

She also stressed how important it is for governments to fund programs to educate children about sex and provide affordable birth control.

“If we don’t want abortions, why don’t we do more research into coming up with reliable birth control?” she asked. “Most women who have abortions were on some sort of birth control that failed or was used incorrectly,” she said.

Sophomore Rebecca Lehner said she’s come to a lot of these events and felt Wednesday’s was very informative.

“I think a lot of people when they come to events like these, they’re curious about how Judaism feels about abortion, how Judaism feels about birth control,” Lehner explained.

“We’re always very open-minded on these topics. Judaism is very pro-choice and pro-women’s rights, so I think it’s very nice when a lot of people come to these things to just know that the different positions that Jews hold on issues like this.”

Due to the responses of students like Lehner, the Sisterhood will continue to host events such as this next year one Sunday every month.