Hadassah Lunch Group

The next Hadassah get together luncheon will be held will be on Wednesday May 20, at West End favorite Zorbas Greek/ Italian Restaurant 9068 W. Broad Street, Henrico. The lunch will be at noon. Be sure to RSVP, so we can let the restaurant know how many people to set up for!

The Hadassah Lunch is open to Hadassah members and friends, so, if you would like to invite a friend feel free to do so!  

Kindly RSVP Laurie Coulter at Lfcoulter@yahoo.com by May 17 to attend the Hadassah Luncheon.  

Hadassah Richmond Advocates

   As the General Assembly concluded the 2026 session in March, we want to say how much

we appreciate the involvement of you, Hadassah Richmond Advocates! involvement and time

investment you made in addressing the issues and bills that came forth during this session were invaluable.

Many of you attended Virginia Jewish Advocacy Day with Hadassah members from Richmond and a huge coalition of members from across the Commonwealth! 

Speaking with legislators then and throughout the year, we are able to share our position on

issues of Jewish community concern and especially women's reproductive health. Thanks for

your attendance and for our Hadassah leaders at Advocacy Day for sharing our message. And,

to the many of you who sent Action Alerts that we shared allowing you to speak your mind through

Hadassah. We are grateful! And we couldn’t have done it without Gail Moskowitz accessing

these Action Alerts from national Hadassah.

We saw the many passed bills in the House or Senate from the first half of the session be accepted for review and voting on with the opposite chamber. Most of these bills passed the

other chamber and are now on the way to the Governor for her signature. Previously bills (HJ1

and SJ1) the Constitutional Amendments for Reproductive Freedom already have been signed

by the Governor on their way to your vote November 3, 2026.

The bills we monitored and advocated for with the Action Alerts and messages sent to

legislators in committees on your behalf via Hadassah Richmond includes:

Women’s Health bills:

HJ1 & SJ1 - Constitutional amendment; fundamental right to reproductive freedom. BOTH BILLS

HAVE PASSED EACH CHAMBER AND HAVE BEEN SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR. THE VOTERS WILL

NOW VOTE ON THESE AMENDMENTS TO THE VIRGINIA CONSTITUTION ON NOVEMBER 3, 2026,

GENERAL ELECTION. Hadassah will embark on a Get Out the Vote (GOtV) effort- stay tuned!

The following bills have passed both chambers and await the Governor’s signature:

HB6 & SB596 - Contraception; establishes right to obtain, applicability, enforcement.

HB781 & SB449 - Constitutional amendment (voter referendum); fundamental right to

reproductive freedom (signed by the governor already!)

HB1182 & SB361 - Health insurance; coverage for contraceptive drugs and devices

SB258 & SB790 – Relating to treatment during menopause; Virginia Human Rights Act;

menopause or perimenopause; discrimination prohibit and (SB790) Health insurance;

mandated benefits; treatment of menopause and perimenopause

HB998 - Menstrual supplies ingredient labeling; restriction of substances; civil penalty.

Bills of concern to the Jewish community:

HB131 - Public institutions of higher education; reasonable accommodations for the religious

beliefs and practices of individual students (supported also by JCFR/JCRC)

SB341 - Private elementary and secondary schools; policies relating to bullying and

cyberbullying, etc.

HB459 - Crime victims right to nondisclosure of certain information; hate crimes

HB894 - Charlie's Law to Protect All Students; private elementary and secondary schools

HB614 - History and social science standards and instruction; historically marginalized

communities; passed with a substitution to provide for “ALL people” vs ‘marginalized

communities.

We plan to launch into a post General Assembly effort to inform our members and

others about the Constitutional Amendment for Reproductive Freedom. A meeting will

be held in the near future to share plans on our Get Out the VOTE (GOtV) plans for educating

people about this Constitutional Amendment. We hope that you will join us in this important

effort. Stay tuned for more information.

For more information or to get involved, contact Cheri Wolff (wolffies.cb@gmail.com) or Miriam Davidow (mrdavidow@gmail.com).