Interview Judy Deutsch – Advocate for Justice
Many Sandoval County Democrats know Corrales resident Judy Deutsch from DPSC events and candidate fundraisers. Some of us were privileged to hear her compelling testimony at the county commission and library board meetings where book banning requests were on the table. In this article, we share some of Judy’s background and some of her guidance for Democrats.
Judy was born into a secular Jewish family in Jamaica, New York, in 1929, and at age 18,began her 70 year marriage to Marshall Deutsch. Judy earned a BA in history and political science in 1950, and later earned two Master’s degrees—the first in political science and philosophy, the second in religion and society. She has three adult children and one adult grandchild.
Marshall and she founded the Morristown (NJ) Unitarian Fellowship which had 50 members at its inception and 200 at its 60th anniversary celebration, where they were both honored. She was fellowshipped and ordained as a Unitarian Universalist minister in 1980, served Unitarian Universalist churches in Connecticut and Massachusetts, and retired as minister emerita in 2000.
She has long been an activist for social justice including single payer health care, housing, and voting rights. She ran for the Massachusetts House in 2000 in a district that had never elected a Democrat. She lost but made a good showing. We were very pleased to be invited into her lovely, sunny home for tea and conversation.
What do you think of America’s enchantment with a celebrity presidential candidate who wants to be a dictator on day one?
It scares me. Trump talks like the Hitler I heard in newsreels at the movies when I was a child. I addressed this in my most recent sermon, “Saving Our Democracy.” When a candidate says, “immigrants poison our blood,” we need to remember that except for Native Americans and people brought here in chains, we are all immigrants. When someone says that some people are “vermin,” we need to remember how that has been used before. To save our democracy, we must be aware of history, and reject lies.
Beyond that, we need to elect candidates who believe in and will work for democracy, we need to make sure all citizens who are of voting age are allowed to vote, and we need to keep a free press. We also need to work at the polls, urge and help people to register to vote and to vote, canvass for candidates we believe in, and contribute money to them.
Is President Biden’s age an important issue for you?
No. Joe Biden has a wonderful mind. He reads, exercises, and understands many different things. He’s curious about the world and meets with many different kinds of people. Of course, like everybody else, he makes mistakes, and he has stuttered since he was a child. But he is extremely clever. And he has done more for our country than any president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Most of those who oppose him base their opposition on lies that are repeated over and over again.
Do some political issues stand out to you more than others?
Yes. Since 1945, I have worked for single payer health care. I chaired the committee that wrote the last four Massachusetts single payer bills before I left that state in 2017, served as chair of the healthcare taskforce of the Unitarian Universalists for a Just Economic Community, and served on the NM Speakers Bureau for Single Payer Health Care. Medicare is being threatened now by Medicare Advantage plans that are privatized and often deny needed care and cost a great deal.
And in 1955 I spoke against book banning in NJ and did so three times in Rio Rancho in 2023.
The Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade seems horrible to me. The many gifts to Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito tell me that the Supreme Court is neither independent nor ethical. And they have taken away women’s rights. This was followed by Alabama’s high court deciding that embryos used for IVF are children, even as senators like Tommy Tuberville are not sure what IVF is.
Any messages from you to the far right?
No. I don’t believe they can hear me. But I do have a message to the young: Find and follow the news sources that speak the truth. Remember that it is Joe Biden who works to forgive student loans, create jobs, defend women’s health care, improve our infrastructure, help immigrants, and bring manufacturing back to the United States.
And as much as you decry what is happening to the people of Gaza and to the Palestinians in the West Bank, remember that the United States has been supporting the Israel government’s doing terrible things to Palestinians for decades, and that it is not easy and perhaps impossible for Biden to stop it, hard as he may try.