The (orthodox) Jewish view of abortion

[Mosby]

[THIS IS THE JEWISH GROUP]

Yeah, it's not so simple....

The question of abortion is perhaps one of the most sensitive and charged topics in the political sphere. As is often the case, Judaism’s view is quite nuanced and does not necessarily fit squarely into either side of the debate. We will try to present a basic overview of the Jewish approach to abortion by presenting the main sources on the subject, in both the Hebrew Bible as well as the Oral Torah.

The first reference to abortion is in Genesis, when Noah and his descendants are forbidden to murder: “One who sheds the blood of man through man shall his blood be shed, for in the image of G‑d He made man.”1

The sages of the Talmud point out that the phrase “one who sheds the blood of man through man” is more accurately translated as “one who sheds the blood of man within man.” Based on this Rabbi Ishmael learns that under ordinary circumstances the killing of a fetus is considered a capital offense for all descendants of Noah, i.e., humankind.2

Read in isolation, one could conclude that abortion is akin to murder. But things are not so simple. Here is what we read in Exodus:

Should men quarrel and hit a pregnant woman, and she miscarried but there is no fatality, he shall surely be punished when the woman’s husband makes demands of him, and he shall give [restitution] according to the judges’ [orders].3

Since the Torah obligates only a monetary compensation but no capital punishment, the Torah seemingly views the fetus as property, not as a human life.

There are various ways of reconciling these verses (see footnote4). All agree, however, that under ordinary circumstances abortion is prohibited.

https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/529077/jewish/Judaism-and-Abortion.htm

[70sEraVet]

2. Excellent link. Thanks much, Mosby!

[Mosby]

6. 👍

[JustAnotherGen]

3. Thank you

for posting this. Now I know.

[Mosby]

5. I think the key takeaway here

Is that Jewish law says that a woman's decisions about reproductive health is a private issue between her and her doctors and other significant people in her life.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

4. Jewish Leaders: Banning Abortion is 'Absolutely' a Violation of Religious Freedom

Under Jewish religious law, it is clear that life begins at birth and there is no prohibition in the Torah on abortion. According to my Rabbi, the life of a fetus is only potential life and the life of the mother is more important than the life of a fetus. Alito's proposed opinion elevates Christian beliefs over Judaism.

Link to tweet

https://jezebel.com/jewish-leaders-banning-abortion-is-absolutely-a-violat-1848885645

Conservatives—namely, white evangelical Christians—have long weaponized religious values as a shoddy defense for their decades-long conquest to criminalize abortion in the United States. But after a leaked draft of the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down Roe v. Wade sent shockwaves through the public consciousness on Monday night, a different kind of group of religious text-swinging heroes has emerged.

Coalitions of Rabbis across different sects of Judaism and a contingent of Jewish abortion activists are defending Jewish pregnant people’s right to abortion access, raising what they claim is a valid legal challenge: A national abortion ban would violate their right to religious freedom as guaranteed by the First Amendment. And as the right to bodily autonomy for women and pregnant people is threatened—largely impacting low-income Black and brown people—by conservative justices’ arguments that we should simply rewind to the good old years when women didn’t have any rights because, you know, some 17th century witch-hunter said so, Jewish communities are putting their foot down to say, “Not in my religion.”......

For evidence, Rabbi Ruttenberg points to the Book of Exodus in the Torah, which discusses a case where two men accidentally knock over a pregnant person and cause them to miscarry:

“When men fight, and one of them pushes a pregnant woman and a miscarriage results, but no other harm ensues, the one responsible shall be fined when the woman’s husband demands compensation; the payment will be determined by judges. But if other harm ensues, the penalty shall be life for life.”

The Hebrew Bible, she says, does not regard the fetus as a person, for the Torah doesn’t specify how long the woman has been pregnant when the miscarriage happens. Another annotated text states, “If she is found pregnant, until the fortieth day it is mere fluid,” meaning the fetus does not have agency for at least forty days of pregnancy. For that reason, some interpretations of Jewish law say that personhood begins with the first breath. “It’s not murder, basically, and the Talmud lays that out really explicitly,” she says.

I like the idea of a lawsuit filed on the basis of the First Amendment. Alito's draft opinion favors conservative christian theology over the faith all all or most Jews.