Judaism and abortion
Encyclopedia
In Judaism
, views on abortion
draw primarily upon the legal and ethical teachings of the Hebrew Bible
, the Talmud
, the case-by-case decisions of responsa
, and other rabbinic literature. In the modern period, moreover, Jewish thinking on abortion has responded both to liberal
understandings of personal autonomy as well as Christian opposition to abortion. Generally speaking, observant Jews firmly oppose abortion, with few health-related exceptions, and liberal Jews tend to allow greater latitude for abortion.
says little about the status or treatment of the embryo or fetus. Indeed, only one crucial Biblical law establishes a rule about the killing of an embryo or fetus. Specifically, Exodus 21:22-23 states:
Under Jewish Biblical exegesis
, abortion is not deemed murder. Instead, unintentional abortion is a form of damages subject to monetary compensation. Conversely, the killing of the mother—the other damage (ason)—is murder.
, the Biblical verse is one of several key texts that substantiate the later rabbinic prohibition on abortion, albeit not as murder. Owing partly to this verse,
rabbinic law or halakhah sanctions abortion under some circumstances, namely for medical reason. In principle, Judaism does not regard the fetus as a full human being. While deliberately killing a day old baby is murder, according to the Mishnah, a fetus is not covered by this strict homicide rule. In reading of Biblical homicide laws, rabbinic sages argue that homicide concerns an animate human being (nefesh adam from Lev. 24:17) alone, not an embryo... because the embryo is not a person (lav nefesh hu).
A core text in rabbinic law crystallizes the status of the fetus. The Mishna explicitly indicates that one must abort a fetus if the continuation of pregnancy might imperil the life of the woman.
According to the text this can be done until the point of yatza rubo (יָצָא רֻבּוֹ), that "the greater part has proceeded forth". This is taken to refer to the emergence of the baby during childbirth. Some also interpret it as referring to the elapsing of half of the gestation
period (4½ months).
In Talmudic law, an embryo is not deemed a fully viable person (bar kayyama), but rather a being of "doubtful viability" (Niddah 44b). Hence, for instance, Jewish mourning
rites do not apply to an unborn child. The status of the embryo is also indicated by its treatment as "an appendage of its mother" (ubar yerekh 'imo Hullin 58a) for such matters as ownership, maternal conversion and purity
law. In even more evocative language, the Talmud states in a passage on priestly rules that the fetus "is considered to be mere water" until its 40th day.
Later authorities have differed as to how far one might go in defining the peril to the woman in order to justify abortion, and at what stage of gestation a fetus is considered having a soul, at which point one life cannot take precedence over another.
expanded and Jewish philosophy
developed. Maimonides
, notably, justified the requirement to abort a pregnancy that threatens the woman's life not because the fetus is less than a nefesh (human being), as the Talmud held, but rather through the principle of the rodef
or pursuer, "pursuing her to kill her." Schiff argues that the Maimonidean view is "unprecedented" and "without doubt, this hitherto unexpressed insight had dramatic potential ramifications for the parameters of permissible abortion." Meir Abulafia
and Menachem Meiri
reaffirm Rashi's view.
Another reason to prohibit abortion is found in the Talmudic commentaries known as the Tosafot
. The Tosafot argued that abortion is forbidden to Jews because it is forbidden to non-Jews under the Noahide laws. "A gentile is culpable for the death of a fetus, while a Jew is forbidden to cause its death but is not culpable." Here the Tosafot follow the logic that Jews are not permitted actions that are forbidden to gentiles, though the (theoretical) punishment for violations would apply only to gentiles. Relying on such reciprocal logic, the Tosafot also hold that, since Jews are permitted therapeutic abortions for the sake of maternal life, then Noahide law likewise allows non-Jews to undergo therapeutic abortion. Given this near parity, rabbinic law prohibits Jews from assisting gentiles with forbidden abortions, for which the gentiles would be culpable of murder. Viewing Noahide law as a universalizing ethics, Sinclair states: "it is evident that the halakhah in the area of foeticide is shaped by a combination of legal doctrine and moral principle." However, the Tosafot
text that applies Noahide law to forbid abortion does not go unchallenged. Another contradictory commentary in Tosafot (Niddah 44b) apparently permits foeticide.
Scholars of Talmudic and Medieval rabbinic law draw a sharp contrast between the theologies behind Jewish and Catholic opposition to abortion. After favorably reviewing Christian opposition to abortion, Immanuel Jakobovits
writes in Jewish Medical Ethics: "In Jewish law, the right to destroy a human fruit before birth is entirely unrelated to theological considerations. Neither the question of the entry of the soul before birth nor the claim to salvation after death have any practical bearing on the subject." Although halakhic regulations works strenuously to protect the unborn child, he says that "none of these regulations necessarily prove that the foetus enjoys human inviolability." In contrast to the neo-Platonic and Christian approach, moreover, Talmudic thought does not "make any legal distinction between formed and unformed foetuses." Feldman, likewise, is emphatically comparative, saying: "... while Christianity's position on abortion has raised the moral level of western civilization in this regard and has succeeded in sensitizing humanity to a greater reverence for life, it is obviously comprised, at the same time, of theological postulates which the Jewish community can not share." Feldman also points out that Talmudic debate over whether the soul achieves immortality upon conception, or at a far later stage, has little bearing halakhic protections for the fetus because, absent a doctrine of original sin
, "abortion would not interfere with the immortal rights or destiny of the foetus."
In the standard code of Jewish law, the Shulchan Aruch
, therapeutic abortion is permitted; Maimonides's language, speaking of the fetus as pursuer, is included verbatim. A key commentator, R. Joshua Falk
, explains that abortion does not trade off one life for another life because the embryo is "not a person" prior to birth. An ordinary abortion is a violation of civil or monetary law alone, not criminal law, as emphasized by R. Ezekiel Landau among others.
In a key responsum, R. Yair Bachrach is asked whether to approve an abortion for a woman with an illegitimate
embryo. R. Bachrach distinguishes early stage from later stage abortions. His reasoning is based on a Talmudic commentary to the effect that Sabbath laws may be violated for a fetus, but only for a later-stage embryo. Several authorities say that Jewish law is less strict for terminating embryos before 40 days. He also concludes that the embryo may be treated as a pursuer rodef, as Maimonides as opined, though simultaneously he upholds Rashi's view of the reduced status of the fetus. Bachrach then offers a novel rationale for denying the requested abortion. He argues the abortion, like certain forms of contraception, frustrates the mitzvah
of reproduction and destroys the "seed" needed to be "fruitful and multiply."
With the emergence of modern Jewish identity
in the late 18th century, Jewish views on abortion have bifurcated along movement lines, especially between Orthodox Judaism
and its more liberal counter-parts. By the 20th century, liberal-minded Jews were among those most active in the pro-choice
movement. These reproductive rights
activists included Betty Friedan
, Bernard Nathanson
, and Gloria Steinem
. In the U.S., a few politically-conservative Republican Jews also have been pro-choice. A few Jewish groups concentrate on abortion issues, both pro-life and pro-choice.
, there are a range of halakhic opinions about abortion, though they generally prohibit abortion except in quite limited circumstances. All agree, however, that abortion is not only acceptable but mandatory to save a woman's life.
In 2001, Jewish ethicist Daniel Eisenberg summarized the typical exceptions permitted by some authorities: "Judaism recognizes psychiatric as well as physical factors in evaluating the potential threat that the fetus poses to the woman. However, the danger posed by the fetus (whether physical or emotional) must be both probable and substantial to justify abortion. The degree of mental illness which must be present to justify termination of a pregnancy is not well established and therefore criteria for permitting abortion in such instances remain controversial."
Orthodox law deciders (poskim) generally forbid abortion to prevent the birth of a severely defective fetus.
Nonetheless, on scattered occasions, rabbinic authorities have issued more lenient rulings on abortion. Notably, a recent rabbinical authority
holds the minority view that a child with known Tay-Sachs disease
may be aborted due to its dismal prognosis. As Eisenberg notes, "Rabbi (Eliezer) Waldenberg
allows first trimester abortion of a fetus which would be born with a deformity that would cause it to suffer, and termination of a fetus with a lethal fetal defect such as Tay Sachs up to the end of the second trimester of gestation."
Among Orthodox Jews, abortion has re-emerged as a controversial topic due to the debate over stem cell research. In general, Orthodox Jewish medical ethics
tend to favor medical research. Some interest has been articulated to support stem cell research and, in so doing, demonstrate Jewish law's leniency toward abortion of "pre-embryo" cells. Thus, Eisenberg emphasizes that "Rabbi Yechiel Weinberg (author of the Responsa Seridei Aish), clearly held that there is no prohibition of abortion before forty days according to Rabbi Trani's
opinion since there is no 'limb' to injure prior to formation of a recognizable fetus at forty days. Rabbi Weinberg himself at first permitted abortion prior to forty days, but later reconsidered his position." In writings on stem cell research, Rabbi Moshe Dovid Tendler has supported the use of pre-embryonic cells, whereas Rabbi J. David Bleich
has opposed destruction of stem cells.
Rabbi Yehuda Levin
is a prominent pro-life advocate within Judaism that has often stood by pro-life advocates in other religions, notably the Roman Catholic Church. His views largely echo those of rabbi Moshe Feinstein
, who was a leading opponent of abortion in the Orthodox Jewish tradition.
Committee on Jewish Law and Standards takes the view that an abortion is justifiable if a continuation of pregnancy might cause the woman severe physical or psychological harm, or when the fetus is judged by competent medical opinion as severely defective. The fetus is a life in the process of development, and the decision to abort should never be taken lightly. Thus, the Conservative
position is in line with some of the Acharonim who permit an abortion in case of acute potential emotional and psychological harm.
Before reaching her final decision, Conservative Judaism holds that the woman should consult with the biological father, other members of her family, her physician, her Rabbi
and any other person who can help her in assessing the many grave legal and moral issues involved.
The Reform Movement has acted to oppose legislation that would restrict the right of women to choose to abort a fetus, especially in situations in which the health of the woman is endangered by continued pregnancy. This pro-choice position has been linked by some Reform authorities to the value that Reform Judaism places upon autonomy—the right of individuals to act as moral agents on their own behalf. In writing against a legal ban on so-called "partial birth abortion," Rabbi David Ellenson, president of the Reform Movement's Hebrew Union College
, has written, "This law as it has been enacted unquestionably diminishes the inviolable status and worth that ought to be granted women as moral agents created in the image of God."
, whereas Conservative Judaism
, Reconstructionist Judaism
and Reform Judaism
are usually aligned with the interfaith Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice
. http://www.rcrc.org Nonetheless, Orthodox organizations such as the Orthodox Union and Agudas Yisrael have occasionally partnered with pro-choice organizations when necessary to insure that abortions will be available to women whose lives are endangered by the fetus.
As feminists or health professionals, Jews have been among those most active on reproductive rights
advocacy in the U.S. Generally, Jews have been less involved with the pro-life
movement.
In Israel, abortion is allowed
at the request of a termination committee in the cases of if the woman is unmarried, age (if the woman is under the age of 17 - the legal marriage age in Israel - or over the age 40), the pregnancy was conceived under illegal circumstances (rape, statutory rape, etc.) or an incestuous relationship, birth defects, risk of health to the mother, and life of the mother. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics report from 2004, in 2003 most abortion requests were granted, with 19,500 legal abortions performed and 200 requests for abortion denied. Reasons for termination went as follows: the woman was unmarried (42%), because of illegal circumstances (11%), health risks to the woman (about 20%), age of the woman (11%) and fetal birth defects (about 17%).
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
, views on abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
draw primarily upon the legal and ethical teachings of the Hebrew Bible
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible is a term used by biblical scholars outside of Judaism to refer to the Tanakh , a canonical collection of Jewish texts, and the common textual antecedent of the several canonical editions of the Christian Old Testament...
, the Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
, the case-by-case decisions of responsa
Responsa
Responsa comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them.-In the Roman Empire:Roman law recognised responsa prudentium, i.e...
, and other rabbinic literature. In the modern period, moreover, Jewish thinking on abortion has responded both to liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
understandings of personal autonomy as well as Christian opposition to abortion. Generally speaking, observant Jews firmly oppose abortion, with few health-related exceptions, and liberal Jews tend to allow greater latitude for abortion.
Rabbinic literature
The TorahTorah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
says little about the status or treatment of the embryo or fetus. Indeed, only one crucial Biblical law establishes a rule about the killing of an embryo or fetus. Specifically, Exodus 21:22-23 states:
When men fight, and one of them pushes a pregnant woman so that her children come forth (yasa), but no other damage (ason) ensues, the one responsible shall be fined according as the woman's husband may exact from him, the payment to be based on reckoning. But if other damage ensues, the penalty shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.
Under Jewish Biblical exegesis
Exegesis
Exegesis is a critical explanation or interpretation of a text, especially a religious text. Traditionally the term was used primarily for exegesis of the Bible; however, in contemporary usage it has broadened to mean a critical explanation of any text, and the term "Biblical exegesis" is used...
, abortion is not deemed murder. Instead, unintentional abortion is a form of damages subject to monetary compensation. Conversely, the killing of the mother—the other damage (ason)—is murder.
Early rabbinic Judaism
In mainstream rabbinic JudaismJudaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
, the Biblical verse is one of several key texts that substantiate the later rabbinic prohibition on abortion, albeit not as murder. Owing partly to this verse,
rabbinic law or halakhah sanctions abortion under some circumstances, namely for medical reason. In principle, Judaism does not regard the fetus as a full human being. While deliberately killing a day old baby is murder, according to the Mishnah, a fetus is not covered by this strict homicide rule. In reading of Biblical homicide laws, rabbinic sages argue that homicide concerns an animate human being (nefesh adam from Lev. 24:17) alone, not an embryo... because the embryo is not a person (lav nefesh hu).
A core text in rabbinic law crystallizes the status of the fetus. The Mishna explicitly indicates that one must abort a fetus if the continuation of pregnancy might imperil the life of the woman.
If a woman is in hard travail, one cuts up the offspring in her womb and brings it forth member by member, because her life comes before the life of her foetus. But if the greater part has proceeded forth, one may not set aside one person for the sake of saving another.
According to the text this can be done until the point of yatza rubo (יָצָא רֻבּוֹ), that "the greater part has proceeded forth". This is taken to refer to the emergence of the baby during childbirth. Some also interpret it as referring to the elapsing of half of the gestation
Gestation
Gestation is the carrying of an embryo or fetus inside a female viviparous animal. Mammals during pregnancy can have one or more gestations at the same time ....
period (4½ months).
In Talmudic law, an embryo is not deemed a fully viable person (bar kayyama), but rather a being of "doubtful viability" (Niddah 44b). Hence, for instance, Jewish mourning
Mourning
Mourning is, in the simplest sense, synonymous with grief over the death of someone. The word is also used to describe a cultural complex of behaviours in which the bereaved participate or are expected to participate...
rites do not apply to an unborn child. The status of the embryo is also indicated by its treatment as "an appendage of its mother" (ubar yerekh 'imo Hullin 58a) for such matters as ownership, maternal conversion and purity
Virtue
Virtue is moral excellence. A virtue is a positive trait or quality subjectively deemed to be morally excellent and thus is valued as a foundation of principle and good moral being....
law. In even more evocative language, the Talmud states in a passage on priestly rules that the fetus "is considered to be mere water" until its 40th day.
Later authorities have differed as to how far one might go in defining the peril to the woman in order to justify abortion, and at what stage of gestation a fetus is considered having a soul, at which point one life cannot take precedence over another.
Medieval and pre-Modern Judaism
After the Talmudic period, Jewish views on abortion become more refined, and diverse, as rabbinic literatureRabbinic literature
Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, can mean the entire spectrum of rabbinic writings throughout Jewish history. However, the term often refers specifically to literature from the Talmudic era, as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic writing, and thus corresponds with the Hebrew term...
expanded and Jewish philosophy
Jewish philosophy
Jewish philosophy , includes all philosophy carried out by Jews, or, in relation to the religion of Judaism. Jewish philosophy, until modern Enlightenment and Emancipation, was pre-occupied with attempts to reconcile coherent new ideas into the tradition of Rabbinic Judaism; thus organizing...
developed. Maimonides
Maimonides
Moses ben-Maimon, called Maimonides and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn in Arabic, or Rambam , was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages...
, notably, justified the requirement to abort a pregnancy that threatens the woman's life not because the fetus is less than a nefesh (human being), as the Talmud held, but rather through the principle of the rodef
Rodef
A rodef , in traditional Jewish law, is one who is "pursuing" another to murder him or her. According to Jewish law, such a person must be killed by any bystander after being warned to stop and refusing...
or pursuer, "pursuing her to kill her." Schiff argues that the Maimonidean view is "unprecedented" and "without doubt, this hitherto unexpressed insight had dramatic potential ramifications for the parameters of permissible abortion." Meir Abulafia
Meir Abulafia
Meir ben Todros HaLevi Abulafia , also known as the Ramah , was a major Sephardic Talmudist and Halachic authority in medieval Spain...
and Menachem Meiri
Menachem Meiri
Rabbi Menachem Meiri was a famous Catalan rabbi, Talmudist and Maimonidean.-Early life:Menachem Meiri was born in 1249 in Perpignan, which then formed part of the County of Barcelona...
reaffirm Rashi's view.
Another reason to prohibit abortion is found in the Talmudic commentaries known as the Tosafot
Tosafot
The Tosafot or Tosafos are medieval commentaries on the Talmud. They take the form of critical and explanatory glosses, printed, in almost all Talmud editions, on the outer margin and opposite Rashi's notes...
. The Tosafot argued that abortion is forbidden to Jews because it is forbidden to non-Jews under the Noahide laws. "A gentile is culpable for the death of a fetus, while a Jew is forbidden to cause its death but is not culpable." Here the Tosafot follow the logic that Jews are not permitted actions that are forbidden to gentiles, though the (theoretical) punishment for violations would apply only to gentiles. Relying on such reciprocal logic, the Tosafot also hold that, since Jews are permitted therapeutic abortions for the sake of maternal life, then Noahide law likewise allows non-Jews to undergo therapeutic abortion. Given this near parity, rabbinic law prohibits Jews from assisting gentiles with forbidden abortions, for which the gentiles would be culpable of murder. Viewing Noahide law as a universalizing ethics, Sinclair states: "it is evident that the halakhah in the area of foeticide is shaped by a combination of legal doctrine and moral principle." However, the Tosafot
Tosafot
The Tosafot or Tosafos are medieval commentaries on the Talmud. They take the form of critical and explanatory glosses, printed, in almost all Talmud editions, on the outer margin and opposite Rashi's notes...
text that applies Noahide law to forbid abortion does not go unchallenged. Another contradictory commentary in Tosafot (Niddah 44b) apparently permits foeticide.
Scholars of Talmudic and Medieval rabbinic law draw a sharp contrast between the theologies behind Jewish and Catholic opposition to abortion. After favorably reviewing Christian opposition to abortion, Immanuel Jakobovits
Immanuel Jakobovits
Immanuel Jakobovits, Baron Jakobovits, Kt was the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth from 1967 to 1991. His successor is the present Chief Rabbi, Jonathan Sacks.-Biography:...
writes in Jewish Medical Ethics: "In Jewish law, the right to destroy a human fruit before birth is entirely unrelated to theological considerations. Neither the question of the entry of the soul before birth nor the claim to salvation after death have any practical bearing on the subject." Although halakhic regulations works strenuously to protect the unborn child, he says that "none of these regulations necessarily prove that the foetus enjoys human inviolability." In contrast to the neo-Platonic and Christian approach, moreover, Talmudic thought does not "make any legal distinction between formed and unformed foetuses." Feldman, likewise, is emphatically comparative, saying: "... while Christianity's position on abortion has raised the moral level of western civilization in this regard and has succeeded in sensitizing humanity to a greater reverence for life, it is obviously comprised, at the same time, of theological postulates which the Jewish community can not share." Feldman also points out that Talmudic debate over whether the soul achieves immortality upon conception, or at a far later stage, has little bearing halakhic protections for the fetus because, absent a doctrine of original sin
Original sin
Original sin is, according to a Christian theological doctrine, humanity's state of sin resulting from the Fall of Man. This condition has been characterized in many ways, ranging from something as insignificant as a slight deficiency, or a tendency toward sin yet without collective guilt, referred...
, "abortion would not interfere with the immortal rights or destiny of the foetus."
In the standard code of Jewish law, the Shulchan Aruch
Shulchan Aruch
The Shulchan Aruch also known as the Code of Jewish Law, is the most authoritative legal code of Judaism. It was authored in Safed, Israel, by Yosef Karo in 1563 and published in Venice two years later...
, therapeutic abortion is permitted; Maimonides's language, speaking of the fetus as pursuer, is included verbatim. A key commentator, R. Joshua Falk
Joshua Falk
----Joshua ben Alexander HaCohen Falk was a Polish Halakhist and Talmudist, best known as the author of the Beit Yisrael commentary on the Arba'ah Turim as well as Sefer Me'irat Enayim on Shulkhan Arukh...
, explains that abortion does not trade off one life for another life because the embryo is "not a person" prior to birth. An ordinary abortion is a violation of civil or monetary law alone, not criminal law, as emphasized by R. Ezekiel Landau among others.
In a key responsum, R. Yair Bachrach is asked whether to approve an abortion for a woman with an illegitimate
Mamzer
The Hebrew noun mamzer in the Hebrew Bible and Jewish religious law, is a person born from certain forbidden relationships, or the descendant of such a person. A mamzer is someone who is either born of adultery by a married woman, or born of incest , or someone who has a mamzer as a parent...
embryo. R. Bachrach distinguishes early stage from later stage abortions. His reasoning is based on a Talmudic commentary to the effect that Sabbath laws may be violated for a fetus, but only for a later-stage embryo. Several authorities say that Jewish law is less strict for terminating embryos before 40 days. He also concludes that the embryo may be treated as a pursuer rodef, as Maimonides as opined, though simultaneously he upholds Rashi's view of the reduced status of the fetus. Bachrach then offers a novel rationale for denying the requested abortion. He argues the abortion, like certain forms of contraception, frustrates the mitzvah
Mitzvah
The primary meaning of the Hebrew word refers to precepts and commandments as commanded by God...
of reproduction and destroys the "seed" needed to be "fruitful and multiply."
With the emergence of modern Jewish identity
Identity (social science)
Identity is a term used to describe a person's conception and expression of their individuality or group affiliations . The term is used more specifically in psychology and sociology, and is given a great deal of attention in social psychology...
in the late 18th century, Jewish views on abortion have bifurcated along movement lines, especially between Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
and its more liberal counter-parts. By the 20th century, liberal-minded Jews were among those most active in the pro-choice
Pro-choice
Support for the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-choice movement, a sociopolitical movement supporting the ethical view that a woman should have the legal right to elective abortion, meaning the right to terminate her pregnancy....
movement. These reproductive rights
Reproductive rights
Reproductive rights are legal rights and freedoms relating to reproduction and reproductive health. The World Health Organization defines reproductive rights as follows:...
activists included Betty Friedan
Betty Friedan
Betty Friedan was an American writer, activist, and feminist.A leading figure in the Women's Movement in the United States, her 1963 book The Feminine Mystique is often credited with sparking the "second wave" of American feminism in the twentieth century...
, Bernard Nathanson
Bernard Nathanson
Bernard N. Nathanson was an American medical doctor from New York who helped to found the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws, but later became a pro-life activist.-Early life and education:...
, and Gloria Steinem
Gloria Steinem
Gloria Marie Steinem is an American feminist, journalist, and social and political activist who became nationally recognized as a leader of, and media spokeswoman for, the women's liberation movement in the late 1960s and 1970s...
. In the U.S., a few politically-conservative Republican Jews also have been pro-choice. A few Jewish groups concentrate on abortion issues, both pro-life and pro-choice.
Orthodox Judaism
Due to the diversity within Orthodox JudaismOrthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
, there are a range of halakhic opinions about abortion, though they generally prohibit abortion except in quite limited circumstances. All agree, however, that abortion is not only acceptable but mandatory to save a woman's life.
In 2001, Jewish ethicist Daniel Eisenberg summarized the typical exceptions permitted by some authorities: "Judaism recognizes psychiatric as well as physical factors in evaluating the potential threat that the fetus poses to the woman. However, the danger posed by the fetus (whether physical or emotional) must be both probable and substantial to justify abortion. The degree of mental illness which must be present to justify termination of a pregnancy is not well established and therefore criteria for permitting abortion in such instances remain controversial."
Orthodox law deciders (poskim) generally forbid abortion to prevent the birth of a severely defective fetus.
Nonetheless, on scattered occasions, rabbinic authorities have issued more lenient rulings on abortion. Notably, a recent rabbinical authority
Posek
Posek is the term in Jewish law for "decider"—a legal scholar who decides the Halakha in cases of law where previous authorities are inconclusive or in those situations where no halakhic precedent exists....
holds the minority view that a child with known Tay-Sachs disease
Tay-Sachs disease
Tay–Sachs disease is an autosomal recessive genetic disorder...
may be aborted due to its dismal prognosis. As Eisenberg notes, "Rabbi (Eliezer) Waldenberg
Eliezer Waldenberg
Eliezer Yehuda Waldenberg was known as the Tzitz Eliezer after his monumental halachic treatise Tzitz Eliezer that covers a wide breadth of halacha, including Jewish medical ethics, as well as ritual halachic issues from Shabbat to kashrut...
allows first trimester abortion of a fetus which would be born with a deformity that would cause it to suffer, and termination of a fetus with a lethal fetal defect such as Tay Sachs up to the end of the second trimester of gestation."
Among Orthodox Jews, abortion has re-emerged as a controversial topic due to the debate over stem cell research. In general, Orthodox Jewish medical ethics
Jewish medical ethics
Jewish medical ethics is a modern scholarly and clinical approach to medical ethics that draws upon Jewish thought and teachings. Pioneered by Rabbi Immanuel Jakobovits in the 1950s, Jewish medical ethics centers mainly around an applied ethics drawing upon traditional rabbinic law...
tend to favor medical research. Some interest has been articulated to support stem cell research and, in so doing, demonstrate Jewish law's leniency toward abortion of "pre-embryo" cells. Thus, Eisenberg emphasizes that "Rabbi Yechiel Weinberg (author of the Responsa Seridei Aish), clearly held that there is no prohibition of abortion before forty days according to Rabbi Trani's
Joseph Trani
Joseph Trani or Joseph di Trani was a Talmudist of the latter part of the 16th century who lived in Greece. By contemporary scholars he was called Mahrimat , and regarded as one of the foremost Talmudists of his time...
opinion since there is no 'limb' to injure prior to formation of a recognizable fetus at forty days. Rabbi Weinberg himself at first permitted abortion prior to forty days, but later reconsidered his position." In writings on stem cell research, Rabbi Moshe Dovid Tendler has supported the use of pre-embryonic cells, whereas Rabbi J. David Bleich
J. David Bleich
J. David Bleich is an authority on Jewish law and ethics, including Jewish medical ethics. He is rabbi of Cong. B'nei Jehuda...
has opposed destruction of stem cells.
Rabbi Yehuda Levin
Yehuda Levin
Yehuda Levin is the Rabbi and founder of Congregation Mevakshei Hashem Synagogue in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York.-Beliefs and political activities:...
is a prominent pro-life advocate within Judaism that has often stood by pro-life advocates in other religions, notably the Roman Catholic Church. His views largely echo those of rabbi Moshe Feinstein
Moshe Feinstein
Moshe Feinstein was a Lithuanian Orthodox rabbi, scholar and posek , who was world-renowned for his expertise in Halakha and was regarded by many as the de facto supreme halakhic authority for Orthodox Jewry of North America during his lifetime...
, who was a leading opponent of abortion in the Orthodox Jewish tradition.
Conservative Judaism
The Rabbinical AssemblyRabbinical Assembly
The Rabbinical Assembly is the international association of Conservative rabbis. The RA was founded in 1901 to shape the ideology, programs, and practices of the Conservative movement. It publishes prayerbooks and books of Jewish interest, and oversees the work of the Committee on Jewish Law and...
Committee on Jewish Law and Standards takes the view that an abortion is justifiable if a continuation of pregnancy might cause the woman severe physical or psychological harm, or when the fetus is judged by competent medical opinion as severely defective. The fetus is a life in the process of development, and the decision to abort should never be taken lightly. Thus, the Conservative
Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s.Conservative Judaism has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism,...
position is in line with some of the Acharonim who permit an abortion in case of acute potential emotional and psychological harm.
Before reaching her final decision, Conservative Judaism holds that the woman should consult with the biological father, other members of her family, her physician, her Rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
and any other person who can help her in assessing the many grave legal and moral issues involved.
Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism permits abortion, not only when the woman's life is at stake, but also when a pregnancy is "a result of rape or incest; when through genetic testing, it is determined that the child to be born will have a disease that will cause death or severe disability, and the parents believe that the impending birth will be an impossible situation for them," and for several other reasons. More generally, the "Reform perspective on abortion can be described as follows: Abortion is an extremely difficult choice faced by a woman. In all circumstances, it should be her decision whether or not to terminate a pregnancy, backed up by those whom she trusts (physician, therapist, partner, etc.). This decision should not be taken lightly (abortion should never be used for birth control purposes) and can have life-long ramifications. However, any decision should be left up to the woman within whose body the fetus is growing."The Reform Movement has acted to oppose legislation that would restrict the right of women to choose to abort a fetus, especially in situations in which the health of the woman is endangered by continued pregnancy. This pro-choice position has been linked by some Reform authorities to the value that Reform Judaism places upon autonomy—the right of individuals to act as moral agents on their own behalf. In writing against a legal ban on so-called "partial birth abortion," Rabbi David Ellenson, president of the Reform Movement's Hebrew Union College
Hebrew Union College
The Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion is the oldest extant Jewish seminary in the Americas and the main seminary for training rabbis, cantors, educators and communal workers in Reform Judaism.HUC-JIR has campuses in Cincinnati, New York, Los Angeles and Jerusalem.The Jerusalem...
, has written, "This law as it has been enacted unquestionably diminishes the inviolable status and worth that ought to be granted women as moral agents created in the image of God."
Jews and abortion policies
In the United States, Orthodox Jews are usually affiliated with the National Pro-Life Religious CouncilNational Pro-Life Religious Council
The National Pro-Life Religious Council is an educational 5013 corporation representing numerous Christian pro-life denominations and organizations. Its goal is to promote the view that Christianity is a pro-life faith...
, whereas Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s.Conservative Judaism has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism,...
, Reconstructionist Judaism
Reconstructionist Judaism
Reconstructionist Judaism is a modern American-based Jewish movement based on the ideas of Mordecai Kaplan . The movement views Judaism as a progressively evolving civilization. It originated as a branch of Conservative Judaism, before it splintered...
and Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...
are usually aligned with the interfaith Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice
Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice
The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice was founded in 1973 by clergy and lay leaders from mainline denominations and faith traditions to provide interfaith support for the new constitutional right to privacy in decisions about abortion...
. http://www.rcrc.org Nonetheless, Orthodox organizations such as the Orthodox Union and Agudas Yisrael have occasionally partnered with pro-choice organizations when necessary to insure that abortions will be available to women whose lives are endangered by the fetus.
As feminists or health professionals, Jews have been among those most active on reproductive rights
Reproductive rights
Reproductive rights are legal rights and freedoms relating to reproduction and reproductive health. The World Health Organization defines reproductive rights as follows:...
advocacy in the U.S. Generally, Jews have been less involved with the pro-life
Pro-life
Opposition to the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-life, or anti-abortion, movement, a social and political movement opposing elective abortion on moral grounds and supporting its legal prohibition or restriction...
movement.
In Israel, abortion is allowed
Abortion in Israel
Abortion in Israel is legal under certain circumstances, subject to the approval of a committee for pregnancy termination.-1977 penal code:Clauses 312-321 of the 1977 penal code limit the circumstances when an abortion is legal in Israel...
at the request of a termination committee in the cases of if the woman is unmarried, age (if the woman is under the age of 17 - the legal marriage age in Israel - or over the age 40), the pregnancy was conceived under illegal circumstances (rape, statutory rape, etc.) or an incestuous relationship, birth defects, risk of health to the mother, and life of the mother. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics report from 2004, in 2003 most abortion requests were granted, with 19,500 legal abortions performed and 200 requests for abortion denied. Reasons for termination went as follows: the woman was unmarried (42%), because of illegal circumstances (11%), health risks to the woman (about 20%), age of the woman (11%) and fetal birth defects (about 17%).
Jewish sources
- Bleich, J. DavidJ. David BleichJ. David Bleich is an authority on Jewish law and ethics, including Jewish medical ethics. He is rabbi of Cong. B'nei Jehuda...
. "Abortion in halakhic literature" in Contemporary halakhic problems. KTAV, 1977 - Eisenberg, Daniel, M.D. "Stem Cell Research in Jewish Law" 2001. Published at Jlaw.com with note that "This article was reviewed for halachic accuracy by Rabbi Sholom Kaminetsky of the Talmudical Yeshiva of Philadelphia."
- David FeldmanDavid FeldmanDavid Feldman may refer to:*David Feldman *David Feldman , author of the Imponderables series*David Feldman , Irish philatelist and chairman of Swiss philatelic auction company, David Feldman SA...
. 1974. Marital Relations, Birth Control, and Abortion in Jewish Law. New York: Schocken Books. - Jakobovits, ImmanuelImmanuel JakobovitsImmanuel Jakobovits, Baron Jakobovits, Kt was the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth from 1967 to 1991. His successor is the present Chief Rabbi, Jonathan Sacks.-Biography:...
. 1959. Jewish Medical Ethics. New York: Bloch Publishing. - Mackler, Aaron L., ed. 2000. Life & Death Responsibilities in Jewish Biomedical Ethics. JTS.
- Rosner, Fred. 1986. Modern Medicine and Jewish Ethics. New York: Yeshiva University Press.
- Schiff, Daniel. Abortion in Judaism. 2002. Cambridge University Press.
- Sinclair, DanielDaniel SinclairDaniel Sinclair is a British-born Israeli scholar of Jewish law who specializes in contemporary Jewish medical ethics. His books include Tradition and the biological revolution and Jewish biomedical law: Legal and extra-legal dimensions...
. Jewish biomedical law. Oxford - "Judaism considers abortion murder" Video by Rabbi Asher Meza http://www.jewsagainstabortion.org/