The Right to An Abortion As a Jewish Moral Value

The Jewish community is deeply concerned about the effects of an article published and syndicated last week about a Jewish crisis pregnancy group called In Shifra’s Arms—actually, it’s a website that offers a variety of services to dissuade Jewish women from having an abortion. This group is an anomaly – the only known Jewish service of its kind – yet the article suggests it reflects a standard view in Judaism. Speaking from the perspective of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, we need to speak out lest this article contribute to the further erosion of the reproductive rights of all of us.

The Jewish moral imperative of pikuach nefesh – saving a life – makes safeguarding reproductive rights a vital Jewish moral value.

But, what makes reproductive choice specifically a Jewish issue? There are three major Jewish teachings that make it clear that the Jewish community cannot be silent on issues of reproductive freedom.

The first is the explicit Jewish teaching on the issue of abortion. The Mishnah teaches us, in Oholot 7.6:

If a woman has (life-threatening) difficulty in childbirth, one dismembers the embryo within her, limb by limb, because her life takes precedence over its life. Once its head has emerged, it may not be touched, for we do not set aside one life for another.

Rabbinic commentators and legalists throughout the Middle Ages and into modern times agree that therapeutic abortion is not only warranted, it is actually mandated in Jewish law in cases where the woman’s life is at stake. For while we greatly value the potential life of the fetus, it cannot take precedence over the existing life of the woman. more on >>

Source: http://www.rhrealitycheck.org