Jewish traditions toward Abortion

A detailed Summary of Jewish traditions toward Abortion


According to Jewish traditions, there is a fairly wide range of potential attitudes toward abortion, however it takes a lot of interpretation to find them all. The main Jewish anti-abortion claims consist of the possible dangers of abortion, the traditional halakhic view of opposition, and the devaluation of human life accompanied by abortion. (Greenberg, 148) However, upon re-examining the texts behind these views, much more evidence can be found to actually support abortion.

The possible dangers surrounding abortion mainly revolve around the abuse of scientific manipulation. (Greenberg, 148) However, there's absolutely no evidence that legalizing abortion would increase this rate of abuse at all.

In Judaism today, a huge conflict exists between the accepted halakhic position and the individual needs of women. The halakhic view is mainly based on the Jewish texts, but in my opinion they have been misinterpreted due to the times they were studied. Laws and texts are always taken according to culture, and according to the opinions of those interpreting them. Society is only first starting to see things from a feminist perspective, and I think i


The last Jewish anti-abortion claim is that it may become merely a method of birth control. They don't want people just thinking they can "play G-d," and it's easy to understand this idea. However, abortion is actually a higher morality. Kavod Ha-briot is a respect for all living things. This means a person's health should be an important factor. (Greenberg, 151) Now society knows that mental health is just as important as physical health, and I feel it should be regarded on the same level by all aspects of Judaism.

ts time to re-evaluate the actual words of these texts. For example, the Mishnah tells us that a woman going through a hard labor that could possibly result in injury or death, can kill the baby inside her for her own personal safety. They just can't harm the baby once the majority of the body is out of the mother. (Greenberg, 149) However, the Mishnah also clearly states that the fetus is not a nefesh (human life) until after birth. In fact, it doesn't view abortion as murder, and assigns no rights to the fetus before it is born. This is why the Jewish anti-abortion platforms can't include the "right-to-life" motto. (Greenberg,

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