March 07, 2004

The Bible supports the pro-choice position

Of course, Jesus was a feminist, so if we truly follow his teachings, we must accept that the Christian perspective is pro-choice.

Even 60% of Catholics are pro-choice! This doesn't surprise me. I was raised Catholic (with an Irish mother and an Italian father, what else?) And you know what? Catholics are the same as everyone else. From Commonweal: "In a June 2004 survey of Catholics likely to cast votes in the November 2004 national elections, about 60 percent of Catholics agreed that abortion should be legal under some or all circumstances, and roughly three-quarters of Catholics denied that Catholics have a religious obligation to vote against prochoice candidates."

Most of my Jewish friends are pro-choice as well. I found this sermon by Rabbi Rosalind Gold in Reform Judaism:

Not until the greater part of the baby’s body is out, is it considered to be a person... Religious fundamentalists function under the belief that fear of pregnancy, ignorance of birth control methods, and unavailability of safe, legal abortion in case of unwanted pregnancy, will discourage sexual activity, especially in young women. Such thinking is incorrect, however. Studies have shown that informed people, especially informed young women, are less likely to get pregnant or to find themselves in the position of needing an abortion, than are women who are unaware. ...the serious question as to when life begins, and when or if a fetus is a person, forms the crux of the abortion debate, which remains a very hot issue in society.

From our perspective as Jews, there are a number of issues to consider in looking at the question of abortion. The first is, "When does life begin according to Jewish Law?" And, as with all other questions, there is much debate. But what the legal materials boil down to is this: a fetus is not a person in the same sense as an already born person is. In the Bible, a person is often called a "nefesh," which means literally, a "soul." In the Talmud, a fetus is specifically singled out as "lav nefesh hu" - it is not a nefesh, not a full person until it comes out of the womb into the world. This Talmudic ruling is based on a passage from the 21st chapter of the Book of Exodus where we read: "If two men fight and one of them pushes a pregnant woman causing her to miscarry, but she is not injured, the one responsible shall be fined according to the reckoning of the courts. But if in addition to her miscarriage, the woman is injured, the penalty shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. In other words, if the woman herself is injured, proper compensation is due for her wounds. If she is caused to miscarry, there is monetary compensation for the loss of the fetus, but the one responsible is not in any way considered a murderer for causing the death of the fetus. Certainly if the fetus were considered under the law to be a person, a "nefesh," its spontaneous abortion would bring the death penalty on the guilty party.

This distinction between a fetus and a person is discussed later in the codes literature, where the legal authorities decide on the case of a woman struggling in childbirth - what should the doctors do, save her life or save the life of her unborn child? Again, the decision falls on the side of the already born, and against the not-yet-born. The law says that if a woman is having difficulty giving birth and her life is at risk, the fetus may be aborted, even so far as to reach into her birth canal and destroy the fetus if its continued existence would threaten the life of the mother.

Not until the greater part of the baby’s body is out, is it considered to be a person. In his commentary to this Talmudic passage, Rashi says: "As long as the child did not come out into the world, it is not called a living being and it is therefore permissible to take its life in order to save the life of its mother. Once the head of the child has come out, the child may not be harmed because it is considered as fully born, and one life may not be taken to save another." Nowhere in Jewish law does it state that destroying a fetus by artificial termination of pregnancy is prohibited. Jewish law does not equate abortion with murder, nor does it agree with those who choose to call a fetus a person, or who claim that life begins at the moment of conception.

This is not, of course, to argue that Judaism is "pro-abortion" by any means, or that Jewish law sees abortion as a method of birth control. It is simply to state the fact that, under some circumstances, Jewish law does permit a woman to have an abortion. Changes restricting a woman’s right to choose would deny Jews our right to practice our religion as we understand its demands and obligations.

There are other issues for us, too, in discussing the abortion question: the question of how far the government should stick its nose into the private lives of its citizens. I believe that a decision concerning carrying a pregnancy to term or not is a personal one - one that a woman should make in consultation with her family and physician, but one that is ultimately hers to make.

It is not the business of the state to tell me, or any woman, whether or not to continue a pregnancy. Also, we need to look at just who is supporting this anti-choice movement. More often than not, the so-called right-to-lifers are religious fundamentalists who oppose sex education in the schools and social welfare programs for needy women and children - people who seem to be more interested in legislating morality than in protecting the rights of the unborn. They function under the belief that fear of pregnancy, ignorance of birth control methods, and unavailability of safe, legal abortion in case of unwanted pregnancy, will discourage sexual activity, especially in young women. Such thinking is incorrect, however. Studies have shown that informed people, especially informed young women, are less likely to get pregnant or to find themselves in the position of needing an abortion, than are women who are unaware...

The decision to terminate a pregnancy is never an easy one, by any means. I have known women who have had abortions, and not one of them chose that route lightly, and not one of them does not lament the loss of a potential life, which the fetus represented. But not one of them would have made any other decision, given her circumstances at the time. An abortion is nothing to rejoice over. It is the responsibility of religion and of the synagogue to teach personal responsibility and respect for the sanctity of life. It is not the job of the state to legislate morality in this area, nor is the place of any other person to dictate to a woman what she should do based on the other’s personal religious or moral beliefs.

The changing composition of the Supreme Court makes the future of pro-choice legislation uncertain. Even with the privacy protection of Roe v. Wade, the fight to keep the abortion decision in the hands of the woman, where it belongs, will be difficult. To protect the right of Jewish women to fulfill the dictates of our religious teachings, and to protect the rights of all women who are faced with a choice, we cannot afford to lose the battle.

AMEN...




"I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is: I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a door mat or a prostitute." ~ Rebecca West

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