Consider different perspectives on abortion
Detroit News
Saturday, July 12, 2003
By Rabbi Aaron Bergman Abortion is the single most decisive issue in America since slavery. Slavery, though, had a clear, moral conclusion. All reasonable people have concluded that slavery was an abomination and a violation of all human and legal rights. Abortion is more complex. Reasonable, faithful and ethical people have taken both sides of the issue. Many more are somewhere in the middle of permitting abortion at all times or forbidding it. The pain and difficulty of this issue was never more apparent than when the woman known as "Roe" in the landmark Roe v. Wade case wanted the current Supreme Court to overturn the 1973 ruling of the court permitting a woman to chose to have an abortion. This woman, after years of evaluating her decision, concluded that she had made a mistake by pursuing an abortion, though the decision came too late for her to have it. She wanted the court to ban all abortions because of the harm abortion does to women. The question is, which Roe was right? The woman who felt entitled to an abortion in the 1970s or the woman who wants abortion banned in 2003? Invoking religion in general as guiding principle in solving this dilemma is not useful. There is no one single response common to all religions. There is not necessarily consensus within religions. We cannot even rely on the phrase Judeo-Christian values for guidance. Judaism and Christianity share many concerns and values. However, there are significant differences in opinion between Judaism and Christianity when it comes to abortion. I would like to share some ideas from Judaism that are accepted by most mainstream branches of Judaism. Even here there will be legitimate differences of opinion. Jewish law does not recognize that a fetus has rights independent of its mother. Maimonides, the great 12th century scholar, says the fetus does not acquire full human rights until the crown of the head appears during delivery. Until then, the fetus is considered a part of the mother. This means that Judaism does not consider abortion to be murder. This does not mean that Judaism advocates abortion under all circumstances. Abortion is not supposed to be a substitute for birth control. Economic discomfort or career issues are also usually not considered factors in the decision of whether an abortion is justified by Jewish law. Judaism does consider abortion fully justified under a number of circumstances. The main principle is concern for the life and health of the mother. If the pregnancy threatens the welfare of the mother, even if not fatally, the mother may choose to have an abortion. She is in fact encouraged to have one. According to Maimonides, the fetus in a dangerous pregnancy is considered to be a deadly pursuer, though of course unconsciously. A person is always allowed to defend his or her own life against a pursuer. The other instances in which abortions are permitted are cases of pregnancy occurring from rape, incest or the statutory rape of a minor. Children are supposed to be conceived in love, not hate or pain. Judaism does not require abortion in these situations. There certainly have been many well-loved children raised by courageous mothers who conceived during trauma. Judaism, though, recognizes that many women would want a choice if they were forced into pregnancy. There is no one religious approach that is going to satisfy every person in America. I do not think there is a secular approach that will offer a conclusion either. I do not know how much the government should be involved. This issue is deeply personal. I do hope everyone involved in the abortion debate recognizes that even his or her opponents have a deep love of human life, and that no woman chooses abortion lightly or without examining her own conscience. Let people on every side of this complex and painful issue stop the rhetoric of hate and intolerance and find a way to at least understand the other point of view. Rabbi Aaron Bergman is director of Jewish studies at the Jewish Academy of Metropolitan Detroit in West Bloomfield.
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