Member-only story
Supreme Court Abortion Ruling Infringes Jewish Religious Freedom
America has adopted a national religion and it’s not mine
The Old Testament, what Jews call the Torah, in Exodus 21:22–23, tells a story of two men who are fighting and injure a pregnant woman, resulting in a miscarriage.
The Bible verse explains that if the only harm done is the miscarriage, then the perpetrator must pay a fine. If, however, the pregnant woman is gravely injured or dies, the penalty shall be a life for a life as in other homicides.
The ancient Jewish text called the Talmud explains this verse to mean that these men did not commit murder and that the fetus is not a person. Otherwise capital punishment would have been handed out. The primary concern, according to Jewish tradition, is the well-being of the person who was injured — the woman. You know, the already living, breathing, functioning-by-herself human.
The ancient rabbis further explained that while abortion is frowned upon and indeed a sin (although not murder), abortion would be required if the woman’s life was in danger or if her mental well-being was in serious jeopardy. In other words, if a woman was raped, for example, and could not handle the mental stress of carrying a rape baby, she would be required to abort the fetus.
