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126
FRIDAY, APRIL 14, 1989
New York (JTA) — Under
Jewish law, abortion is not on-
ly allowed but required when
a mother's life is in en-
dangered by the pregnancy.
But behind this simple rule
wafts a haze of gray areas.
Some interpreters of the law
would extend it to cover a
mother's mental as well as
physical health, while others
would limit it to include only
those conditions directly
associated with childbirth.
There is also dispute about
whether abortions are allow-
ed in cases of rape or incest.
Rabbi Emanuel Jakobovits,
Britain's chief rabbi, has said
that since there is no specific
reference to such cases in the
Talmud, abortion in those
cases is forbidden.
Others disagree. "I have
claimed,in my writings since
there is no reference, it is
equally inferable that it is
permitted," said Rabbi David
Feldman, author of Birth
Control and Abortion in
Jewish Law.
"The great Rabbi Yitzhak
Perlman of Minsk stated
clearly that no women is re-
quired to nurture seed im-
planted against her will," he
added.
Feldman said that Jewish
law holds that life begins at
birth and that abortions
therefore are not considered
murder. In a clash between
the actual, the mother's life,
and the potential, that of the
fetus, the actual comes first,
he explained.
But how is that clash to be
defined? Rabbi J. David
Bleich, author of Contem-
porary Halachic Problems,
said there is "significant
authority" to support an
abortion, not only when the
pregnancy itself threatens
the mother, but when
childbirth threatens to ag-
gravate an existing condition,
like a heart defect.
With regard to mental
health, however, the law is
less clear.
"What if a women is
suicidal, and would be push-
ed over the brink because of
the pregnancy?" said Bleich,
a professor at the Cardozo
School of Law at Yeshiva
University. "That is certain-
ly not the responsibility of the
fetus. The crucial problem
then is how to make that kind
of diagnosis."
Bleich said he is familiar
with the position of the late
Rabbi Benzion Uziel, the
former chief Sephardic rabbi
of Israel, who said that per-
mission for an abortion could
be granted a mother "even if
it is a slim reason, such as to
prevent her disgracer'
Bleich said Uziel's position
is "definitely not
authoritative" — the rab-
binical equivalent of a
minority opinion.
But in a recent full-page
advertisement in the New
York Times, the American
Jewish Congress affirmed its
belief in protecting the men-
tal health of mothers.
"In the face of the kind of
desperation that drives
women to risk their lives and
mutilate their bodies, rather
than carry the fetus to term,
no one has the right to say
that other conflicting values
do not exist."
David Zwiebel, general
counsel of Agudath Israel of
America, has criticized the
AJCongress view.
Writing in the Agudath
Coalition,
publication
Zwiebel says that the
AJCongress criteria
theoretically extend the right
of abortion to a woman who
seeks an abortion merely
because the pregnancy would
be an unpleasant experience
or because she favors having
a son instead of a daughter.
"A society that is solicitous
of a woman's 'desperation' in
those cases, at the expense of
the human fetal life, is cer-
tainly not a society that em-
bodies any value that can
even remotely described as
something the Jewish tradi-
tion recognizes. A Conser-
vative rabbi, however, argues
that the decision to have an
abortion is never undertaken
lightly.
"I've counseled women who
have had abortions, and it's
never an easy option, never
an option that doesn't come
without mourning and a
sense of loss," said Rabbi
Deborah Kantor of the Kane
Street Synagogue in
Brooklyn.
"I am not pro-abortion, but
the essential Jewish position
is that the life of the mother
has a different halachic legal
status than the life of the
fetus.."
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•
Jews Attend
Abortion Rally
Washington (JTA) — Jews
taking part in Sunday's
massive abortion rights
demonstration here spoke
again and again of seizing the
"moral high ground" from
those who would ban abortion
on religious grounds.
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