I NEWS 1 Distinctive gifts Jewish Abortion Law Open To Interpretation unusual music boxes designer picture frames magnificent crystal nostalgia collection fine dolls cuddly bears handsome desk sets & bookends unique earrings bracelets jewelled ties hand-crafted items plus so much more complimentary gift wrapping fine furniture, accessories & gifts always 20% off 8herwood 8tudio8 Tel-Twelve Mall • 12 Mile & Telegraph Daily 10-9 • Sunday 12-5 • 354-9060 for the finest quality and the freshest flowers FLOWERS & GIFTS, INC. fourteen mile at farmington road hours: mon-sat 9-7 sunday delivery available 851-9244 order by phone use any major credit card FOR AN ELEGANT CENTERPIECE TO COMPLEMENT YOUR HOLIDAY TABLE ALL THE EPHRAIMS AT BRANDY'S FLOWERS & GIFTS WISH ALL OUR FRIENDS AND CUSTOMERS THE HAPPIEST HOLIDAY the beauty of flowers in an elegant setting 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.." 4 4 4 4 • 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. I