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November 20, 2008
The Jews And Partial Birth Abortion
Here is a bit of text that I think many of you will find very interesting. The Jewish distinction (rooted in the original Hebrew text) between the life of the mother and the life of the child is emphasized in a striking text of the Mishnah (Ohalot 7:6):Of course with the Jews, having no central authority since the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, there are many contending schools of thought. In addition even when the Temple was in existence there was the oral or common law which modified the law handed down in the Torah. In fact the law was highly developed and it is where our common phrase "it depends on whose ox was gored" comes from. What do I get from all this? That the various positions on abortion come out of religion and not some absolute rule that can be unequivocally applied and that the best thing the government can do is to stay out of the question and let the individual decide what is best. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon on 11.20.08 at 12:59 AM
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Steven, And yet it is permissible under Jewish Law. Note: a few years back there was an anti-abortion nurse who had a PBA and she spoke out re: the necessity in some (probably rather few) cases. M. Simon · November 21, 2008 03:52 AM Partial birth abortion is regarded as a horror by some pro-choice liberals, Daniel Patrick Moynihan likening it to "infanticide". One would think that American Jews, given the rationalizations (e.g. Racial Purity statutes about "personhood") of those in the past who sought to exterminate them, the ongoing demographic decline of American Jewry, and the American Jewish community's long commitment to social justice, would be more sympathetic to the plight of the defenseless unborn. Sadly, judging from the texts cited, Judaic law scarcely recognizes the unborn as human (ever seen the tiny, beating heart of a 10-week-old embryo in a sonogram?), much less a "person". They reap what they sow. "Our Elder Brethren in the Faith", only so far. furious · November 22, 2008 12:40 PM Many people have claimed that Judaism does not regard the unborn as persons since we regard other persons lives as having priority when the fetuses are threatening them. More recently, some of the same people have claimed that we do not regard the Palestinians as persons since we regard other persons lives as having priority when the Palestinians are threatening them. In other words, the claim that Judaism is necessarily pro-"choice" can lead to anti-Zionism. Meanwhile, as far as I can tell, Jewish law is consistent with the comparison between war and abortion that '60s liberals used to proclaim. (They dropped it along with most of the other good ideas they had.) In accordance with this, abortion is an unjust war unless the fetus threatens the life of the mother. This explains why it is appropriate to protest abortion by sit-ins but not by assassinating abortionists. Joseph Hertzlinger · November 23, 2008 02:03 AM Post a comment
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In a partial-birth abortion, the fetus is positioned so that it can be delivered feet first. After the body is out, except for the head, an instrument is inserted into the skull to suck out its contents, collapsing the head. So, I assume, that since the rest of the body is already out, then bringing the head out intact would kill the mother? That's ridiculous! Wouldn't trying to position the fetus into a breech position cause enough trauma to kill the mother? This procedure is not about saving a mother's life. I have read extensively on this and I don't believe there is a documented case where this procedure ever saved a woman's life. It is merely a way to abort a child who's mother waited to long to make the decision. It is a horrible and despicable procedure.