(This is my very first diary, and I’m probably about to put my foot in it big time…but here goes.)

Full Disclosure: I am not a conservative.  I am center-left in my leanings.  Specifically, I am one of those strange creatures known as the Religious Left, that odd pack of betwixt and betweeners who find themselves agreeing with both political sides partially (and neither side fully) on most issues.  One of the most glaring of those issues, of course, is abortion–and it is my views on that issue that I hope to explain in this diary.

Like many of you, my views on abortion are tied inseparably to my faith.  Unlike many of you, my faith is that of an observant Conservative Jew.  One of the things that bothered me as a lurker reading this site was how many RedStaters framed the abortion debate as a black and white, cut and dried, all or nothing, religion vs. secularist debate: either you’re 100% pro-life or 100% pro-choice, with the religiously devout presumed to fall automatically into the former category.

I can understand why, in a nation that is so overwhelmingly Christian, it is easy to overlook religious minorities in making sweeping generalizations about religion in America…I’m guilty of doing it at times myself.  But the fact is, Judaism doesn’t fit that abortion dichotomy, and neither do I.  I don’t expect that my views will change anyone’s mind on the issue, but consider it food for thought.

Unlike Christianity which believes that the fetus is a person from the point of conception, Judaism believes that ensoulment (and thus personhood) occurs at birth.  This belief is based on Genesis 2:7, which states that “the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul (the Hebrew word used is ‘nefesh’).”  Although Adam was fully formed, physically, beforehand, the Bible specifies that he did not become a ‘nefesh’ until his first breath.  ‘Nefesh,” in Hebrew, has two meanings:

1.  A soul

2.  A person (in the legal sense, as opposed to the more general sense of “human”)

Thus, from this passage, the Sages deduced that all humans likewise become ‘nafshim’ only upon drawing breath for the first time, i.e., at birth.  Although a late-term fetus is fully formed and could probably survive outside the womb if removed, it, like the fully formed but nonliving Adam, is not considered a person under Jewish law.  Thus, abortion (except for partial-birth abortion) is not considered murder in Judaism.

This view of the fetus’s status is also reflected in Exodus 21:22-23, which state:

21:22 And if men strive together, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart, and yet no harm follow, he shall be surely fined, according as the woman’s husband shall lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. 21:23 But if any harm follow, then thou shalt give life for life…

In other words, if a man causes a miscarriage (kills a fetus), he is only to be punished by a monetary fine.  If he kills a woman, however, even accidentally, his own life is forfeit.  Clearly, this does not indicate that a fetus and its mother are given equal standing under God’s law–but at the same time, the fetus is clearly not considered worthless, as a man who kills a fetus, even by accident, is liable for punishment.

So what, exactly, is the status of a fetus in Jewish law?  It depends on how far along in development it is.  For the first forty days of gestation, it is considered “mere water,” and thus as having little to no status or value. (Babylonian Talmud, Yebamot 69b)  After that point, the embryo is considered a “part of the mother” and “as one of her limbs” until its birth. (Babylonian Talmud, Gittin 23b)  Once the head of the fetus (or its “greater part” in the case of a feet-first birth) has emerged from the mother’s body, however, it is a ‘nefesh’ with full legal standing as a person. (Mishna, Oholot 7)  Therefore, a first trimester abortion is not considered a sin or a crime (although it is frowned upon in light of the divine command in Genesis 9:1 to “be fruitful and multiply”), a second trimester abortion is considered akin to self-mutilation or self-harming (which is definitely sinful, but not a major offense like murder), and only a third trimester “D&C” (“partial birth abortion,” the only viable way to perform a third trimester abortion) is considered infanticide.

First and second trimester abortions are frowned on by Judaism, but they are not banned.  In fact, in some cases they are actually required by Jewish law!  In the Talmud, it is written that “if a woman has difficulty in pregnancy, the embryo within her must be dismembered limb from limb if necessary, for her life takes precedence over its life.” (Mishna, Oholot 7)  Modern rabbinic authorities disagree as to what degree of “difficulty” in a pregnancy allows or requires an abortion, although all rabbis agree that abortion is required when the mother’s life is in danger (unless it is the third trimester and a partial birth abortion would be required, because one cannot take one life to save another if both parties are threatening each other’s lives, as is the case when a baby’s birth puts both the baby and the mother in danger).  There is also widespread, though not universal, agreement that a fetus with a terminal condition, or one which would cause the mother a long-term debilitating condition if allowed to develop, can be aborted without incurring any sin.  Beyond that, rabbinic opinion is mixed, and each individual synagogue is subject to its own head rabbi’s opinion on the matter.

Now, you may be wondering why, if abortion-on-demand is frowned upon by Judaism, most Jews are so staunchly pro-choice.  That also is a matter of faith: decisions about abortion are considered to be the prerogative of the woman (or the couple), her doctor, and her rabbi only, and none of a judge’s business.  Jews are thus mostly opposed to any anti-abortion law that would require women to get a legal official’s permission to have an abortion, even anti-abortion laws that make exceptions for the life and health of the mother (since the standard of “risk to life or health” included in those laws is not the same as the Jewish standard, and could result in judges overruling the right of Jewish women to follow the dictates of their faith).

As for me, I am very much in line with Jewish law on this.  I support bans on partial-birth abortion and parental notification laws, but I will fight to uphold Roe v. Wade with everything I’ve got.  Nonetheless, I would counsel (and have counseled) any woman with an unplanned preganancy to have the baby and then either keep it or put it up for adoption…and I would support her in whatever way necessary to enable her to do so.  (And as a side note, my fiance and I plan to adopt children in addition to whatever children we conceive ourselves, to make sure that those children whose mothers did carry them to term are not simply abandoned by the system after birth.)

Like I said, I doubt my opinions will change anyone’s mind, nor was changing minds the intent.  I just wanted to show you that pro-choice positions are not necessarily atheistic ones, and that it is indeed possible for a leftie to cherish, defend, and live her faith as strongly as the Religious Right do.

I hope this diary was at least interesting, and I welcome debate (theological or otherwise), praise, criticism, questions, or whatever else you care to throw at me.   Thanks for letting me be a part of your community!