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Summary

Judaism and abortion

Judaism does not forbid abortion, but it does not permit abortion on demand. Abortion is only permitted for serious reasons.

Judaism expects every case to be considered on its own merits and the decision to be taken after consultation with a rabbi competent to give advice on such matters.

Strict Judaism permits abortion only in cases where continuing the pregnancy would put the mother's life in serious danger.

In such circumstance (where allowing the pregnancy to continue would kill the mother) Judaism insists that the foetus must be aborted, since the mother's life is more important than that of the foetus.

Jewish law is more lenient concerning abortions in the first forty days of pregnancy as it considers the embryo to be of relatively low value during this time.

Abortions because of defects in the foetus or to protect the mental health of the mother are forbidden by some schools of Judaism and permitted by others under differing circumstances.

The argument for allowing such abortions is normally based on the pain that will be caused to the mother if the pregnancy is allowed to continue.

Sanctity of life and abortion

Judaism has a supreme concern for the sanctity of human life.

According to the Mishnah (Sanhedrin 4:5):

Apart from an overall regard for the sanctity of life, Judaism finds other reasons to forbid abortion:

• killing a foetus breaks God's command to populate the world
• killing a foetus destroys something made in God's image
• killing a foetus is wanton destruction of part of God's creation
• killing a foetus destroys something that could become a being
• killing a foetus is an unjustifiable act of wounding
• it is wrong to injure oneself

Classical Jewish arguments about abortion are mainly concerned with the distinction between killing someone who is fully a person, and someone who is not so fully a person. There's more about these arguments later in this article.

Abortion is not explicitly referred to in the Hebrew Bible - so the abortion arguments have to draw analogies from the text.

In fact Biblical Jewish teaching doesn't deal at all with the circumstance of an abortion deliberately induced with the consent of the mother - that concept seems completely unknown.

Acceptable circumstances

Saving the mother's life

Jewish law permits abortion to save the life of the mother - in fact it insists on an abortion if this is necessary to save the mother.

This is because the mother's life takes precedence over the life of the foetus.

The danger to the mother must be clear and substantial, and the abortion cannot be done in the very last stage of pregnancy.

The Mishnah states that where there is danger to the mother's life, an abortion can be performed at any stage from conception until the head of the infant emerges:

The mother and mental distress

There is no consistent view as to what level of mental distress on the part of the mother is needed to justify abortion.

However almost all rabbis would agree that if continuing the pregnancy would cause the mother to commit suicide, then abortion is justified. (But this presumably requires that appropriate action to combat the mental distress be considered before abortion is permitted.)

Lesser levels of mental distress are unlikely to justify an abortion in the eyes of most rabbis.

Rape or incest

Abortion in these cases would only be permitted if continuing the pregnancy would cause the mother sufficient distress to endanger her health.

Saving the mother 'from' the foetus

A related (but subtly different) argument operates not on the priority of the mother's life or personhood, but by classifying the foetus as a 'rodef', a 'pursuer' who is threatening the life of the mother. The foetus may therefore be killed in such a case in order to prevent the mother being killed.

The great Jewish commentator Maimonides (who was also a doctor) wrote:

This argument justifies destroying something of high value (the foetus), because it is (actively) endangering a person's life. The humanness of the foetus is devalued because the foetus is threatening a life.

Abortion for the sake of the baby

Traditionally Judaism does not regard the suffering that an abnormal baby might endure as a sufficient reason to justify an abortion, and most rabbis would not give permission for a foetus to be aborted for that reason.

However some rabbis would give permission in such a case if it is argued that the prospect of having a deformed and suffering child is causing the mother severe mental distress. They do this on the grounds that continuing the pregnancy is a threat to the mother.

Rabbi Moshe Feinstein (an authority in this area) ruled that screening of embryos is forbidden if the only purpose of doing so is to check for birth defects which might lead the parents to ask for an abortion. (Screening so that the foetus may be treated if there is a problem is, of course, a good thing.)

However another distinguished rabbi, Eliezar Waldenberg, has suggested that abortion for the sake of the baby is sometimes permissible.

Waldenberg accepts abortion in the first trimester of a foetus which would be born with a deformity that would cause it suffering, and abortion of a foetus with a fatal defect such as Tay Sachs (a genetic defect found particularly in Asheknazi Jews) within the first two trimesters.

Some rabbis have suggested that abortion might be acceptable where Down's syndrome is detected, or where the mother has German measles. This view is controversial.

The legal status of a foetus

Part of the mother's body

Traditional Judaism regards a foetus as a being that is developing towards being a person.

In Judaism a foetus is not considered to be a person until it is born.

Before that it is regarded as a part of the mother's body, although it does possess certain characteristics of a person and some status.

During the first forty days after conception, it is considered 'mere fluid'.

From an ethical point of view, then:

• a foetus is not a person
• but a foetus should nonetheless be protected to some extent because it is growing towards full personhood
• so a foetus should not be destroyed or harmed except for very good reasons

The high status given to a foetus is demonstrated by the fact that Jewish law permits desecration of the Sabbath in order to save the life of a foetus.

According to the Halacha or Jewish Law a foetus is considered part of the mother's body and not a full human being. The book of Exodus (21:22) says...

"Other damage" is taken in this text to mean "the death of the mother."

This passage is interpreted as saying that causing the foetus to miscarry is a civil wrong that gives rise to the right to financial restitution - which indicates that the foetus is not a person - but killing the mother is murder, because the mother is a person.

The distinguished commentator Rashi wrote:

This passage, too, makes it clear that Judaism regards a foetus as a lesser human being than a human being who has been (at least partially) born.

But although the foetus has no personhood and therefore none of the rights and privileges of a human being, it must still be protected as a potential human being, and not casually harmed or destroyed.

The Talmud (commentary on Jewish oral traditions) gives other examples on the status of the foetus.

The first involves the sale of a cow, which is subsequently found to be pregnant. No payment is made for the sale of the foetus to the buyer and the foetus belongs to the buyer.

The second example concerns the conversion of a pregnant woman to Judaism. Jewish law regards the conversion valid for her future child as well, requiring no separate conversion for it after birth.

Find out more

• Abortion ethics