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What are the teachings about abortion and the sanctity of life found in jewish scriptures and rabbinic writing?
Judaism is unequivocal, and by Western standards, quite extreme with regards to abortion and the sanctity of life.
Abortion is referred to rather explicitly in the text of the Bible itself: "one who pours blood within blood, his blood will be poured". The Rabbis explain this verse, and seemingly this is the literal understanding, that it is considered murder to kill a person who is inside another person. Who is a person inside another person - this refers to a baby inside the mother's womb.
The distinction made between the levels of life attained by a foetus and a born person is reflected in the following law. If a mother is at risk of losing her life unless the foetus is delivered or aborted, the it is permissible to abort or deliver the foetus, even if the foetus will certainly not survive. THis scenario is common in clinical practice eg ectopic pregnancy, eclampsia etc. The foetus is considered as if it is out to kill the mother, and can therefore be killed in self defense. THe foetus is still considered to be a person on one level, and so we need to find a justification to abort it. We don't say: well, it's only a foetus, let's just abort it so that the mother can live.
THe Rabbis do make a distinction between the first 40 days of gestation, when the foetus has yet to take shape, and after the 40 days. However most of the abortion issues usually take place after 40 days anyway.
Judaism, as you can tell, forbids abortion, and you won't find any early pregnancy clinics in observant circles. Where there are real questions regarding abortions of non viable foetuses, a major Jewish legal authority needs to be consulted. Some cases have been aborted under those circumstances.
Sanctity of life is more important. So much so, that there are laws regarding what can be said to a seriously sick person as it may hasten their death. Only three principles are more important than life itself: idolatry, murder and illegal sexual relations.
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