Jewish Pro-Life Replies to Jewish Pro-Abortion Claims

Claim #1. Abortion is a Jewish Value 

Judaism is the Original Pro-Life Religion, the first religion in human history to ban child sacrifice and to sanctify human life from conception. Abortion is prohibited in Judaism, and judged to be the unwarranted taking of a life within a life. Jewish values require we take actions that protect and save lives, not destroy life. Our traditions teach us to use our abundant resources to help vulnerable women and children flourish, to actively rescue those who are targeted for death, to respect life as made in the image of the Creator, to promote family, community, and posterity. If the life of an unborn baby is being mortally threatened, then it is mandated in Jewish law to save that baby’s life, and to break every Sabbath prohibition to do so. 

Our legal code forbids direct involvement in the destruction of life or support of businesses that destroy life or engage in harmful activity, therefore, Jews are forbidden to engage in or support abortion business practices: torturing and starving, poisoning, or dismembering unborn citizens without giving these victims pain medication; delivering live babies for illegal organ harvesting; racially targeting minority populations; ignoring standard medical regulations, failing to report sex crimes or protecting victims of sex trafficking, and harming women physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

Claim #2. Abortion is a religious right

In Jewish law, nobody has the right to kill anybody else. Killing is only justified in a situation where killing an assailant is the only way to protect the right of the victim not to be killed. Rabbinic law allows a rare exception to the prohibition against abortion:’To Save the Life of the Mother.’ Originally used in ancient times for breech birth which, if not remedied, would kill both mother and child. The legal permission to save the mother’s life by taking the child’s life was restricted to this grave imminent danger, and currently an exception to save the mother’s life is correctly reflected in every pro-life law. Today, pregnancies that threaten the mother’s life can be remedied by humanely removing the baby from the uterus. If viable, the baby’s life can be saved by placement in neonatal intensive care. If not viable, the baby can be allowed to pass peacefully and a normal grieving process follows. This is much safer for the mother, too.

Claim #3. The Free Exercise of Religion Clause Protects a Jewish Right to Abortion

Murder is a capital crime, therefore, murder is not included in protected First Amendment religious practices. Compliance with state and federal homicide statutes must override abortion demands based upon religious grounds if they go beyond an imminent physical danger to the mother.

Abortion was weaponized against Jews in the Holocaust in pursuit of the Final Solution. Legal slaughter of sub-human parasites, as we were deemed, codified systemic racism and genocide. This language and legal precedent provided sanction for systemic racism and genocide in current American abortion law. Fourteenth Amendment protections for unborn children must be applied, just as they apply to all other vulnerable minorities.

Claim #4. It’s Not Alive Until It’s Born

A corrupted, misleading reference to ancient opinion on the status of the unborn that is now used to justify killing humans before birth. Jewish law applies scientific discovery in modern adjudication. Science now proves beyond a doubt that human life begins at conception. We know without a doubt that abortion kills an innocent living human being. Judaism prohibits killing an innocent person. Therefore, Judaism prohibits abortion.

Claim #5. Anti-Abortionists Compare the Abortion Holocaust to the European Holocaust For Political Purposes

This is a consistent charge by the Anti-Defamation League(ADL), who rejects this legitimate comparison because it is administered and funded by abortion supporters. They are unaware of the similarities in propaganda and language that undeniably link the two genocides: Jewish victims of genocide throughout history have been redefined as subhuman, legally stripped of personhood and civil liberties, tortured and murdered. Similarly, infant life in the womb is redefined as subhuman, legally stripped of personhood and civil liberties, tortured and murdered. 

Claim #6. Christian Anti-Abortionists are Anti-Semitic

This accusation is baseless because abortion beyond a rare exception to save the life of the mother is NOT normative Jewish law. Christian anti-abortion philosophy is founded in Jewish biblical texts and commentary which clearly prohibit child killing. Advocating for protections and civil liberties for innocent life in the womb is not hostility nor discrimination towards Jews. It aligns with the Jewish universal prohibition against “shedding innocent blood.” Contrast this accusation to the icon of the Jewish pro-abortion movement, eugenicist and anti-semite Margaret Sanger, a friend of Adolph Hitler. She considered Jews to be human weeds and a menace to the white race.

Claim #7. Exodus 21:22-25 Justifies Abortion in Judaism

his text is not a license to abort an unborn child, rather, it is a reference to involuntary manslaughter. Many translations read “and a miscarriage occurs” rather than as “a premature birth results.” The passage, in my opinion, is to “a premature birth” when the context is considered. The text actually says that if the child “departs” [“yasa”] the womb and no other damage ensues from the event. In other words, if because of the struggle the baby is born early but is otherwise fine, then the men may be required to pay damages for their carelessness but no more. “But if other damage ensues,” i.e. the baby is born with some deformity or born dead, then the standard penalties will apply, 'an eye for eye, tooth for tooth'. If the child dies as a result the men are guilty of the murder, a life for a life. The text makes no sense any other way. The Hebrew term shachol references an abortion or miscarriage. That word is not used here.   

Cecily Routman

May there be abundant peace from Heaven, and good life upon us and upon all Israel. Amen.