Abortions Should Be Safe, Legal, and Rare

This might seem counter intuitive to my usually conservative approach to things. But as I often say, I lean conservative on most things. Which means on some things I am decidedly liberal. This is one of them.

This might also seem to contradict my religious views. After all, abortions are not permitted by Halacha either. Although not considered a capital crime – it is still a serious violation of Halacha to kill an unborn child. How then can I be in favor of keeping it legal?  Orthodox organizations like Agudah have always been on the ‘pro-life’ anti abortion side of things. How can I – as a conscientious observant Jew side with a view that allows abortions on demand for anyone who desires one regardless of their reason?

That assumption is a mistake. Just as I believe the pro-life position of Agudah is a mistake. While we are both on the side of Halacha I believe the more Halachicly valid approach is to keep abortion legal.  

How could that be? Let me explain.  Abortions are a medical procedure that should be open to whoever needs them.  The decision to have one should not be left in the hands of those whose values differ from ours.

There are a variety of situations where Halacha permits an abortion. 

The reason we ‘kill’ the fetus when it endangers the mother’s life is because it is considered a Rodef – someone that pursues killing you. If one sees one Jew about to murder another Jew, we are commanded to kill the murderer before they act – and save the life of his ‘about to be’ victim.  The fetus is in essence a pursuer in the process of trying to murder its mother. ‘Killing it’ via an abortion is tantamount to a justifiable homicide. Alabama’s new anti abortion law seems to agree with that.

But there are other instances where abortion may be permitted even if the mother’s life is not in danger depending - for instance - on what stage of pregnancy she is in. One recognized world class Posek, Rav Eliezer Waldenberg, ZTL – (the Tztiz Eliezer) famously permits aborting a Tay-Sachs baby (even in the later stages of pregnancy - if I recall correctly) once the fetus is discovered to have that gene.

The point being that the Halachos regarding abortions are complex and subject to interpretations by legitimate recognized Poskim.

Roe V. Wade is the landmark 1973 Supreme Court ruling that said any legislation restricting abortions is unconstitutional. That makes it available to us when we need it. Can anyone imagine what would happen if it were overturned making abortion illegal in this country?!

That is precisely the issue at hand. I heard one Alabama state legislator say that this law was worded in a way that would challenge Roe V Wade. The hope is that the newly conservative Supreme Court would overturn it!  That might have the chilling effect of returning the US to a time when abortions were done illegally – often under unsafe conditions!

It would be a nightmare for someone that needed one based on Halacha but was denied because it did not meet some arbitrary legal standard set by the government. It is a far wiser position in my view to keep it legal and allow people to make their own decisions on such matters. Which for Orthodox Jews would mean to let Halacha decide it..

This of course does not mean we should as a matter of principle say that it is morally justifiable to be in favor of abortion on demand – even if it is just as a means of birth control. We should speak out strongly against such abortions as immoral. But as a legal matter, it is more important to have this medical procedure available to us without any government interference.

If that is the Halachacly prudent approach, why are religious organizations like Agudah in the pro- life column? (And they are not the only ones.)

I asked that question to an official of Agudah a while back and he told me that in theory I was right.  But Agudah felt that being pro choice sends the wrong message. Which is that Agudah supports abortion on demand for anyone for any reason. They do not. Agudah felt that in most cases abortion would be against Halacha anyway. If Roe V Wade is overturned and more states outlaw it - the few times it was needed, a woman could go out of the state and have it performed where it is legal. 

I assume that Agudah supports Alabama since the vast majority of Halachicly permitted abortions are done to save the life of the mother. Which is the way Alabama’s law is written. But I disagree. As noted saving the life of the mother is not the only circumstance where abortions are permitted. If it were made illegal it would be a nightmare for women who needed it and had to travel to ‘who knows where’ and have ‘who knows who’ doing it. Rather than her own trusted OB-Gyn.

This is why one will find me always in the pro-choice column. Not because I believe in abortions on demand per se. But because I believe that all medical procedures should be permitted and available to us without any problems. Decisions about when - and when not - to have an abortion should be left fully in our own hands.