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The Abortion debate redux

 As the abortion debate heats up again, I orginally wrote the following post as a response to a respected colleague. I realize  that it deserves an airing if its own.


Jewish Law and its sense of universal / Natural Law certainly eschews abortion in many cases, but permits them in others. There exists a serious concern that any further limitation of abortion would block.abortions that Jewish Law / values permits - and indeed mandates that they take place.


On the other hand, Jewish law and it's understanding of universal "Natural/Noahide" law for all humanity is deeply opposed to all unnecessary abortions. The vast majority of abortions performed in this country fall into that category.


But how to stop them? 

One is teaching morality and the value of life. An unborn baby's unnecessary death is not just another form of birth control. 


In "unnecessary"  I  exclude all the multiple cases of abortions Jewish law might require - and these parameters are very broad. Yet , these are still a tiny fraction of the abortions performed yearly in this country


We certainly need to encourage and prioritize society to create stable two-parent homes that children should be born into and raised in. 


However that doesn't always happen even in the communities most committed to these  values. 


So, if we had a robust safety net providing food, shelter and childcare to all who need it, even for those who cannot pay on their own, many of the social and economic pressures to (G-d forbid) terminate a viable pregnancy would be removed. 


We then could have much more success in convincing mothers (and fathers) to give life to their babies.


There are various organizations in Israel that reach out to mothers and provide financial and childcare help  to encourage them to have their children. They have been very very successful in bringing tens if not hundreds of thousands of children into the world. But with kindness and support , rather than an iron fist. 


As a nation we have the resources and compassion to make this happen, we merely need to find the will to prioritize this.

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