jewish perception on abortion (1 Viewer)

[marlen]

hey can anyone pass on any noted they have taken on the standpoint of the jewish tradtion on the issue of abortion. please i got a speech and have to finish this A.S.AP.aghhhhhh

 

[iambored]

there's a really good site on that, have you googled it?
i had a look and cant find it. but just type it in on google

http://caae.phil.cmu.edu/Cavalier/Forum/abortion/background/judaism1.html

http://slate.msn.com/id/1005956/

 

[snapperhead]

havent looked at the above sites but be aware of the "legalistic" side of Jewish "doctrine" (for want of a better term). There are many sides to the abortion argument that really cant be simplified as such. Orthodox Jews vary in opinion as do Liberal Jews. The argument revolves around the idea of the "threat to the mother" (as the only reason for abortion). Another side of the argument is "when is a baby a baby?" (as is similar to the Australian society/Christian argument). Ideas again vary- one is that the baby/foetus is an aware person as an angel of God is whispering to the baby for 9 months filling its head with knowledge. This knowledge is lost when the baby is born hence the Jewish "love/respect" for education. Connected with this is (how to word this), the exit of the baby from the mothers body dictates "life" ie its isnt "alive" prior to birth........ am working from memory here so things may be a little hazy.

try www.jewfaq.org as another good source of info.

 

[iambored]

yeah. in what i learnt, it was that if the baby was unborn, abortion was allowed. because the mother was alive, and therefore more important. the baby was considered to be 'pursuing' the mother's life. (there's more to this, you will have to look it up, i cant be bothered typing it). apparently a foetus is not considered life until it is born. i think this was for the orthodox jews.

 

[MissSavage29]

We were at the Jewish synagoge last week talking to the guy there and he said that aborition is okay if the life of the mother is in danger. Because they believe the baby is not considered a life until it is born and there obligations are to the mother.

However, they don't believe that it should be used in replacement of birth control

 

[redslert]

let me help you out with some notes i worte

Judaism V Religion and Ethics V Bio-ethics
Jewish law imposes specific responsibilities on individuals to safeguard their own lives and to help others. The extents of these obligations, however, are not unlimited. There is continual debate about these limitations. For Jews, the issue of abortion revolves around the obligations to ease suffering at all costs. For Judaism, a foetus only becomes a human with a soul when enters the world through birth, which means that abortion is technically not a murder. Furthermore, for Reformed and Conservative Jews, abortion is allowed if a mother or child will suffer considerable pain, even so, abortion on demand is not allowed in any Jewish variant and will require strong reasoning.
Within the numerous variants of Judaism, there are differing views towards IVF. For reformed Jews, there is a general acceptance for IVF because of the required fulfilment of the torah on having children. But conservative Jews will not allow IVF because there is a strong belief in the importance of a foundation of a family and having children without marriage is frowned upon. With IVF brings the issues of frozen embryos and all Jews dislike the fact that extra embryos will be created but will be neglected after the process or will have to be destroyed.
Cloning? Same stance as Christianity? There is no clear consensus yet in Jewish law regarding cloning. Since the technology to clone people is not yet a reality, the issue is an academic one, not a practical one.
For Jews, life is valued highly and the only time when it is right to kill or harm others is in an act of self defence or in punishment. Hence, killing to ease suffering is not acceptable, however, in order to ease patients suffering, doctors are allowed to administer treatment that may save their life, but can have potential in killing. From the book of Genesis, God is the giver of all life, and Jews believes that life is to be valued. Also, euthanasia would be against the rules of the Torah which is why it is condemned for taking the life of another being.
In terms of genetic engineering and stem cell research, Jews believes that it is important to save the life of another person. Which is why, genetic engineering is acceptable in Judaism because it has the potential to create a child who is gifted and free from illness.

the only thing which is missing from this are quotes from jewish writings to prove my point...but i guess you can squeeze it in