Judaism and Abortion

Balfour Brickner was a prominent American Reform rabbi and activist, best known for his social advocacy, including his testimony before the Subcommittee on Constitutional Amendments of the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary in 1974. In his testimony, Brickner notes that Jewish law and tradition permit abortion, because a fetus is not considered a person until after it is born, and the health of the mother deserves to be protected. Brickner’s testimony was a significant contribution to ongoing debates about abortion laws in the United States following the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade in 1973.