This Matter of Abortion

David M. Feldman

1986

Abortion is not murder, vociferous and repeated claims to the contrary notwithstanding. Abortion cannot be murder in Jewish law, because, as indicated above, murder is one of the three “cardinal” sins that require martyrdom. Rather than commit murder of the innocent, public idolatry or gross sexual immorality [adultery-incest], one has to surrender…

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Rabbi David M. Feldman was a noted authority on Jewish medical ethics who wrote extensively on the intersection of Jewish law (halakhah) and modern medical issues. This essay appears in Feldman’s book Health and Medicine in the Jewish Tradition, a work that explores Jewish ethical and legal perspectives on health-related issues, including abortion. Feldman’s argument elucidates Jewish perspectives around abortion, noting that in Jewish texts and tradition, a fetus is not considered a person until it is born, and thus the life of the pregnant mother should be prioritized and protected. 

Creator Bio

David M. Feldman

1929–2014

David M. Feldman attended Columbia University and the University of Illinois, and was ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. He was rabbi emeritus at the Jewish Center of Teaneck, New Jersey. Also dean of the Jewish Institute of Bioethics, Feldman was named rabbi of the year by the New York Board of Rabbis in 1993. He was the editor of the Compendium on Medical Ethics.

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