Abortion, in Jewish law, is not a right!
What brings us to Jewish religious law’s stance on abortion. As in many areas of halacha, it is complex: There are a variety of approaches, situations and opinions. A good overview of the halacha of abortion was written recently for JTA by nurse practitioner Ephraim Sherman. But a compendium of sources and applications cannot touch the core issue, the one that should be a game changer for Jewish-minded Jews: responsibility . Abortion, in Jewish law, is not a right. In the vast majority of cases it’s actually a wrong. But even in cases where it is permitted or required, as when a Jewish mother’s life is endangered, even indirectly (or, although the matter is hardly free of controversy, according to some respected rabbinic opinions when the pregnancy seriously jeopardizes the mother’s health), the decision to terminate a pregnancy is not a question of a woman’s right to choose but of her responsibility to choose correctly, her obligation to do what halacha counsels in her pa