Last revised: July 27, 1997
NOBODY'S BODY BUT MINE
I may come as a surprise to some readers that not all religious faiths are opposed to abortion. Jews, along with many Protestant denominations, support the right of a pregnant woman to follow the dictates of her own conscience when confronted by an unwanted pregnancy.
According to the Talmud, the life of the mother takes precedence over that of the unborn. The fetus is a potential person only. And, while aborting a pregnancy is always a serious matter and never a first choice, it is not murder. The primary reason recognized by Judaism for termination of pregnancy is to save the life of the woman and it is understood that this includes psychological as well as physical life and the life and well-being of her family. The fetus is referred to as a rodef a word which means "pursuer" someone who is pursuing the woman's life. An actual separate human life is considered to begin when the baby crowns during birth.
The basis for this teaching is the interpretation in the Talmud of the Biblical story in Exodus 21:22-25. In this account a pregnant woman becomes involved in a conflict between two men and suffers a miscarriage. The passage makes a clear distinction between the penalty to be paid for the loss of the fetus and any injury which might have been inflicted on the woman. Harm to the mother is held to be much a more serious occurrence than loss of the unborn and the law of lex talionis is then applied: "life for life, eye for eye...wound for wound...".
Because they are pro-choice, Jewish Americans face special hazards. Not only does the anti-choice movement seek to place restrictions on the freedom of Jews to act in accordance with their own religious teachings about abortion, but it also uses the Jewish position on reproductive choice to reinforce discrimination against Jewish citizens. The whole anti-choice movement is permeated with anti-Semitism.
Examples of anti-Jewish anti-choice rhetoric abound. Ray Jeske, pro-natalist activist in Ohio, says that opposition to abortion..."tells us who is Christian and who isn't". Robert Cooley, leader of the Pro-Life Action Network stated on WVIT-TV in Connecticut that, "affluence and comfort lead to abortion" and that "the majority of abortionists are Jewish".
Cooley also said that, "it's interesting to me that many abortionists are Jewish..as an ethnic group something like 81% of all Jews want abortion legal...it seems so incongruous...because they suffered at the hands of the Nazis".
Perhaps the most deplorable of the compulsory pregnancy movement's anti-Semitic slurs are those which refer to the Holocaust. Randall Terry's group, Operation Rescue, once picketed a synagogue on Yom Kipper eve, carrying signs that read "Abortion is the American Holocaust". As if termination of early pregnancy could be compared to the reality of the actual Holocaust - the deaths inflicted by Hitler's Third Reich on millions of already born persons. These victims were human beings with the capacity for thought and feeling, for intense suffering and grief. To make such a comparison to legalized abortion is to trivialize the horror of the Nazi death camps.
The anti-choice people also use the Postal Service to spread their anti-Semitic venom. For years, postcards bearing hate messages have arrived at the offices of women's clinics and Planned Parenthood offices across the country, cards that say, "Rich, murdering Jewish doctors are dedicated to baby butchering" and "We need another Jewish Holocaust here in America!" Another group sends a message which refers to "the conspiracy of Jew Lawyers" who oppose the "defenders of life".
In the Middle Ages Jews were accused of killing Christian babies and using their blood in Jewish religious celebrations. From our 20th century perspective, such an accusation is so absurd we can't imagine that any thinking person could have believed it. Of course, it's hard to see how any thinking person could believe the kinds of statements about Jews made by all too many present-day anti-abortion groups.
Are we going to stand idly by while Jewish Americans are subjected to the same kinds of slander they have had to endure for centuries -- from the bigots, the zealots, the haters? Let's hope we step forward and defend the First Amendment right of Jews to freedom of conscience. Let's hope we all realize that religious freedom is indivisible. If adherents of one faith can be persecuted for their beliefs, so can we all.