More On Jewish Law And Abortion

Q

Re: Jewish Law And Abortion. So there is nothing in the Torah that states abortion is permitted for the health of the mother and that the child could be considered “partial life” until the child is birthed out of the mother? There are several Jewish Rabbi sites that state Jewish law permits abortion…. So this is all man made and not from the Torah? How are they passing this info as legit? And what about Exodus 21:22-23? To me, this reads that if a man causes a woman to suffer a miscarriage, the penalty of the law is a “fine.” But, if the woman also dies, then he shall give “life for a life.”

A

I imagine they pass it off the same way Christian theologians pass off the legality of abortions. Understand that abortion is not a Biblical term. The Bible does not mention the voluntary termination of pregnancies. Large families were considered to be a blessing (Psalm 127:4-5).

I question both the relevance and the accuracy of your translation of Exodus 21:22-23. In the first place the passage is not about a voluntary abortion, it’s about an involuntary premature delivery. Also, the way I read the passage, if a pregnant woman is injured and gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the person responsible for the injury must compensate the woman’s husband. But if there is serious injury to the baby and/or mother then the person responsible must suffer a like injury, up to the loss of his life.

To me this would indicate that the prematurely born child is considered to be a human life, and if it was injured or died, the person responsible would suffer a like injury in accordance with the Law of retaliation (Lev. 24:17-22).