Chris LaRock:
“Halacha (Jewish law) does define when a fetus becomes a nefesh (person). ‘…a baby…becomes a full-fledged human being when the head emerges from the womb. Before then, the fetus is considered a "partial life.’”’ In the case of a ‘feet-first’ delivery, it happens when most of the fetal body is outside the mother’s body.
"Jewish beliefs and practice not neatly match either the ‘pro-life’ nor the ‘pro-choice’ points of view. The general principles of modern-day Judaism are that:
The fetus has great value because it is potentially a human life. It gains ‘full human status at birth only.’
Abortions are not permitted on the grounds of genetic imperfections of the fetus.
Abortions are permitted to save the mother’s life or health.
With the exception of some Orthodox authorities, Judaism supports abortion access for women.
‘…each case must be decided individually by a rabbi well-versed in Jewish law."’"
“Historical Christianity has considered ‘ensoulment,’ the point at which the soul enters the body) as the time when abortions should normally be prohibited. Belief about the timing of this event has varied from the instant of fertilization of the ovum, to 90 days after conception, or later. There has been no consensus among historical Jewish sources about when ensoulment happens. It is regarded as ‘one of the “secrets of God”’ that will be revealed only when the Messiah comes.”
"Abortion-related passages in the Hebrew Scriptures & Talmud:
The Babylonian Talmud Yevamot 69b states that: ‘the embryo is considered to be mere water until the fortieth day.’ Afterwards, it is considered subhuman until it is born.
“Rashi, the great 12th century commentator on the Bible and Talmud, states clearly of the fetus ‘lav nefesh hu–it is not a person.’ The Talmud contains the expression ‘ubar yerech imo–the fetus is as the thigh of its mother,’ i.e., the fetus is deemed to be part and parcel of the pregnant woman’s body.” This is grounded in Exodus 21:22. That biblical passage outlines the Mosaic law in a case where a man is responsible for causing a woman’s miscarriage, which kills the fetus If the woman survives, then the perpetrator has to pay a fine to the woman’s husband. If the woman dies, then the perpetrator is also killed. This indicates that the fetus has value, but does not have the status of a person.
"The Torah contains no direct references to pregnancy termination, only to miscarriage following violent altercation."
"The Torah says little about the status or treatment of the embryo or fetus. Indeed, only one crucial Biblical law establishes a rule about the killing of an embryo or fetus. Specifically, Exodus 21:22-23 states:
“When men fight, and one of them pushes a pregnant woman and a miscarriage results, but no other damage (ason) ensues, the one responsible shall be fined according as the woman’s husband may exact from him, the payment to be based on reckoning. But if other damage (ason) ensues, the penalty shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.”
“In Judaism, views on abortion draw primarily upon the legal and ethical teachings of the Hebrew Bible, the Talmud, the case-by-case decisions of responsa, and other rabbinic literature. In the modern period, moreover, Jewish thinking on abortion has responded both to liberal understandings of personal autonomy as well as Christian opposition to abortion. Generally speaking, orthodox Jews oppose abortion, with few health-related exceptions, and reform and conservative Jews tend to allow greater latitude for abortion.”
—Wikipedia: Religion and Abortion
—Wikipedia: Judaism and Abortion
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