 |
|
May 25, 2012
Mark Clayton: Is Hillary's State Dept. hacking Al Qaeda? Not quite
Erika Bolstad: Temple cancels Wasserman Schultz speech
The Kosher Gourmet by Ethel G. Hofman: The former president of the International Association of Culinary Professionals, whose members included the likes of Julia Child, is back with contemporary Shavous cuisine: Ruby Fruit Soup, Sweet Noodle Kugel with Cheese, Key Lime Curd, Calsone Casserole Frittata with Wild Mushrooms, Sun-dried tomatoes and Olives, Baked Tilapia with Pepper Cheese Cream and Brown Sugar Shortbread
May 24, 2012
Jeff Jacoby: The peace process battered Israel's reputation
Michael Muskal: 'Pro-choice' position hits record low, according to poll
Chris Farrell: Are We in a Tech Bubble?
The Kosher Gourmet by Penelope Wall: PHILLY CHEESE STEAKS --- hold the steak!
May 23, 2012
Tony Pugh: More private colleges offering tuition discounts
Mary Beth Franklin: How to Choose the Right Annuity for You
Tina Susman: The wig wasn't enough: Man gets 13 years for posing as his dead mom
The Kosher Gourmet by Emma Christensen:A simple way to do fish right
May 22, 2012
Warren Richey: Can US group challenge overseas surveillance act? Supreme Court to decide
Thomas M. Anderson: Walking Away From a Mortgage
The Kosher Gourmet by Megan Gordon: Enjoy a celebration of the most rich and layered flavors: Black bean, sweet potato and quinoa chili
May 21, 2012
Mark Clayton: Cybersecurity: How US utilities passed up chance to protect their networks
Howard LaFranchi: NATO summit: Who will foot the bill for long-term Afghanistan security?
Chris Farrell : Earn Dividends in Emerging Markets with This WisdomTree ETF
Stephen Whiteside, Ph.D. : Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: Social anxiety disorder --- or just shy?
Guy Jackson : Victim's father regrets death of Lockerbie bomber
The Kosher Gourmet by Mario Batali: Famed chef's veal shoulder farsumagru: A festive meat course for late spring
May 18, 2012
Rabbi Berel Wein: Striving: The People of the Book's Book for (All of) the People
Steven Goldberg: 5 Great Stock Picks and the Exchange-Traded Fund that Owns Them
Mary Pickett, M.D.: Ask the Harvard Experts: Don't be forced into gluten-free lifestyle based merely on a doctor's false-positive test
The Kosher Gourmet by Carolyn Malcoun: DIY healthy lunchbox treats: HOMEMADE FRUIT BARS for kids and brown-bagging adults alike
May 17, 2012
Warren Richey: Teacher fired for being unwed and pregnant can sue religious school, court rules
Josh Mitnick: Netanyahu's 'centrist' coalition is already proving it's anything but
Steven Goldberg: Earn Dividends in Emerging Markets with This WisdomTree ETF
Amina Khan: Research links coffee to lower death rates
The Kosher Gourmet by Faith Duran : Cheesy Potato Breakfast Casserole with Cheddar and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
May 16, 2012
Carmen Terzic, M.D., Ph.D. : Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: A variety of exercises can help improve balance
Melissa Healy: National strategy on Alzheimer's disease aims to halt it by 2025
The Kosher Gourmet by Joyce White : GOODNESS GRACIOUS: GREENS! 4 winning recipes that are no longer just for down-home folks (Includes expert tips & techniques)
May 15, 2012
Kristen Chick: Obama administration resumes arms sales to Bahrain despite serious unresolved human rights issues. Activists feel abandoned
Pat Mertz Esswein: Homes are now affordable again and mortgage rates are low. What you need to know before you buy
Kathy Kristof: Our Practical Investor Fights Inflation with These 6 Investments
Sue Hubbard, M.D.: The Kid's Doctor: Lactose intolerant young child? Check again
The Kosher Gourmet by Kathy Hunt: Spread a Little Excitement with EXOTIC CONDIMENTS (4 RECIPES)
May 14, 2012
Lisa Gerstner: How to Protect Your Identity, Finances If You Lose Your Phone
Harvard Health Letters: Heart disease and dementia
The Kosher Gourmet by Megan Gordon: MANGO COCONUT OAT MORNING MUFFINS are a bright but hearty delight
May 11, 2012
Jessica L. Anderson: Get the Best Deal on a Used Car
Jett Stone: Forget face-lifts and fake knees. Scientists have seen the fountain of youth --- and it's broccoli
The Kosher Gourmet by Chef Mario Batali: The famed chef's vegetable dish that tastes true to the season: FAVAS AND SUGAR SNAP PEAS WITH POTATOES AND TARRAGON
May 10, 2012
Sergei L. Loiko: Putin sends warning to U.S., NATO in Victory Day speech at Red Square
Mary Rourke: How being a 'mentch' got Vidal Sasoon his start and fighting in Israel's War of Independence provided him with confidence and a strong sense of his own identity
Jeff Bertolucci: Get Home Phone Service for Less Than $10 a Month
The Kosher Gourmet by Betty Rosbottom: Gleaming with its golden, crimson, and snowy white hues, this silken smooth and creamy STRAWBERRY ORANGE TRIFLE looks impressive, but is easy to prepare
May 9, 2012
Sharon Palmer, R.D. How you can reduce your risk -- or delay -- chronic diseases associated with aging
|
| |
Jewish World Review
April 23, 2007
/ 5 Iyar, 5766
When “abortion” isn't
By
Rabbi Avi Shafran
Intellectual integrity, if nothing else, should prevent anyone from misrepresenting the content of a law, or what Jewish tradition has to say about killing an unborn child, or a born one
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
The U.S. Supreme Court's upholding of the federal Partial-Birth Abortion
Ban Act has elicited the usual cries of protest from abortion rights
advocates and, also as usual, they include an assortment of Jewish
groups and The New York Times.
That latter institution characterized the term "partial-birth abortion"
itself as a "provocative label" for the presumably more descriptive
"intact dilation and extraction." As it happens, The Times (and the
other advocates) are correct about the inaccuracy of the term "partial
birth abortion," but not because it exaggerates the repugnance of the
procedure in question.
Despite concerted efforts by some to misrepresent the law, its language
is stark and clear. It prohibits any overt act, like the puncturing of
the brain, "that the person knows will kill" a fetus whose "entire… head
is outside the body of the mother, or, in the case of breech
presentation, any part of the fetal trunk past the navel is outside the
body of the mother."
Thus, it is not abortion at all that the law at issue addresses, but
rather the killing of a baby whose head or most of whose body has
emerged into the world. Readers of The Times' editorial page, and much
of the "mainstream" media, might be forgiven for not realizing what the
procedure actually entails.
Nor have the media done a very good job explaining what exemptions the
law does or does not contain. Since it does not contain an exemption
for the mother's "health," there is wide assumption (at least from the
evidence of calls and e-mails I have received) that even if the mother's
life were somehow threatened by allowing the partially emerged infant to
fully emerge, the federal prohibition would stand. In fact, though, the
law contains an explicit exception for cases where the procedure is
deemed necessary to preserve the mother's life. As to a "health"
exemption, the Supreme Court's majority found, among other things, that
if there is any threat to maternal health (a possibility about which no
medical consensus exists), "safe alternatives to the prohibited
procedure… are available."
Even more troubling to me, as a Jew, than the misunderstandings of the
facts is that a number of rabbis and Jewish organizational spokespeople
have asserted that Jewish religious tradition is somehow offended by the
recently upheld law. The president of Hadassah, to take one example,
has baldly stated that the law "undermines Jewish values."
She and others who have made similar claims are misinformed, and in turn
misinform.
To be sure, the Talmudic sources are clear that the life of a Jewish
woman whose pregnancy endangers her takes precedence over that of her
unborn when there is no way to preserve both lives. (That is why
Agudath Israel, while we oppose Roe v. Wade's effective "abortion on
demand," has not and would never favor a wholesale ban on abortion.)
And, while the matter is not free from controversy, there are rabbinic
opinions that allow abortion when the pregnancy seriously jeopardizes
the mother's health. But those narrow exceptions do not translate into
some unlimited "mother's right" to "make her own reproductive choices" -
the position Hadassah enthusiastically trumpets.
Moreover, in the specific context of "intact dilation and extraction" —
to use The Times' preferred nomenclature — Jewish law certainly confers
no right to kill a live baby whose head, or most of whose body, has
already emerged. Indeed, once birth has already occurred, Jewish law
makes clear, the newborn child has no less right to live than does the
mother. Stated simply, what the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act
prohibits is, in the eyes of Jewish law, little if anything short of
murder.
Nothing, of course, prevents a Jew, or Jewish organization or rabbi,
from ignoring the teachings of the Jewish religious tradition.
But intellectual integrity, if nothing else, should prevent anyone from
misrepresenting the content of a law, or what Jewish tradition has to
say about killing an unborn child, or a born one.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in Washington and in the media consider "must reading." Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Rabbi Avi Shafran is director of public affairs for Agudath Israel of America. Comment by clicking here.
© 2007, Am echad
|
