Dr. Daniel Eisenberg is an expert in the traditional Jewish approach to medical ethics issues. Aish recently published his legal commentary on abortion in Jewish law. Dr. Eisenberg's opinion, though more fair minded than most commentary on the issue coming out of Jewish media, omits many realities about abortion that go against Jewish law, These omissions give the reader a sanitized, incomplete picture of abortion detached from reality, once again giving an ambiguous, equivocating Jewish position that can be misconstrued to choose and advocate for abortion.
TURED
Abortion in Jewish Law
Please read the article and add a comment. Then email Dr, Eisenberg to educate him on abortion realities that go against Jewish law and ethics. His email address is eisenbda@gmail.com.
We added the following comment and sent a similar message to Dr. Eisenberg's email address.
Everything about abortion is antithetical to Judaism
This legal treatment of the issue omits the realities of abortion, all of which go against Jewish law.
Dr. Eisenberg never mentions the harm done to women by abortion, the torture of babies who are given no pain medication before being starved, poisoned, dismembered or born alive for organ harvesting, the unethical, immoral, dishonest, and criminal elements of the industry, the loss of fatherhood and future generations, or the racist, eugenics, and profit motivates driving the pro-abortion movement.
Judaism clearly prohibits abortion, and the narrow exception to save the life of the mother occurs in less than 1% of pregnancies. This exception has been distorted by decades of Jewish abortion advocates through the use of 'nuance', ignorance and arrogance, arriving at the point where abortion is defined by hundreds of rabbis as a religious right, putting us in accordance with satanic worship, and signaling Jewish approval of 'afterbirth abortion' to save the family inconvenience and to provide fresh organs for NIH funded Mengele type research for the good of humanity.
Any treatment of the abortion issue in Judaism must include these realities in order to provide a complete picture for the reader. For more information, visit JewishProLifeFoundation.org
Dr. Eisenberg replied to our email with this comment:
Thank you for the email. The article on aish.com is a very short attempt to explain the halachic view of abortion. While I am sympathetic to much of what you wrote, halacha is not open to political agendas. The halachic view of abortion is not monolithic. As I am sure you realize, the noted posek Rav Eliezer Yehuda Waldenberg, author of Tzitz Eliezer, ruled unequivocally that abortion is a rabbinic prohibition and allowed abortion in circumstances not permitted by many other poskim. On the other hand, Rav Moshe Feinstein wrote strongly that abortion is a biblical prohibition that is murder but without a the usual death penalty of murder of a non-treifa born person. Those are the two extremes in the halachic literature. There are opinions in between and there are many discussions of what kinds of mental health issues justify abortion. While most poskim hold that abortion is only permitted to save the life of the mother (and only the mother, not a third party as Rav Moshe Feinstein writes), setting the boundaries of what is considered a threat to life is sometimes a case by case ruling.
Unfortunately, abortion in the United States (and much of the western world) has become a "right" as life has become cheapened and the underlying ethical issues are not discussed.
That Dr. Eisenberg sees the realities of abortion as political and not relevant to Jewish law shows the profound ignorance and denial of the issue among Jewish 'experts.' Hopefully, sharing your perspective and experience with the doctor will broaden his understanding of the subject.
As we continue our personal introspection in preparation for Yom Kippur, let us be blessed with a deep desire to walk humbly with HaShem and please Him in all of our thoughts, words, and deeds!
Cecily
May there be abundant peace from Heaven, and good life upon us and upon all Israel. Amen.
