Time to Rethink Roe V. Wade

Confessions of a rabbi who erred

It’s time to come clean on Roe V. Wade.

In the past, I opined that adherents of Torah Law could not support legislation banning abortion, in order protect the inviolable right of the tiny minority of mothers whose lives are threatened by the pregnancy, and for whom abortion is permitted (and even required) by halacha [1].

However, in recent years, ever since NY State’s elimination of religious exemption to vaccination forced me to research so-called aborted fetal cell lines thoroughly and objectively, my position on this politically charged issue has changed significantly.

My research led me to a disturbing discovery. I learned from eye witness testimony how late-term babies are routinely delivered alive and cruelly dissected in a shockingly subhuman procedure called "water bag method," how their harvested organs and tissue are a multi-million (or even multi-billion) dollar business, and about how the pro-abortion camp seeks to legalize infanticide in cases of "botched abortions" (i.e. live births), I came to the harsh realization that adherents of Torah law could not support Roe V. Wade in any way.

In retrospect, my original opinion was advised by misinformation and a misrepresentation of reality. I had reasoned that since a ban on abortion would be across the board, it was necessary to tolerate the state’s defense of every woman’s right to choose as a means of protecting the tiny minority of women in truly life-threatening circumstances. And even though the vast majority of abortions are tantamount to murder in Torah law, nevertheless the possibility of depriving even one woman of the right to a life-saving abortion is far worse. One woman’s life matters more than the lives of a thousand unborn babies, I reasoned [2]. Consequently, defending the right of a fetus to live in 99.9% of cases (i.e. unethical abortions) seemed less important to me than defending the right of a woman to live in -.1% of cases (i.e. ethical abortions).

However, in reality, the reverse is true. Our complacency on the abortion issue has given rise to an unthinkably worse scenario. What is happening in now is nothing less than a modern-day death cult of human sacrifice. As I mentioned above, late-term babies are being delivered and dissected alive. Babies are being murdered after birth. This is no longer about abortion but about infanticide.

It's not about the life of one woman outweighing the lives of a thousand unborn and/or non-viable fetuses. This is about untold thousands of babies being massacred after birth. Not just massacred, but cruelly subjected to a torturous death by live dissection. These babies’ lives matter every bit as much as the lives of the mothers who bore them [3]. Our inaction and silence on abortion has resulted in unprecedented crimes against humanity. As a community allowing this to occur in our midst, we are all morally culpable.

These innocent young human beings deserve a voice. Who will speak on their behalf? How can we sit by idly while these unspeakable crimes are being perpetrated regularly nationwide? No, silence on Roe v. Wade is no longer an option. The Torah obliges us to speak out in defense of innocent human life.  We must stop the senseless slaughter of children.

At this perilous juncture in human history, we may no longer ignore the 99.9+% of Biblically-prohibited abortions.

If the “pro-choice” camp is correct in their claim that a law banning abortion is indeed “across the board” and doesn’t differentiate between women in life-threatening circumstances, or with non-viable fetuses, and those without, then the very same is true the other way. The law permitting abortion doesn’t differentiate between abortion and infanticide, between a woman under distress who is legitimately endangered by a pregnancy and an amoral woman who’s paid off by pharmaceutical giants to sell her baby to be dissected alive and murdered for his or her body parts.

Many argue: “Oh, that never happens. It’s just an extreme hypothetical example. No woman would ever do that.” I’m afraid they’re wrong. VERY wrong. It does happen. I have heard from eye witnesses who watched it happen. [4]

Furthermore, this typical response works the other way too. It’s highly uncommon nowadays for a pregnancy to actually threaten the life of the mother. In fact, it’s a LOT less common than the frequency of infanticide regularly occurring in our midst.

So, while I am not calling for an across-the-board ban on abortion, I nevertheless support the elimination of an across-the-board imprimatur for abortion.

And while I loathe choosing between the “lesser of two evils,” it’s quite obvious that a carte-blanch green light for abortion is intolerable and morally repugnant.

It’s time to eliminate Roe V. Wade, at least how it stands in its current form.

As G-d responded to Cain, “Your brother’s blood – and the blood of his children – cry out to Me from the earth.” [5]

It’s time we finally heed their cry.

Notes:
[1] Torah law
[2] Based on Exodus 21:22.
[3] See Rambam’s Mishneh Torah, Laws of Murder 1:9.
[4] Here are some documented examples: https://www.centerformedicalprogress.org/2021/08/breaking-university-of-pittsburgh-admits-hearts-beating-while-harvesting-aborted-infants-kidneys/?fbclid=IwAR20NwuCVsFXVCWEWy8lw-XzV7MdkbgUxXd71Dk2N94IyY83nW4xYgjAcXg
https://www.liveaction.org/news/infant-bodies-infanticide-attempted-abortions/?fbclid=IwAR265n6-10ia4VWDwFxG5swinVvV1TN1IhtEDFGgxExZrl2ZPDqYFpBaYdE

[5] Rashi on Genesis 4:10. “דמי — blood” is written in plural, i.e. the bloods of your brother AND of his offspring.