(ו) הָאִשָּׁה שֶׁהִיא מַקְשָׁה לֵילֵד, מְחַתְּכִין אֶת הַוָּלָד בְּמֵעֶיהָ וּמוֹצִיאִין אוֹתוֹ אֵבָרִים אֵבָרִים, מִפְּנֵי שֶׁחַיֶּיהָ קוֹדְמִין לְחַיָּיו. יָצָא רֻבּוֹ, אֵין נוֹגְעִין בּוֹ, שֶׁאֵין דּוֹחִין נֶפֶשׁ מִפְּנֵי נָפֶשׁ:
(6) If a woman is having trouble giving birth, they cut up the child in her womb and brings it forth limb by limb, because her life comes before the life of [the child]. But if the greater part has come out, one may not touch it, for one may not push aside one person's life in favor of another life.
איתיביה רב חסדא לרב הונא יצא ראשו אין נוגעין בו לפי שאין דוחין נפש מפני נפש...
Rav Ḥisda raised an objection to Rav Huna: [once] its head has emerged [during the birthing process], it may not be harmed [in order to save the mother], because a life may not be pushed aside in favor of another life...
יצא ראשו - באשה המקשה לילד ומסוכנת וקתני רישא החיה פושטת ידה וחותכתו ומוציאתו לאברים דכל זמן שלא יצא לאויר העולם לאו נפש הוא וניתן להורגו ולהציל את אמו אבל יצא ראשו אין נוגעים בו להורגו דהוה ליה כילוד ואין דוחין נפש מפני נפש.
Its head has emerged: With a women that is experiencing difficulty giving birth and is in [mortal] danger. And it is taught in the first section [of this teaching], "the midwife extends her hand and cuts it up and extracts [the pieces];" as the entire time that that it has not gone out into the air of the world, it is not [considered] a soul/life, and [so] it is possible to kill it and to save its mother. But when its head came out, we cannot touch it to kill it, as it is like a born [baby]; and we do not push aside one life in favor of another life.
אַף זוֹ מִצְוַת לֹא תַּעֲשֶׂה שֶׁלֹּא לָחוּס עַל נֶפֶשׁ הָרוֹדֵף. לְפִיכָךְ הוֹרוּ חֲכָמִים שֶׁהָעֻבָּרָה שֶׁהִיא מַקְשָׁה לֵילֵד מֻתָּר לַחְתֹּךְ הָעֵבָּר בְּמֵעֶיהָ בֵּין בְּסַם בֵּין בְּיָד מִפְּנֵי שֶׁהוּא כְּרוֹדֵף אַחֲרֶיהָ לְהָרְגָהּ. וְאִם מִשֶּׁהוֹצִיא רֹאשׁוֹ אֵין נוֹגְעִין בּוֹ שֶׁאֵין דּוֹחִין נֶפֶשׁ מִפְּנֵי נֶפֶשׁ וְזֶהוּ טִבְעוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם:
One is prohibited to spare the life of a pursuer. Therefore the Sages decreed that when a pregnant woman has difficulty delivering, one is permitted to abort the pregnancy in her abdomen, whether by drugs or by hand [with a tool], because the child is understood as a pursuer intent on killing the mother. But if the head has already emerged, we don't harm it further, because we do not push aside one life in favor of another life, and this is the way of the world [that birth can be risky].
1. The Central Conference of American Rabbis considers as religiously valid and humane such new legislation that
a) recognizes the preservation of a mother’s emotional health to be as important as her physical well-being; and
b) properly considers the danger of anticipated physical or mental damage; and
c) permits abortion in pregnancies resulting from sexual crime including rape, statutory rape, and incest.
We strongly urge the broad liberalization of abortion laws in the various states, and call upon our members to work toward this end.
Jewish tradition affirms the infinite value of human life as it is expressed in the Biblical affirmation that all human beings are created in the Divine image, and judges the decision to abort a fetus to be a most serious matter. Yet a survey of decisions rendered by recognized Halakhic (Jewish legal) authorities over the centuries would counsel several attitudes: First, that abortion of a fetus, though a diminishing of the Divine image, is not judged to be murder at anytime prior to birth. Second, that abortion is warranted, indeed required, when the fetus threatens the life of the woman. Third, that a woman's mental anguish may be viewed as a sufficient ground for abortion.
Moreover, Reconstructionist Judaism affirms the values of democracy, pluralism, and individual freedom in both Jewish and general life, and rejoices in the absence of any theological, religious, or scientific consensus in the United States of America that would make a woman's decision to abort a fetus an issue of public morality to be enacted into public law.
The Supreme Court has supported this latter view when, in 1973, it recognized that the abortion decision is personal one and removed abortion from the realm of criminal law and made it a legal medical procedure.
Therefore, be it resolved: that the 1981 Annual Convention of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association goes on record as:
1. Affirming the right of American women to choose safe, legal abortion;
2. Opposing the limiting of Federal and State funding of abortions for poor women;
3. Opposing those hospital policies and legal harassments that would limit access to abortion; and
4. Opposing anti-abortion legislation, including any constitutional amendment that would make abortion illegal, as threats to both the Establishment and the Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment.
Jewish tradition is sensitive to the sanctity of life, and does not permit abortion on demand. However, it sanctions abortion under some circumstances because it does not regard the fetus as an autonomous person. This is based partly on the Bible (Exodus 21:22-23), which prescribes monetary damages where a person injures a pregnant woman, causing a miscarriage. The Mishnah (Ohalot 7:6) explicitly indicates that one is to abort a fetus if the continuation of pregnancy might imperil the life of the mother. Later authorities have differed as to how far we might go in defining the peril to the mother in order to justify an abortion. The Rabbinical Assembly Committee on Jewish Law and Standards takes the view that an abortion is justifiable if a continuation of pregnancy might cause the mother severe physical or psychological harm, or when the fetus is judged by competent medical opinion as severely defective. The fetus is a life in the process of development, and the decision to abort it should never be taken lightly. Before reaching her final decision, the mother should consult with the father, other members of her family, her physician, her spiritual leader and any other person who can help her in assessing the many grave legal and moral issues involved.