Thoughts on abortion, religion, and morality

[Shkop]

If the government is serious about ending abortion, they will need to pony up a lot of money to actually fund delivery, foster placement, food etc. Because the majority of people who seek elective abortions and would also not be able to go overseas to get one are poorer women who don't have the money to pay for a child (which is k e of the main reasons surveys show that they seek one).

Therefore?

I have no idea if your stats are true at all, but even if they are....
I can't believe i'm actually arguing that a lack of funds is not a valid reason to slay an unborn child.... Mind blowing.

[shaulyaakov]

Therefore?

I have no idea if your stats are true at all, but even if they are....
I can't believe i'm actually arguing that a lack of funds is not a valid reason to slay an unborn child.... Mind blowing.

Again, I'm not debating whether it is justified or not. I'm saying if the government is shaping policy, they have to be prepared to deal with it. Since you are advocating a specific government policy, you would need to be able to back it up into something workable.

[Boruch999]

Therefore?

 Mind blowing.

+100

[Shkop]

Again, I'm not debating whether it is justified or not. I'm saying if the government is shaping policy, they have to be prepared to deal with it. Since you are advocating a specific government policy, you would need to be able to back it up into something workable.

If a state does the right thing and prohibits slaying babies it should also be ready to place those babies somewhere where they aren't abused, such as away from a cruel mother that would have preferred the baby dead. Agreed.

[saw50st8]

Do you have any torah source for the distinction between before viability and after?

It's really interesting to see that those who are blaming outside influences for the Jewish view are clearly basing their views on a secular culture.

No, but a baby is not considered an actual baby until it takes its first breath. But I think we can all agree that killing a healthy baby in utero a moment before it is born would be abhorrent. Viability changes with every generation.

According to the CDC (the stats are the most recent from 2015) 91% of abortions happen before the 12th week, and 67% before the 8th week (they don't break it down further than that).

There is also no rationale breakdown on their site - i.e. why did this woman have an abortion. I would imagine that most of the later term abortions are because of medical reasons, but I can't offer any proof to back it up.

Women who have late term abortions do so for medical reasons. They are usually very much wanted and longed for babies who end up being incompatible with life in some way.

Exceptions don't prove rules.

The fact that you know of a halachic case dictates that we should sit back and ignore the fact that more than 50 million babies have been aborted in the United States since the Roe decision in 1973?
Don't you think we should try to stop this holocaust? No, let's ignore it because Torah allows it in an uncommon case such as when the mother's life is in danger...makes perfect sense....I guess based on what you've heard, but that isn't the truth at all. The frum world has always abhorred it.

I think we need to look upstream at what risk factors are for causing unwanted pregnancies and stop that. It's like changing your diet BEFORE you have a heart attack rather than requiring a bypass.

I grew up in the frum community and over my lifetime there has been a huge shift to the right. Abortion has definitely been a part of that. People used to view being pro-choice as sort of a necessary evil to make sure they were available. Now I find scores of people who are completely against it (likely until their good bais yaakov girl comes home pregnant and gets a heter to abort instead of ruining the rest of her life).

[shaulyaakov]

No, but a baby is not considered an actual baby until it takes its first breath. But I think we can all agree that killing a healthy baby in utero a moment before it is born would be abhorrent. Viability changes with every generation.

Women who have late term abortions do so for medical reasons. They are usually very much wanted and longed for babies who end up being incompatible with life in some way.

I think we need to look upstream at what risk factors are for causing unwanted pregnancies and stop that. It's like changing your diet BEFORE you have a heart attack rather than requiring a bypass.

I grew up in the frum community and over my lifetime there has been a huge shift to the right. Abortion has definitely been a part of that. People used to view being pro-choice as sort of a necessary evil to make sure they were available. Now I find scores of people who are completely against it (likely until their good bais yaakov girl comes home pregnant and gets a heter to abort instead of ruining the rest of her life).

People are in denial if they think that elective abortion for serious but not life threatening situations is completely absent from the community with the support of rabbonim. No, I don't have stats to back that up, but I've heard stories about people in this parsha knowing who to ask, similar to birth control.

[avromie7]

Women who have late term abortions do so for medical reasons. They are usually very much wanted and longed for babies who end up being incompatible with life in some way.

This is largely false as can be seen here from Florida where they track all abortions http://ahca.myflorida.com/MCHQ/Central_Services/Training_Support/Reports.shtml under by gestation reason

[Yonah]

Every time you scare me with your logic, I think it can’t get worse, but it does. What does any of this have to do with rodeph? Rodeph is a case where we know that the mother’s life is in danger. A pregnancy that does not endanger the mother’s life has an inherent risk, but not similar to rodeph at all.

Think of it like driving a vehicle. Is there an inherent risk every time you take the wheel? Yes. Does that mean that every time you take the wheel someone is trying to crash into you? No.

You're one to talk about logic! By your logic, we should bentch gomel everytime we drive 3 blocks!! Correct me if I am wrong, but we bentch gomel when:
- We fly overseas (most people do, not everyone)
- We have a major surgery or recover from a life-threatening illness
- A woman gives birth

The common theme here is that all 3 are life threatening.

OK so then we should be on board in the vast majority of cases - not like you posit above that most abortions are due to medical complexities.

You misquoted me - I suggested that women who have abortions beyond the second trimester do so because of medical reasons.

I would imagine that most of the over 50 million babies that have been slain in the U.S. since 1973 do not have any justification whatsoever. The fact that you seem to have been viewing the cruelty of abortion through the lens of an exception case in your opinion, does not have any bearing on the rule because exceptions don’t prove rules.

Imagine what will happen when despicable people like Ruth Bader Ginsburg ym”sh – the Supreme Court’s most ardent protector of abortion rights - finally kicks the bucket. I imagine millions of unborn children who were denied the right to breathe because of people like Ginsburg clawing into her cursed soul and and ripping it apart for eternity, again and again and again...

Dude, you have issues.

[Yonah]

This is largely false as can be seen here from Florida where they track all abortions http://ahca.myflorida.com/MCHQ/Central_Services/Training_Support/Reports.shtml under by gestation reason

The three reports listed here, only state that there have been 4 recorded 3rd trimester abortions in the last 2+ years - all because of medical reasons?

[Shkop]

Women who have late term abortions do so for medical reasons.

avromie7 says that actual stats prove you wrong.

I grew up in the frum community and over my lifetime there has been a huge shift to the right. Abortion has definitely been a part of that. People used to view being pro-choice as sort of a necessary evil to make sure they were available. Now I find scores of people who are completely against it (likely until their good bais yaakov girl comes home pregnant and gets a heter to abort instead of ruining the rest of her life).

I don't know where you grew up, but its more likely for someone to have a right wing stance because he shifted to the right not the other way around.

BTW, your joke about how scores of hard core anti-abortionists are becoming liberal because their bais yaakov girls are coming home pregnant is antisemitic and in poor taste. Also, by the way, pregnancies are a million times more common in public schools than in frum schools.

Waiting for you to apologize 

[avromie7]

The three reports listed here, only state that there have been 4 recorded 3rd trimester abortions in the last 2+ years - all because of medical reasons?

I thought we were talking about 2nd trimester too
If we're only talking about 3rd trimester, there is no medical reason in the world that requires a 3rd trimester abortion. Delivery yes, abortion no.

[skyguy918]

This is largely false as can be seen here from Florida where they track all abortions http://ahca.myflorida.com/MCHQ/Central_Services/Training_Support/Reports.shtml under by gestation reason

The three reports listed here, only state that there have been 4 recorded 3rd trimester abortions in the last 2+ years - all because of medical reasons?

I thought we were talking about 2nd trimester too

Late stage is not a very well defined term. The reality is that elective abortions probably drop off a cliff at the point where a medical abortion is no longer available, for the simple reason that you're electing surgery, which is a much more serious thing than taking medication.

[skyguy918]

I thought we were talking about 2nd trimester too
If we're only talking about 3rd trimester, there is no medical reason in the world that requires a 3rd trimester abortion. Delivery yes, abortion no.

Your own source contradicts that assertion. Both 2018 and 2017 show one 3rd trimester abortion "due to a Life Endangering Physical Condition" (ie danger to the mother).

[avromie7]

Your own source contradicts that assertion. Both 2018 and 2017 show one 3rd trimester abortion "due to a Life Endangering Physical Condition" (ie danger to the mother).

Just because it was done does not mean it was needed. When the mothers life is in danger in the 3rd trimester there are 2 options abortion and delivery, both would save the mothers life, but only one gives the baby a chance to live.

[Shkop]

You're one to talk about logic! By your logic, we should bentch gomel everytime we drive 3 blocks!! Correct me if I am wrong, but we bentch gomel when:
- We fly overseas (most people do, not everyone)
- We have a major surgery or recover from a life-threatening illness
- A woman gives birth
The common theme here is that all 3 are life threatening.

No sir. Your logic is impaired not mine. There are two very different types of danger. One is specific, such as your neighbor chasing you with a knife or a woman told by her doctor that if she does not end her pregnancy she will die.
Now get ready for another type of danger. It is a general one. It is the type of danger you are in when you get behind the wheel or when you fly. It is a very real danger because accidents happen, but it is not a specific one so long as nothing actually goes wrong. Got it?

You misquoted me - I suggested that women who have abortions beyond the second trimester do so because of medical reasons.

OK. Say they are killing the baby in month 6 because the child will be down syndrome. Therefore? Are you saying that a down syndrome child has less rights to breathe than a regular child? That's disgusting. And what about the millions of murdered babies in their first trimester because the disgusting egocentric lowlife didn't want to have to suffer through carrying a baby?

Dude, you have issues.

Based on your advocating for murdering babies, I would argue very strongly to the contrary that your issues are more severe than you realize.