Reproductive Freedom Town Hall – Vote YES on Amendment 4 Campaign Kickoff

Israel’s foremost bioethicist in the 20th century, Rabbi Eliezer Waldenberg, wrote that “we may permit an abortion…because of a ‘great need,’ and because of pain and suffering. It is irrelevant how the pain or suffering is expressed, whether physical or psychological. Indeed, psychological suffering is in many ways much greater than the suffering of the flesh.”

Our tradition always places the concern for the mother’s well-being first. The push by the State of Florida, and others around the country, to outlaw abortion extends from a belief that life begins at conception. That is a religious belief that individuals are entitled to. At the same time, our tradition teaches that the question of when life begins is not easily answered. Some sages taught that a soul enters the fetus at the moment of birth, others after 40 days, and some even at the moment of conception. Jewish tradition leaves the question of when life begins open to interpretation and relies on the conscience of individual Jews to answer that question for themselves.

If our State chooses one religious belief as the grounding for a law, it raises a deeper concern for us. We should see this moment to act in defense of our rights to act within accordance of our tradition, and to lean upon its moral conclusions, without interference from the state.