On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court of the United States
overturned Roe v. Wade. This was a decades long effort by the Republican
party to make abortion illegal (ironic, since it was a Republican dominated
court who decided Roe v. Wade in the first place in 1973). Religious
groups around the country celebrated. But what exactly did this
mean? What exactly were they celebrating?
The fact is that the word "abortion" is never mentioned once in
the Bible, neither the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) or New Testament. The
New Testament is completely silent on the subject.
The Bible never actually states that a pregnancy begins when a sperm fertilizes an egg. We must keep in mind that in the ancient world, there were really only guesses as to how a pregnancy got started. The original Greek theories were that it had something to do with a preformed body inside of an egg. It was assumed that men were always fertile, and that if a woman could not get pregnant, it was somehow her fault. Sperm was not discovered until 1677, several decades after the KJV translation of the Bible into English used the word "conception" several times to refer to the act of becoming pregnant. Fertilization - the act of a sperm joining with an egg - was not discovered until 1876.
The Hebrew root
word herown, which is translated as "conception" in
several English translations, in other verses simply means
"pregnancy" or "childbirth". (Genesis 3:16 it's
"childbirth", referring to pain in childbirth. Ruth 4:13 it's
referring to her becoming pregnant, but in a general sense - not always
translated as "conception". Hosea 9:11 it's referring to the
state of not being able to get pregnant.) The other root word is harah. This
is usually translated in one of two ways: "to conceive" or "to
become pregnant".
While the modern
English word "conceive/conception" may refer specifically to
fertilization, the first English dictionary (Table Alphabetically, written in
1604) defines it: "conception, conceiuing in the
wombe." There is no mention of fertilization, since it hadn't been
discovered yet. It's a general way to describe the beginning of a
pregnancy.
Based on all of
this (and on the medical fact that 1/3 to over half of all fertilized eggs
never implant in the uterus, and instead pass out through menstrual periods),
it cannot be concluded that the Bible states that pregnancy begins at
fertilization. If the fertilized egg does not implant in the uterus,
there is no pregnancy. [1]
In the Hebrew Bible, there is no specific command in the Torah that
forbids someone to get an abortion / terminate a pregnancy. In Jewish
law, a fetus is not considered a person and life does not begin at
conception/fertilization but rather begins with birth and the first breath. In
Jewish law and tradition, if a pregnancy is threatening a pregnant person's
life or health, it is mandatory for the pregnancy to be terminated, because the
pregnant person's life and health takes precedent over the life of the
fetus. "Does Jewish law assert that it is possible to murder a
fetus? No, Jewish law does not consider a fetus to be alive. The Torah,
Exodus 21:22-23, recounts a story of two men who are fighting and injure a
pregnant woman, resulting in her subsequent miscarriage. The verse
explains that if the only harm done is the miscarriage, then the perpetrator
must pay a fine. However, if the pregnant person is gravely injured, the
penalty shall be a life for a life as in other homicides. The common
rabbinical interpretation of this verse is that the men did not commit murder
and that the fetus is not a person. The primary concern is the well-being
of the person who was injured." [2].
The
total abortion bans being passed by several states in the United States since
the fall of Roe not only lack compassion for people who are able to get
pregnant, but are often dangerous and threatening to their life and
health. Since June, there have been dozens of stories of people who live
in states with bans being denied treatment for miscarriages, ectopic
pregnancies, fetal deformities/unviable pregnancies and other pregnancy
complications. [3]
To those religious organizations who are celebrating the fall of Roe v.
Wade and the subsequent total abortion bans, I must ask, since the Bible states
that life begins at birth and a fetus is not considered a person, where is your
compassion for the people being directly, terribly affected by these
bans? Where is the love for your neighbor that the Bible commands
(Leviticus 19:18)? Is your celebration truly about life, or about
attacking and threatening the lives of anyone and everyone who can become
pregnant?
References
[1] "The Implications of Defining When a Woman Is Pregnant", by
Rachel Benson Gold, Guttmacher Institute: https://www.guttmacher.org/gpr/2005/05/implications-defining-when-woman-pregnant#:~:text=Between%20one%2Dthird%20and%20one,College%20of%20Obstetricans%20and%20Gynecologists.
[2] "Judaism and Abortion", National Council of Jewish Women: https://www.ncjw.org/act/action-resources/judaism-and-abortion-guide/
[3] "Warren Opens Probe Into 'Shocking and Horrific' Impacts of GOP
Abortion Bans", by Jake Johnson, CommonDreams.org: https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/08/11/warren-opens-probe-shocking-and-horrific-impacts-gop-abortion-bans?fbclid=IwAR2WS1taK2d5TdAzEVcqUbC38bVFQbW2y7XIv5B6BcjdVL0X7My9bMsL66g
