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Does Judaism allow for abortion in cases of rape or incest?

  

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Rabbi Shlomo Chein: Welcome. I'll be with you in a moment...what's on your mind?

jm: does judaism allow abortion in the case of rape?

Rabbi Shlomo Chein: Generally no. Rape per se is not sufficient reason to allow abortion. However if it happens heaven forbid and the victim wants to consider abortion, she should speak to a qualified rabbi in this field

jm: does it matter if the rapist is jew or gentile?

Rabbi Shlomo Chein: all these things will be taken into consideration by the rabbi involved. The child will be Jewish either way

jm: does judaism permit abortion in the case of incest, heaven forbid it should happen?

Rabbi Shlomo Chein: in the case of incest (or a married woman who was raped) the child will be a Mamzer; some rabbinic authorities see this as a reason to allow abortion.1 However, each case is different and a qualified Rabbi must be consulted.

jm: thanks for answering my questions. be well.

Rabbi Shlomo Chein: you too

All names, places, and identifying information have been changed or deleted in order to protect the privacy of the questioners. In order to preserve authenticity, the chat sessions have been posted with a minimum of editing. Please excuse typographical errors, missing punctuation, and/or grammatical mistakes which naturally occur in the course of informal chat sessions.

Footnotes

  • 1. See Responsa She'elat Yavetz part 1 #43; Responsa Mishpetei Uziel part 3 Choshen Mishpat #47. See the comments of Rabbi S.Z. Auerbach cited in Nishmat Avraham, Choshen Mishpat 425:1 (20).

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RELATED CATEGORIES

Women & Judaism » Women's Issues
Life Cycle » Birth » Reproductive Issues
Mamzer
A child who is the product of incest or adultery (i.e. a married woman with a man other than her husband). A mamzer may only marry another mamzer.