JERUSALEM -- You learn something new every day. Here is Israel's law on abortion:
Under Israeli law, abortions are permissible if the woman is younger than seventeen or older than forty, if the pregnancy was conceived under illegal circumstances such as rape or incest, or outside of marriage, if the fetus has a physical or mental birth defect or if continuation of the pregnancy could put a woman's life, health or mental well-being at risk.
In order to have a legal abortion carried out by a recognized practitioner, a woman must seek approval from a three-person review committee, of which at least one of the members must be a woman. Two of the members must be licensed physicians, and the third must be a social worker.
I'm reserving comment for the moment. I was just intrigued by the difference between Israeli and American law. As readers can see in the comments quoted in article, the Rabbinate wants to encourage women to have babies.
Addendum: The issue over abortion is not whether the procedure is legal under the U.S. Constitution or any other country's particular system of law. The issue is: When does life begin? If life does not begin, say, until birth, then abortion is not murder. If life begins at a certain point when the embryo or fetus is inside the mother's womb at or after conception, then performing an abortion after that point is murder. (In that scenario, making the procedure legal would be akin to making murder legal.) From a moral and ethical standpoint, the central issue is when life begins. The questions of life and morality supersede that of legality.
Now, I'm not going to answer that question; I do not know the answer. I am neither God nor knowledgeable enough about philosophy and metaphysics. But this is the way the question should be framed.
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Not that anyone ever accused Jpost of being an intelligent paper, but the worst thing about that article is the appalling euphemism “a woman’s right to choose” in its headline.
ps. Find a way to add RSS feeds for individual entries!!!!!!! Genius(Quote)
Conservatives in the US would be happy having the Israeli law. Mike(Quote)
I would think that the pregnancies that fall outside these parameters would be welcome or at the very least accepted. Healthy, married women pregnant with healthy babies are the least likely to be the target market for abortion clinics. The parameters set forth by Israeli law seem reasonable… up until this nonsense about a “review committee”. Imagine the humiliation and anguish of being an incest or rape victim… and then imagine the exponentially more traumatic experience of going before a 3 strangers, recounting what is probably the worst moment of your life, only to have your fate decided by a committee. Oh, and they might call you a liar. Publicly.
Something is rotten in the state of Denmark… er, Israel. LL(Quote)
Ain’t that the truth, Mike? Jeff Guevin(Quote)