Abortions
Peace and blessings. I have seen arguments that challenge the notion that a fetus has a right to life one day after conception. I know that you support the moral argument that abortion, even one day after conception, is forbidden and is murder. I would appreciate your opinion on the following questions:
1. If there is a truck full of embryos being fertilized outside the womb (one day after fertilization) (I assume this technology does not exist right now, but let’s think about a future world where this technology does exist), and you have the opportunity to save them, or alternatively a one-year-old baby who is next to the truck, who would you save? Ostensibly, you must morally save the embryos in the truck.
2. What is your position on birth control pills, which again, actually cause the abortion of a fertilized egg? It seems that from a moral perspective, someone who takes pills is committing murder on a regular basis, at least several times a year, and therefore taking pills should be banned altogether.
1. In the halakha itself, the life of the mother is preferred over the life of the fetus, and therefore if there is a danger to the mother, the fetus is certainly aborted (compared to a baby who is not). The explanation is not that the life of a fetus has no value, but that its life is less valuable than that of a human. From this it is clear that human life is preferred over fetuses. Here halakha and morality go hand in hand.
2. The closer we are to the state of sperm and egg before fertilization, the lower the value of life. So there is indeed a (moral) prohibition on the pill, but it can be rejected for significant reasons. Of course, it is better to use means that prevent fertilization even earlier.
1. I understand. But isn't it a matter of dosages? That is, even if the life of a fetus is less valuable than the life of a baby or a person, if we are talking about a situation in which thousands of fetuses and only one person are at stake, isn't it morally better to save the fetuses? Or is your opinion that, in a sweeping manner, a person should be saved, not fetuses? (I'm talking about a situation in which the fetuses are one day old).
And what about the same situation, only that the fetuses are already 30 weeks old? I assume their value is higher than the value of the life of a newborn fetus, but what interests me about your answer in the situation where it is thousands of 30-week-old fetuses versus one person.
2. That is, there is a moral prohibition on pills, but it is not as serious as an abortion at a later stage?
Would you call it “lower-degree murder” or something like that?
As far as I know, combined pills (estrogen and progesterone) taken according to instructions prevent ovulation, so fertilization usually does not occur. It is true that sometimes ovulation will occur, but this happens in a minority of cases. So talking here about "miscarriage of a fertilized egg" is very inaccurate.
1. You are sailing between different questions. The question of whether there is a place for quantitative considerations in the laws of saving lives is in no way related to the status of the fetus and abortion. This also arises in the troll's dilemma and more. I have no quantitative indicators of the value of human life.
2. Yes.
I saw the questions here and wondered about the things.
1. The mother's life takes precedence because the fetus has a persecutory law. The question here is different.
2. Is using a condom better than pills? Even if you insist that a condom is considered a waste, here we have a conflict between halakhah and morality and it may be better to use rubber, which is forbidden by halakhah, rather than birth control pills, which are also forbidden morally.
1. It is a pity that they do not forget. The Gemara makes it clear that there is no law of persecution for a transgressor. And the Hebrew Bible says that if he removed his head, he is not killed. If there was a law of persecution here, they would kill him even if he removed his head. On the contrary, the Rambam has a formulation as if it is based on a law of persecution, and they make it difficult for him from the Gemara. But one must be careful with his language, which says that he is “pursuing” after her to kill her. According to his view, there is also no law of persecution here.
2. In terms of murder laws, a condom is certainly better. The halakha has other considerations.
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