Q&A: Abortion
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
Abortion
Question
Hello Rabbi,
I’m not sure whether you already answered a similar question; in any case, I didn’t see one.
If we define death as the point when the brain stops functioning (and not when the body stops its processes or development), then isn’t the definition of life also brain activity?
Which would mean that there’s no problem with aborting a baby until it begins to develop a brain?
Answer
A baby’s brain functions. Its consciousness is weak, but it certainly has the full potential of a human being. That is unlike a person who has died a brain death.