Q&A: Abortion
Abortion
Question
Hello Rabbi Michi,
A friend of mine became pregnant by her non-Jewish boyfriend, and right now she is planning to have an abortion. She is about five weeks from her last menstrual period, approximately. I wanted to ask whether there is any basis to permit an abortion. From her perspective, the financial issue is what is bothering her.
Thank you, A.
Answer
In my opinion, there is absolutely no basis in the world to permit it. If there is a financial problem, then one has to think about how to solve it, but that does not permit murder. True, in terms of Jewish law, the prohibition is less severe for a fetus up to 40 days old, and somewhat more severe up to three months (although, as far as I know, no halakhic decisor permits abortion for financial reasons even at those stages). But morally, in my opinion, this is completely unacceptable.