Q&A: Permission for Abortion
Permission for Abortion
Question
Hello Rabbi,
According to the view of the halakhic decisors that the prohibition against performing an abortion is not a subsection of the prohibition of murder (Tzitz Eliezer and others, unlike Igrot Moshe), they permitted abortion in cases where it became clear that the fetus is very ill with various diseases (such as Tay-Sachs). Among the other arguments, this is because it would spare the future child a great deal of suffering, and it would be better for him not to be born at all.
My question is about the basis of this halakhic argument: is that really correct? After all, the alternative here is not to exist at all. Is it preferable not to live than to live a life full of suffering?
Answer
This is an argument connected to the topic of wrongful birth. See my article on philosophical gratitude about this.
But it is possible that from a religious perspective, according to which beyond the body there is a soul, there is room for such a consideration, since in that way one is doing a favor for the soul. And regarding your question, Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel already disagreed about this, and they took a vote and concluded: it would have been better for a person not to have been created than to have been created. True, that would imply that it is worthwhile to do this for every fetus, but there is a prohibition involved. In any case, we learn from there that the Sages did make comparisons of this sort.
Discussion on Answer
Did you read the article? The problem is that there is no plaintiff here, because if an abortion is performed then he would not have existed. But if you view him as a soul in a body (in a non-materialist picture), then there is a plaintiff here: his soul.
What difference does that make? And even if there is a difference, they are still making a comparison here between a state in which he does not exist and a state in which he does exist.
Rabbi, I didn’t fully understand. Are you saying that from a religious perspective it may be preferable to abort such a fetus in order to “ease things” for the soul?
Regarding the quotation:
“It is more comfortable for a person not to have been created than to have been created; now that he has been created, let him examine his deeds.”
It says “more comfortable,” not “better.”