Chief Rabbis of Israel rule abortion "a Grave Sin"

The Chief Rabbinate of Israel ruled on December 24 that abortion is a grave sin and that abortion is delaying the coming of the messiah, reports John Connolly, LifeSiteNews.com.

The Chief Rabbinate decided that it would establish a special committee to lobby to reduce the number of abortions carried out in Israel, and was supported in its ruling by Sephardi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar and Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger.

Dr. Eli Schussheim, director of the anti-abortion organization Efrat, made a presentation to the Chief Rabbinate in which he presented the figures concerning abortion in Israel. According to the presentation, over 50,000 abortions are performed yearly in Israel, only 20,000 of which are legal.

"The vast majority of abortions are unnecessary and strictly forbidden according to halacha because they are carried out even when the pregnancies do not endanger the mother's health," the rabbis wrote in their decision.

The rabbis further believe that abortions are delaying the messiah, based on an expression uttered by the Jewish sages which can be construed that the messiah will not arrive until all children to be born to Jewish mothers are born.

The rabbis based their ruling primarily on Genesis 9:6, which reads: "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man." The rabbis, in making their ruling based on this text, affirmed the dignity of unborn persons, all of whom are made in the image of God.

According to the Mishnah, a record of oral interpretations of the Hebrew Scriptures, abortion is only permitted when a woman's life is in danger.

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[01/03/2008]

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