by Rabbi Balfour Brickner

Jewish Women and Reproductive Rights in the 21st Century

Think Tank

Survey after survey reveals that the vast majority of Jewish women are pro-choice. Biblical and rabbinic Judaism sanction abortion, especially when the life of the woman is threatened physically or mentally; do not equate abortion with murder {Exodus 21); and do not consider a fetus as a person (Mishnah Ohalot 8:7). Judaism also endorses the use of mechanical contraceptives; even in the earliest historical periods, Jewish women used contraceptive sponges called mokh.

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