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Bloomington rabbi talks Judaism and abortion

By Ethan Sandweiss

Posted July 1, 2022

A Facebook image of Beth Shalom Jewish Center in Bloomington.

Bloomington's Congregation Beth Shalom (Facebook/Congregation Beth Shalom -- Bloomington Jewish Community)

Religious freedom forms the basis of many arguments against abortion in the United States. The push to outlaw abortion has largely hinged on the understanding of some Christian denominations that human life begins at conception.

In a religiously diverse country like the United States, is anti-abortion legislation consistent with the values of all religious groups?

“There’s variety of viewpoints within overall Judaism about abortion,” said Rabbi Brian Besser of Bloomington’s Beth Shalom congregation. “The one thing that is probably common to all streams of Judaism is that the life of a mother takes precedence over the life of an unborn child.”

According to a Pew Research Center study, 83% of Jewish participants believed that abortion should be legal in all or most cases, more than any other religious group surveyed. Florida Synagogue L’Dor Va-Dor made headlines last month for suing the state over its 15-week abortion law, claiming the legislation infringed on the religious freedom of Jews.

“The Torah accords all of the legal status that is given to a human being at the point of birth,” Besser said. “The status of the fetus is sacred and important insofar as it is a potential life, but not that it is already equivalent to a full-fledged human being.”

Still, Rabbi Besser is cautious about generalizations. Certain branches of Orthodox and Conservative Judaism believe abortion should be limited solely to cases when pregnancy poses a threat to a mother’s life.

As the Rabbi of a community with diverse perspectives, Besser doesn’t believe conservative beliefs should be taken more seriously than liberal ones.

“I don’t think that the government is in a position to rule or judge how serious different religions are about their practices,” Besser said. “Liberal religions have just as much conviction and deserving of dignity and respect.”

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