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Rabbanim who have spoken to her and explained to her the severity
of committing suicide and of the sin of performing an abortion, which
is punishable with death brought about by Heaven, as explained in
the Meshech Chochmah, tried to persuade her to agree to give birth
to the baby. In response she explained her position, which was that if
the baby comes into the world three parties will suffer. The baby will
have no father, she herself would suffer shame and disgrace, and her
parents would consider the child a stain on the family’s reputation.
They also tried persuading her to marry the child’s father, but she
explained that it was out of the question.
My question is, is it permitted to violate the prohibition and per-
form an abortion in order to save her life?
Dr. Gerstein, Director, Laniado Hos-
pital, Netanyah
ɳ Response
The prohibition of killing a fetus, although serious, is nevertheless set
aside for piku’ach nefesh of the mother as stated in maseches Ohalos
7:6: “If a woman is in difficult labor [and the fetus is endangering her
life], the fetus should be dismembered in utero and extracted piece-
meal (embryotomy), because her life takes precedence over its life.”
In our case, the question that must be considered is whether the
young woman’s suicide threat is viewed as creating a situation of
piku’ach nefesh. In the Talmud we find two situations of piku’ach
nefesh which set aside Torah prohibitions: 1. when a non-Jew threat-
ens to kill a Jew unless the Jew violates a Torah prohibition; in such a
case the rule is that he should “violate the prohibition rather than be
killed” with the exception of the three cardinal sins [murder, idolatry
and immorality]; 2. for a dangerously ill patient, Torah prohibitions
can be violated.
Our case resembles neither of these examples. Nobody is forcing
the young woman under pain of death to kill her fetus and neither
is she dangerously ill such that her condition necessitates abortion.
Abortion to Prevent Suicide 2 351
