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287: PREVENTING A NON-
JEWISH WOMAN FROM
ABORTING HER FETUS

ɳ Question

A non-Jewish pregnant woman came to me for examination. I found
that her fetus was suffering from hydrocephalus [excessive fluid in the
ventricles of the brain, which enlarges the ventricle and puts pressure
on the brain tissue in that area. Prolonged and growing pressure upon
the brain tissue can result in permanent brain damage.]

When I conveyed this information to her she asked me to help
her have an abortion performed. I was unsure whether I would be
permitted to do so, or whether, not only would it be forbidden for me
to give her any practical assistance or advice but it would even be a
mitzvah for me to speak to her gently and dissuade her from carrying
out her plan, convincing her not to abort?

Dr. H. Levi

ɳ Response

It says in the Torah) “He who spills the blood of man, in man shall
his blood be spilled” (Bereishis 9:6), which the Sages (Sanhedrin 57b)
explain as referring to a person who kills a fetus in its mother’s womb,
who incurs the death penalty [“To what does‘a man in a man’ refer? –
to a fetus [in its mother’s womb”]. This applies to non-Jews [because

Enabling a Non-Jewess to Abort 2 459