Mahony’s Letter on Abortion

I write in response to the pastoral message from Cardinal Mahony which was published as an advertisement on Oct. 18. Mahony implies that the Jewish belief in the sanctity of human life leads to the same conclusion about abortion that he has: Namely, that abortion is murder. Nothing could be further from the truth. Jewish tradition is unequivocal in its belief that abortion is not murder. All Jewish leaders and rabbis agree that there are certain circumstances where abortion is not only permitted, it is required!

The conflict over abortion is not, as Mahony implies, because of the media and the way they have reported the attitudes of Americans. It is not between “moral” people who value life and “immoral” people who do not, but between different moral traditions and different understandings of the sacredness of life. The human dignity and health of the woman carrying the fetus are crucial dimensions of the sanctity of human life from the Jewish perspective.

In the face of such great moral and religious diversity, let us hope that government will continue to allow different traditions to advocate their respective views and to leave the decision about abortion to each individual woman.

RABBI LAURA GELLER, Executive Director, American Jewish Congress, Pacific Southwest Region