Jewish Pro-Life Foundation (@JewishProLife)

Rabbi J. David Bleich. Author of Contemporary Halakhic Problems. Authority on Jewish law, ethics, and medical ethics. Rosh Yeshiva at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, Yeshiva U. "A Jew is governed by such reverence for life that he trembles lest he tamper unmindfully with the greatest of all divine gifts, the bestowal or withholding of which is the prerogative of God alone. Although he be master over all within the world, there remain areas where man must fear to tread, acknowledging the limits of his sovereignty and the limitations of his understanding. In the unborn child lies the mystery and enigma of existence. Confronted by the miracle of life itself, man can only draw back in silence before the wonder of the Lord." Rabbi J. David Bleich Contemporary Halakhic Problems. Vol 1.. https://www.sefaria.org/Contemporary_Halakhic_Problems%2C_Vol_I%2C_Part_II%2C_CHAPTER_XV_Abortion_in_Halakhic_Literature.83?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en "There are those who maintain that the prohibition against feticide is applicable from the moment of conception and deem the fetus to be a nascent human being even in the earliest stages of gestation. According to this view, the zygote may perhaps be viewed as having already acquired identity and parentage." Rabbi J. David Bleich Contemporary Halakhic Problems. Vol 1. https://www.sefaria.org/Contemporary_Halakhic_Problems%2C_Vol_I%2C_Part_I%2C_CHAPTER_V_Medical_Questions.42-43?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en "Since the sole available medical remedy following diagnosis of severe genetic defects is the abortion of the fetus, which is not sanctioned by Halakhah in such instances, amniocentesis, under these conditions, does not serve as an aid in treatment of the patient and is not halakhically permissible. Initiation of this procedure in the absence of a therapeutic goal poses a pointless medical risk to both mother and fetus and also constitutes an act of ḥavalah—an unwarranted assault upon the mother." Rabbi J. David Bleich's comments about prenatal testing and abortion prohibitions from his Contemporary Halakhic Problems. Vol 1. https://www.sefaria.org/Contemporary_Halakhic_Problems%2C_Vol_I%2C_Part_I%2C_CHAPTER_V_Medical_Questions.55?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en