What does halachah (Jewish law) say about abortion? How have these laws impacted the State of Israel?
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Jewish Law only sets general guidelines, while specific rulings depend on INDIVIDUAL cases.  There is no one rule fits all.\nThe fetus is not a living person according to Jewish Law, and in the first 40 days after conception is considered nothing more than a membrane.\nThere are a variety of halachic opinions on the subject, but generally Judaism allows abortion if the mother's HEALTH (not just life, but health) is in danger.  There may be other circumstances where a ruling may be lenient, specifically at the very begninning of the pregenancy.\n\nTHe State of Israel allows abortions.  For what they claim are safety reasons, legal abortions must take place in hospitals, though of course some doctors perform abortions in private clinics.\nAn abortion is legal in Israel if the mother is a minor, not married (whether single, divorced, or widowed), for reasons of physical or psychological health, or if there's something wrong with the fetus.  The State pays for abortions for girls 17 and under.
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If you have a strong stomach, this website will help you gathering facts.  There is a video that automatically pops up. Close it if you don't want to watch it...it is gruesome.\n\nhttp://www.abort73.com/HTML/I-case.html\n\nAbortion in not mentioned in the Bible.  Abortion is a recent proceedure that was not around in the days the bible was written.\n\nBut, God does care for the unborn\nExodus 21:22-25 (NIV)  \n    "If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman's husband demands and the court allows. [23] But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, [24] eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, [25] burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.\n\nGod does care if we kill our children... \n\nLeviticus 18:21 (NIV)  (Child sacrifice)\n    " 'Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the Lord. \n\nLeviticus 20:3-4 (NIV)  \n    I will set my face against that man and I will cut him off from his people; for by giving his children to Molech, he has defiled my sanctuary and profaned my holy name. [4] If the people of the community close their eyes when that man gives one of his children to Molech and they fail to put him to death,\n\nPsalm 139:13-16 (NKJV)  \nFor You formed my inward parts;\nYou covered me in my mother's womb. \n14I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;\nMarvelous are Your works,\nAnd that my soul knows very well. \n15My frame was not hidden from You,\nWhen I was made in secret,\nAnd skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. \n16Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.\nAnd in Your book they all were written,\nThe days fashioned for me,\nWhen as yet there were none of them.
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Because it's their right to do so.  There are people that believe life begins at conception. Roe v. Wade was bad law anyway because the Supreme Court usurped the power of the Legislative branch and has at times usurped the states rights to restrict abortion.  There is no right to privacy in the constitution.\n\nPlus abortion violates the hippocratic oath that doctors take:\n swear by Apollo Physician and Asclepius and Hygieia and Panaceia and all the gods and goddesses, making them my witnesses, that I will fulfil according to my ability and judgment this oath and this covenant:\n\nTo hold him who has taught me this art as equal to my parents and to live my life in partnership with him, and if he is in need of money to give him a share of mine, and to regard his offspring as equal to my brothers in male lineage and to teach them this art - if they desire to learn it - without fee and covenant; to give a share of precepts and oral instruction and all the other learning to my sons and to the sons of him who has instructed me and to pupils who have signed the covenant and have taken an oath according to the medical law, but no one else.\n\nI will apply dietetic measures for the benefit of the sick according to my ability and judgment; I will keep them from harm and injustice. \n\nI will neither give a deadly drug to anybody who asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect. Similarly I will not give to a woman an abortive remedy. In purity and holiness I will guard my life and my art.\n\nI will not use the knife, not even on sufferers from stone, but will withdraw in favor of such men as are engaged in this work.\n\nWhatever houses I may visit, I will come for the benefit of the sick, remaining free of all intentional injustice, of all mischief and in particular of sexual relations with both female and male persons, be they free or slaves.\n\nWhat I may see or hear in the course of the treatment or even outside of the treatment in regard to the life of men, which on no account one must spread abroad, I will keep to myself, holding such things shameful to be spoken about.\n\nIf I fulfil this oath and do not violate it, may it be granted to me to enjoy life and art, being honored with fame among all men for all time to come; if I transgress it and swear falsely, may the opposite of all this be my lot.
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Jewish people do discuss their opinion on the immigration issue.  I don't live in the United States at the moment so I'm a bit out of the loop on this issue, but I tend to be very compassionate towards illegal immigrants.  I think it's important to remember that we were all created in the image of G-d, that all people are entitled to live with dignity, and that we should try to think of what is moral and what is just, and then make that into a legal reality.  Sometimes laws are not just.  One of the central ideas in Judaism is that it's our duty to create a more just world.
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Of course.  The Bible is silent on abortion, despite what the "Thou shalt not kill" fanatics have to say.  The trouble is, no one really knows--in the Christian way of looking at things--when the soul enters the body.  Is it at conception?  A month later?  Nine months?  When the baby leaves its mothers body?  Different people have different opinions about the issue and I would think that a person of conscience could easily be a Christian and think abortion should be legal (which is the key issue for our culture), whether the idea of the procedure thrills them or not.  That's where I place myself.\n\nThat said, I think Christians should be wary of cultural features that do not honor life, and abortion is certainly callous about life.  However, Christians should also be wary of cultural features that take away the rights of individuals to make decisions about their own health and freedom.  For many people, abortion might not be deadly, but it certainly could take years off their life (diabetics, for instance).  That's why, whether moral or not, the government has no business making abortion illegal.
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Yes it does. But the part of it that does is Jewish law. It is not meant to apply to Gentiles. So if you are Jewish, you would avoid eating shellfish, a thing modern Orthodox Jews do avoid.
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Good Lord. \nThe Old Testament was under the Law of Moses. As a christian today you should know that Jesus' death and resurrection removed us from the curse of the 'Law'. In the Old testament Israel was a fledgling nation. They were trying to seperate themselves from the 'pagans' Plus they were a lot less civilized than we are today. \nGod does not want you to kill your child, come on. If you truly believe that then you need psychological help and all your children should be removed from you care.
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Technically, it never was.\n\nWhile the law criminalising abortion in Canada was struck down in the Morgentaller case by the Supreme Court in 1988, there has never been any law put back in its place declaring abortion legal. (The Supreme Court also recognised that abortion is a Federal Criminal matter, meaning the Provinces have little individual say.)\n\nIn the latter years of the Mulroney gov't (1988-1993) there were attempts made to formalise in law the status of abortion in Canada, but these all failed due to the divisiveness of the issue, and with no side being comfortable supporting a moderate compromise condition.
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They are about as restrictive as you can get. They have a law prohibiting most abortions, though it is Unconstitutional.\n\nThey ban Post Viabilty abortions, partial birth abortions,parenyal consent, informed consent and waiting periods, Licensed physician requirement,andprohibit the use of state funds for abortion except when the woman's life is endangered.\n\nMany of these have been ruled unconstitutional by other states and of course SD ban on abortion is unconstitutional.\n\nThey must have a lot of rich people who need babies.\n\nHate to tell them but mosr women do not give their children up for adoption. Well over 80%.
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So sad....\nThe Bible prohibits the killing of innocent people (Deu. 19:10). "Thou shall not murder" (Exodus 20:13, NKJV; Genesis 9:5).\nlook how "John the Baptist" responded in the womb to the presence of Jesus, who was newly conceived in the womb of Mary (Luke 1:39-44). \n\nYou shall not slay a child by abortion, if you dont like to have a baby ... DONT SEX!!!
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Please be more specific.  \n\nRoe vrs. Wade gave a woman the right to suck a baby into a sink, ripping it from limb to limb.  \n\nThe 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote.\n\nNote to tulaksam: Less than 5% of all abortions are due to rape or the health of the mother.  All other abortions (including those conceived via incest) are abortions of convenience.  If women are so strong why can't they say "no" to sex when they do not want to carry the baby to full term?  If they get pregnant and don't want the baby, why are they not strong enough to give it up for adoption?  Roe v Wade will be overturned, because it is based on an erroneous interpretation of the Constitution. Abortion is an issue for each state to decide.  It is not a federal issue.  That is why it will be overturned.
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I don't see that there were any babies killed in Numbers 5:11-31. The purpose of the drink was to settle the matter of whether she had committed adultery or not. \n\nThere are many of the laws in the Old Testament (eye for an eye, for instance) that are not required to be executed, but are limits on what can be done to one who harms you. If you put out my eye, I can't kill you for it. I also don't have to demand that you have your eye put out. It's the most I can require of you, but it's not what I am required to exact of you.\n\nIn that day, death was the penalty for adultery. I see this as God's way of protecting women from being stoned to death because a man is jealous. It was a way to prove her innocence. And it was also a deterent to crafty women who thought they could cheat and then deny it and drive their husbands crazy.\n\nHow many people have had a cheating spouse and wished that there had been a truth serum out there somewhere?\n\nThe thing is, that the result is so disgusting, you'd have to be pretty outraged to do it. Outraged enough that you probably would want to kill her whether you had proof or not.\n\nWhether babies were involved in this or not is impossible to prove. Notice in verse 28: "But if the woman has not defiled herself, and is clean, then she shall be free and may conceive children." Doesn't that sound like the womb is closed?\n\nWhile infertility was not always a sign of separation from God, God closed the wombs of the unfaithful. Genesis 20:8-18
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First, we dont call out Bible the 'Old Testament' because we dont believe there is a new one.\n\nHowever, yes, the Orthodox Jewish community still follows the laws you describe above.\n\nBy the way, this means that for roughly 2 weeks each month, a Jewish couple who follow this law will not have sex as an issue between them. It means that for half of each month, they must relate to each other as platonic friends, and this makes the relationship far stronger, and is one reason given for the very low divorce rate throughout the  history of the Jewish People. Only since the Jews have assimilated, become like their non-Jewish neighbors, has the divorce rate risen to the same rate as among their non-Jewish counterparts, but continues to remain low among the orthodox.
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In Illinois, the US, & the World - Abortion
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In Jewish law, although the soul exists before birth life begins at birth when the child is half-way out of its mother. Jewish law not only permits but in some cases requires abortion.where a mothers life is in jeopardy,because of the unborn,abortion is mandatory.The Talmud makes no bones about it.The unborn has the status of "potential human life" and is valuable and may not be terminated casually but doesn't have as much value as one in existence, its mother. \nThe Torah clearly forbids sexuality between men.it is abhorrent and punishable by death. It is important to note, that it is the act that is forbidden not the orientation. the desire is not a sin so long as he doesn't act on it.In fact it could be said that a desire not acted on is worthy of greater merit. female sexual relations are not forbidden by the Torah, and very little in the Talmud only that it does not disqualifies her from privileges of the priesthood or whether is is grounds for divorced without her consent or without ketubah. the site below is great for real answers to any questions you might have.
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Laws set by government must be followed in order to stay out of jail and so forth.  God's LAWS must be followed in order to stay out of hell.  \nJust because a group of politicians and/or voters decided that something is okay does not mean that God thinks it is okay. As far as abortion goes, the commandment says THOU SHALL NOT KILL. How more specific can that be? The government says- oh it has a heart that is beating, but it is not alive so therefore it is okay to kill it.  \nFunny, how can you kill something that is not alive????\n\n\nRemember, too, that God did not elect the political officials that are deciding that these things are okay. Sinners voted sinners in to make laws.
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Neither the Torah nor the rabbinic tradition has much to say concerning lesbian relationships. It is the male's "spilling of seed" anywhere other than in the usual "place" that is seen as a sin. \n\nThe Torah seems to see homosexual relations in a cultic context rather than something more parallel to the interpersonal context of heterosexual relationships.\n\nLater Jewish tradition, including the Biblical prophets, makes no reference to homosexuality regarding the sins of Sodom and Gemmorah; these are seen as cruelty and lack of hospitality to the "stranger" - xenophobia, as it were.\n\nReform Judaism, for the most part, seems to view the traditional prohibitions against homosexuality as mores from a bygone age, mores now replaced with clearer understandings of the reality of gender orientation as something which is beyond simple individual "preference." As a whole, the Reform Movement, both the "lay people" and the rabbis have come out very strongly in favor of civil rights for gays and lesbians.