Health – Abortion (1982)

Amended Resolution on Abortion (1982)

Reverence for the life is the cornerstone of our Jewish heritage. Since abortion in Jewish law is primarily for the mother’s physical or mental welfare, we deplore the burgeoning casual use of abortion. Abortion should be “legally available but ethically restricted. Though the abortion of a fetus is not equivalent to taking an actual life, it does represent the destruction of potential life and must not be undertaken lightly.” *

However, Women’s League for Conservative Judaism also believes that the practice of the principle of separation of Church and State guaranteed by our Constitution has kept our nation strong and preserved full freedom for the individual. Women’s League believes that transmitting religious values is the responsibility of the religious sector.

Women’s League for Conservative Judaism urges its Sisterhoods to oppose any legislative attempts through Constitutional amendments, the deprivation of Medicaid, family services, and/or other current welfare services, to weaken the force of the Supreme Court’s decision permitting abortions.

*From Love and Sex: A Modern Jewish Perspective by Dr. Robert Gordis

Amended from Abortion (1976)