Some progressives are arguing for a religious right to abortion

The Book of Exodus contains a section about liability. It is a bit outdated, enumerating damages if someone’s bull gores another person’s slave. But one parable is relevant to abortion debates today, since it elucidates how Judaism understands the unborn. If a pregnant woman is hit and suffers a miscarriage, the perpetrator must pay a fine. If she dies, however, the penalty is death. The tale is said to differentiate between the value of a fetus and a person. Other Jewish texts also hold that life doesn’t begin at conception.

The justification for outlawing abortion is to protect fetal life; some states’ bans say this explicitly. Yet that rationale rests on a religious belief about when life begins. What about people whose faith maintains that it starts later? Indeed Jewish law authorises, and even requires, an abortion if a mother’s health—physical or mental—is jeopardised. Jews disagree about what degree of risk warrants the procedure. But the general principle is that her well-being takes priority.