Something I wrote about 20 years ago:
There is in the Torah, in the Book of Exodus, Chapter XXI,
verses 22-25, a passage that has been used as a rationalization
for a pro-choice position. In the King James version it reads,
“If two men strive together, and hurt a woman with child (Ishah
Harah - pregnant woman), so that her fruit (Yelodehah - her
child) depart, and yet no harm (Ahsoon - misfortune, accident)
follows, he shall be surely fined, according as the woman’s
husband shall lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges
determine. But if harm follow, then thou shalt give life for
life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.”
Some have taken this passage to mean that, since the causing
of a miscarriage is not considered to be homicide, and since the
KJV calls the fetus “her fruit”, this is a sign that G-d wants
abortion legalized. Some modern translations have gone so far a
to insert “cause her to miscarry”, and many people actually
believe that this is what it says. Therefore, any Christian or
Jew who is pro-life is a hypocrite. My cousin, a Hebrew
teacher, made this very argument to our Rabbi, who was pro-life.
At my request, she translated this passage word for word,
and she no longer can use it as a rationalization for a pro-
choice position. She may still be pro-choice, but she can no
longer use this passage as her rationalization.
First, the fact that it says “V’yatzoo Yelodehah - and her
child departs, or goes out” not “and her fruit departs” as the
KJV so delicately puts it, or “and causes her to miscarry” as the
modern versions translate, makes it clear that what is in her
womb is a child, not an orange.
Second, as my cousin pointed out, the passage says “if no
harm follows”, but does not specify upon whom the harm is not
inflicted. It does not specify mother or child.
Third, even if the pro-choice interpretation is correct, it
does not support a pro-choice position, nor invalidate a pro-life
one. If the causing of a miscarriage through negligence is not
homicide, it is still described as a serious crime. What does
that say of an intentionally caused miscarriage, ie. abortion?
1. The Torah (Religious books)
2. People
3. Unborn Babies
From this, Jewish tradition says that the unborn are viewed the same as people in terms of burying them in a Jewish graveyard.
Father Paul Schenck was raised as an Orthodox Jew, then he converted to Evangelical Christian. At that point he learned Aramaic and Greek, so he could read the Bible in its original form.
Finally, Father Paul Schenck converted to the Catholic faith and was ordained a priest.
As a pro-lifer, he had a case go to the US Supreme Court, which ruled 8-1 in his favor.
He is my source for this when I worked at PFL and he was a pastoral associate.