Biblical Abortion

In addition to the Pasuk in פרשת נח that lets us know that abortion is murder, there is another similar Pasuk in פרשת חוקת.

In נח, murder is defined as שופך דם אדם באדם, the spilling of blood of a human, inside another human. This clearly refers to a mother carrying her baby, and killing it would be forbidden as one of the Seven Noachide Laws, that apply to both Jews and non-Jews.

In פרשת חוקת it is written, הנוגע במת בנפש אדם, which refers to becoming defiled by having come in contact with the dead. This Pasuk is telling us that if a tragedy occurs, and the fetus dies, and the mother becomes aware of this situation, the dead fetus causes the same defilement as being under the same roof with an actual corpse.

This painful case is described in מסכת חולין, where Rabbi Akiva quotes this second Pasuk and clarifies that טומאת אבל occurs even by an עובר במעי אשה, a fetus inside a woman.

As unpleasant as it is to raise this subject, it is important to be aware of biblical sources, as the subject of abortion has become a big news item subject to great debate.