The Knesset last night postponed until next week the third and final reading of a bill making abortions legal in Israel. The postponement, which followed a stormy session, was on the grounds that if there are any reservations to any paragraph in a proposed bill the final reading must be delayed one week.
However, some observers saw the postponement as a tactic for reopening talks between the National Religious Party which opposes the bill as making murder lawful and the governing Labor Alignment which allowed its MKs to vote their conscience on the bill.
The new bill would allow a woman to have an abortion if a committee composed of two doctors and a social worker approves. Approval will be based on certain criteria; if there is suspicion that the child may have birth defects, if continuation of the pregnancy might endanger the woman, if the birth might harm the woman or her family, if the family lives under difficult social conditions and if the woman is a minor or over 40.
While the religious parties strongly opposed the bill these who favored it said it did not go far enough and was merely a compromise to change the present situation where abortions are permitted in extreme cases.
Although abortion is Illegal in Israel, it is common knowledge that many private doctors do perform abortions for large fees. The argument by those supporting legalized abortions is that those who need it the most cannot now afford it.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
