Rabbi Walter Wurzburger, first vice-president of the Rabbinical Council of America, scored secular and Reform Jewish leaders for allegedly falsifying and misrepresenting the Jewish religious position on abortion. Addressing the special bicentennial Torah Convocation of the Rabbinical Council, which is being attended by some 500 Orthodox rabbis. Wurzburger charged that “A false image has been projected to the general public that Judaism sanctions abortion.”
He said, “We have no quarrel with those who claim for themselves complete freedom in these areas. But they may not put a Jewish label on their position and thoroughly distort the Jewish religion’s abhorrence of abortion.” He declared that “while Judaism makes a distinction between potential and actual life and in some instances regards abortion as morally necessary, the removal of all curbs on abortion is regarded as religiously reprehensible and socially destructive.”
Wurzburger expressed shock at “the blindness of those Jewish leaders who join coalition groups in their advocacy of permissive abortion.” He claimed that this was not only a contravention of Jewish law but “insensitive to the injurious effects on Jewish survival which permissive abortion represents.” While he did not identify the Jewish groups, it was understood that he was referring to the Religious Coalition for Abortion Rights which represents 22 Jewish, Protestant and Ethical Culture organizations.
According to Wurzburger, “Abortion, together with stringent birth control diminishes Jewish numbers and saps the vitality of our people.” He claimed that “It is particularly reprehensible for Jewish groups to promote abortion in light of the fact that the Jews have not yet replaced the Holocaust losses and in light of the fact that Israel needs more population desperately and yet has an alarming rate of abortion.”
Wurzburger’s statement on this issue and a similar one by Israel Klavan, executive vice-president of the Rabbinical Council, were embodied in a resolution that was adopted by the convention.
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