Attention Jewish women! Assert your religious rights! An unborn fetus in Jewish law is not considered a person until it has been born. The fetus is regarded as a part of the mother’s body and not a separate being until it begins to leave the womb during childbirth. In fact, until 40 days after conception, the fertilized egg is regarded as “mere fluid.”

Looking at abortion through this religious lens, and considering these facts, abortion is the removal of unwanted tissue, not unlike a tumor.

Consider, too, that the decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade was pushed through by the Court’s self-avowed “originalists” who believe that because abortion wasn’t specifically mentioned in our 236-year-old Constitution, there is no constitutional right to one.

And let’s remember that in 2018 the Supreme Court narrowly ruled that a Christian baker, opposed to gay marriage for religious reasons, could not be forced to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple. The ruling was considered a victory for religious freedom. How then can a Jewish woman be denied her religious freedom to remove unwanted tissue from her body?

In my opinion, viability of a fetus is a Christian notion. The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade is, therefore, a de facto declaration that this is a Christian nation, despite the fact that the signers of the United States Constitution had a very different idea. They endorsed the idea of a secular republic, not a Christian nation.

Let’s test religious freedom regarding abortion.

MARILYN GOLDFARB

Boalsburg

Submitted by Virtual Newsroom