Oh boy. Here we go…
This week we decided to tackle the oh-so-non-controversial, milquetoast, mundane topic of the big A.
No, the A does not stand for Alcoholism, Agamemnon, or Adult Diapers. It stands for Abortion.
We’ve batted around discussing it for a while now and decided to avoid it (for probably obvious reasons). However, the great Kat Rosenfield wrote an article for The Free Press last week, which hit me like an AK-47 round right in the feels and made the time seem right to touch the seven million-degree stove.
In an article entitled, The Men Who Lost Their Babies, Kat describes the emotional pain men experience from a lost pregnancy by interviewing around a half dozen men who have gone through this painful experience, either due to miscarriage or abortion.
As one of those types of men, the article was a challenging but also cathartic read, as I expressed in the podcast this week.
In this conversation, we delve into the nuances of Jewish law regarding abortion, the concept of a Rodef (someone pursuing another person with the intent of killing them), and the cultural shifts in understanding reproductive rights.
We discuss the complexities of grief, parenting, and societal attitudes towards abortion over time, the emotional experiences of both mothers and fathers in the context of pregnancy loss, the spiritual beliefs surrounding unborn life, and the cultural shifts in how abortion is perceived.
We close out by emphasizing the need for support structures for women facing unexpected pregnancies and discuss the moral implications of valuing life based on desire versus inherent value and the importance of shared grieving within relationships.
Of course, we’re always interested in hearing your thoughts, but we’ll be particularly interested in this episode, so please comment below or send us a note to edjewcationpod@gmail.com
And if you want to be able to check out our punims, be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel here.
Finally, if you read along with the edJEWcation Book Club, you’ll be excited to know we are announcing our next selection… by C.S. Lewis
