מַכֵּה אִישׁ וָמֵת, מוֹת יוּמָת... וְכִי-יִנָּצוּ אֲנָשִׁים, וְנָגְפוּ אִשָּׁה הָרָה וְיָצְאוּ יְלָדֶיהָ, וְלֹא יִהְיֶה, אָסוֹן--עָנוֹשׁ יֵעָנֵשׁ, כַּאֲשֶׁר יָשִׁית עָלָיו בַּעַל הָאִשָּׁה, וְנָתַן, בִּפְלִלִים. -- He who strikes a man, so that he dies, shall surely be put to death…And if men strive together, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart, and yet no harm follow, he shall be surely fined, according as the woman's husband shall lay upon him; and he shall pay as [judges] determine. (Exodus 21: 12, 22)
Catholicism and other fundamentalist religions consider the intentional premature termination of a fetus to be an act of murder. Whereas Judaism has strict limitations on the permissibility of abortion, there is allowance for the procedure and even the most fundamentalist position does not equate the act to murder. The above verses in this week's sidrah are the textual proof that a fetus does not equate to a life; were the two equivalent, no fine would be levied for causing the woman's 'fruit to depart,' rather, capital punishment would be the Biblical injunction.
