The Silent Cry of the Unborn
Is abortion a legitimate act—or is it murder?
Can the irreversible step of ending a pregnancy lead to a lifetime of regret that never fades?
Many women who have had abortions due to personal difficulties testify that it was the worst decision of their lives.
Personal Testimonies
Hedva, a 41-year-old mother of four, has been carrying unbearable sorrow for more than three years over an abortion she had in the seventh month of pregnancy. She described feeling the baby move inside her the night before the procedure, and now sees three-year-old girls—the age her daughter should be—and it tears her apart.
Adina, 57, had two abortions in her youth. After seeing a video showing what happens to a fetus during the procedure, she was horrified to realize what she had done. She constantly imagines those children and can even see what each of them would have looked like.
Liat, 28, described waking from the procedure feeling like she had sentenced herself to life in prison. She felt like a murderer and had suicidal thoughts. On the baby’s due date, she felt shattered and wrote letters to the baby asking for forgiveness.
S, 30, described the feeling upon waking as “death.” She was consumed by regret and couldn’t function for weeks. Two years later, she still can’t overcome the bitterness and pain.
Every Life Is Significant
Life is the most important value in human culture, and for that reason, in every country in the world, the penalty for murder is the most severe. Why is human life so valuable? The universal source is found in the Torah: “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God He made man” (Bereishit 9:6). Every person is created in God’s image, with a unique soul. Life is a gift from the Creator, and no one has the right to take it away.
The Mishnah teaches: “Whoever saves one life is considered to have saved an entire world” (Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5). Every life is infinitely significant. There is no essential difference between a three-month-old fetus, a two-year-old child, an adult, or an elderly person—all equally bear the image of God.
To say that a human is only a human in the ninth month is arbitrary. By day 40, the fetus has detectable brain waves. By week 6, the heart is beating and the circulatory system is functioning. By week 12, the fetus moves its limbs and sucks its thumb; by week 16, it responds with facial expressions and recognizes voices.
Does the Fetus Feel Pain?
An important article from the Journal of Medical Ethics concluded that a fetus can feel pain from at least 12 weeks. This finding challenged the long-held view that pain perception requires a functioning cerebral cortex at 24 weeks. Professor Davenport Hooker found that by week 7, parts of the fetus respond to gentle touch; by week 13, the entire body responds.
Ultrasound footage during abortions shows the fetus attempting to move away from surgical instruments.
How Abortions Are Performed
Worldwide, over 40 million abortions are performed each year—about 125,000 a day. The procedures are often harsh, sometimes damaging a woman’s body and risking her long-term fertility.
Facing the Hard Truth About Abortion
An unexpected pregnancy can be terrifying, especially when life already feels overwhelming. In such moments, abortion can appear to be the quickest escape. But can even the most difficult circumstances ever justify taking the life of a helpless, unborn child?
A fetus may be hidden from view, but that doesn’t make it any less human. Abortion is not an abstract concept—it is the deliberate destruction of a living, developing baby.
That unborn child wanted to live, to meet his mother, to see the world. Ending his life leaves a wound no mother can fully escape—a lifetime of regret and pain far greater than the challenge of raising a child in difficult circumstances.
Choosing Life—and Supporting It
A moral society cannot abandon women in crisis pregnancies. It must offer real, tangible help—financial, emotional, and logistical—to make choosing life possible. In Israel, organizations like Efrat—C.R.I.B. and Hidabroot’s “EMA” division do exactly that, providing everything from baby supplies to ongoing guidance.
Dr. Eli Schussheim, founder of Efrat, has helped save over 40,000 pregnancies. In more than three decades, he has never met a mother who regretted keeping her baby. Once a mother holds her newborn, the thought of having ended that life becomes unimaginable.
If you—or someone you know—faces an unplanned pregnancy, it’s important to seek guidance from a trusted rabbi, rebbetzin, or a dedicated support organization. They can offer the perspective, clarity, strength, and practical support needed to protect that precious, irreplaceable life.
In the early weeks of pregnancy, a baby’s heartbeat can sometimes be hard to detect. Yet too often, doctors quickly conclude there is none and urge the mother to undergo a D&C—a procedure that ends the pregnancy.
Some women, unwilling to act in haste, have sought a second opinion a week or two later and found a steady, unmistakable heartbeat and perfectly normal developing baby.
But for others, the story ends in tragedy. Trusting the initial diagnosis, they went ahead with the abortion—only to later learn the baby had been alive and healthy all along. By then, nothing could be undone.
The same heartbreaking mistake can happen during mid-pregnancy scans. Doctors may warn of severe abnormalities and bleak outcomes, and sometimes urge women to terminate the pregnancy. Yet, on many occasions, parents who chose to continue discovered the reality was far less dire—and in some cases, completely wrong—and welcomed healthy babies into the world.
A single mistaken medical judgment can end a life that should have been given the chance to live. The risk is too great to ignore.
“Hundreds of Israeli women needlessly abort healthy fetuses due to doctors’ ignorance” screamed the headline of an investigative report published a few years ago.
Professor Gustavo Malinger, head of the Gynecological Ultrasound Department at Ichilov Medical Center, candidly admitted that today’s doctors often fear legal action. As a result, even the slightest suspicion of a possible defect during pregnancy tests can trigger extreme measures.
In his words: “We’ve reached a point where major hospitals in Israel include the same note in every prenatal test: ‘It was explained to the woman that she retains the autonomy to apply to the pregnancy termination committee.’ Every test! Even when there is absolutely nothing wrong. Because otherwise, if we’re sued later, they’ll claim they weren’t informed about the option of termination.”
Abortion carries a range of risks and complications, and in some cases can even result in death. Immediate dangers may include: uterine rupture, bleeding, infections, pulmonary embolism, fever, pain, water intoxication, seizures, shock, and damage to internal organs.
Fertility complications are among the most common and affect approximately 50% of women following abortion. These can include complete secondary infertility, recurrent miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies, premature births, low birth weight, and stillbirths.
(According to Dr. Michael Shilon, Atidim Medical Center)
Amniocentesis involves inserting a thin needle into the amniotic sac and extracting a small amount of fluid for genetic testing. But the procedure carries significant risks for the baby. It can trigger a premature birth, leaving the infant with lifelong disabilities.
Research has confirmed that amniocentesis increases the risk of miscarriage due to bleeding or other complications from the needle puncture.
In many cases, patients are not fully informed of these risks, and often the test is performed without a solid medical justification. According to an investigative report, one of the motivations for encouraging patients to undergo the procedure is the hospital’s interest in collecting data for genetic research projects, rather than the medical needs of the mother or child.
Studies show that 10% of women who undergo abortions develop psychiatric disorders as a direct result. These conditions can interfere with marital intimacy and may lead to psychotic episodes or even suicide.
Guilt, anxiety, depression, feelings of loss, anger, and lowered self-esteem are just some of the emotions experienced by roughly 25% of women after an abortion. Research also indicates that mothers who have had abortions often struggle to form emotional bonds with their other children, and there is a noted increase in cases of child abuse within these families.
(According to Dr. Michael Shilon, Atidim Medical Center)
In the early weeks of pregnancy, a baby’s heartbeat can sometimes be hard to detect. Yet too often, doctors quickly conclude there is none and urge the mother to undergo a D&C—a procedure that ends the pregnancy.
Some women, unwilling to act in haste, have sought a second opinion a week or two later and found a steady, unmistakable heartbeat and perfectly normal developing baby.
But for others, the story ends in tragedy. Trusting the initial diagnosis, they went ahead with the abortion—only to later learn the baby had been alive and healthy all along. By then, nothing could be undone.
The same heartbreaking mistake can happen during mid-pregnancy scans. Doctors may warn of severe abnormalities and bleak outcomes, and sometimes urge women to terminate the pregnancy. Yet, on many occasions, parents who chose to continue discovered the reality was far less dire—and in some cases, completely wrong—and welcomed healthy babies into the world.
A single mistaken medical judgment can end a life that should have been given the chance to live. The risk is too great to ignore.
Abortion carries a range of risks and complications, and in some cases can even result in death. Immediate dangers may include: uterine rupture, bleeding, infections, pulmonary embolism, fever, pain, water intoxication, seizures, shock, and damage to internal organs.
Fertility complications are among the most common and affect approximately 50% of women following abortion. These can include complete secondary infertility, recurrent miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies, premature births, low birth weight, and stillbirths.
(According to Dr. Michael Shilon, Atidim Medical Center)
Studies show that 10% of women who undergo abortions develop psychiatric disorders as a direct result. These conditions can interfere with marital intimacy and may lead to psychotic episodes or even suicide.
Guilt, anxiety, depression, feelings of loss, anger, and lowered self-esteem are just some of the emotions experienced by roughly 25% of women after an abortion. Research also indicates that mothers who have had abortions often struggle to form emotional bonds with their other children, and there is a noted increase in cases of child abuse within these families.
(According to Dr. Michael Shilon, Atidim Medical Center)
“Hundreds of Israeli women needlessly abort healthy fetuses due to doctors’ ignorance” screamed the headline of an investigative report published a few years ago.
Professor Gustavo Malinger, head of the Gynecological Ultrasound Department at Ichilov Medical Center, candidly admitted that today’s doctors often fear legal action. As a result, even the slightest suspicion of a possible defect during pregnancy tests can trigger extreme measures.
In his words: “We’ve reached a point where major hospitals in Israel include the same note in every prenatal test: ‘It was explained to the woman that she retains the autonomy to apply to the pregnancy termination committee.’ Every test! Even when there is absolutely nothing wrong. Because otherwise, if we’re sued later, they’ll claim they weren’t informed about the option of termination.”
Amniocentesis involves inserting a thin needle into the amniotic sac and extracting a small amount of fluid for genetic testing. But the procedure carries significant risks for the baby. It can trigger a premature birth, leaving the infant with lifelong disabilities.
Research has confirmed that amniocentesis increases the risk of miscarriage due to bleeding or other complications from the needle puncture.
In many cases, patients are not fully informed of these risks, and often the test is performed without a solid medical justification. According to an investigative report, one of the motivations for encouraging patients to undergo the procedure is the hospital’s interest in collecting data for genetic research projects, rather than the medical needs of the mother or child.
Despite the heartfelt pleas of her husband and friends, Meital was determined to end her pregnancy. She pushed through every bureaucratic obstacle to get approval, and by the 28th week, she arrived at the hospital ready for what she believed was the inevitable. But at the very last moment, everything changed.
Meital Galam never imagined she would face such a painful, life-altering experience. A mother of three boys, she was stunned to discover she was pregnant again. With a cramped apartment, a strained financial situation, and an already full household, she could not see how they could possibly raise another child. From the start, she was set on abortion.
Her husband begged her in tears, but she just wanted the abortion. Meanwhile, her family and friends tried everything to change her mind. One friend told her, “If you’re willing to kill the baby inside you, what would you say if I suggested killing one of your other children?”
Weeks passed. At 28 weeks, she put on the hospital gown. Her husband sat beside her, crying and begging her not to go through with it. She waited for the anesthesiologist.
As she waited, a woman in the room struck up a conversation: “I have to tell you something. Do you see my little girl over here? She’s my only child. I sold my house, spent every penny I had, went through years of exhausting treatments, just for the chance to bring her into the world. And you, a healthy woman carrying a healthy baby—a gift—are willing to throw that away?”
Meital insisted she had made up her mind. But minutes later, she stepped outside alone. “In that moment, it hit me. I couldn’t go through with it. I went back inside, took off the hospital gown, and told the anesthesiologist I was keeping my baby.”
After three boys, she gave birth to a baby girl. “The moment I saw her, I burst into tears and said to God, ‘What was I thinking? How could I not trust You?’ Every single day since, I hold her close and thank God that I didn’t end her life. We named her Oriya. She’s already nine months old and has brought sweet and beautiful light into our home.”
She hopes her story will reach women who are where she once was. “Think long and hard before you do this. If God gave you this soul, it’s meant for you.”
