Birth Control
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The ancient Jewish commandment to "be fruitful and multiply" has long created moral tension with situations where pregnancy threatens maternal or child welfare. Through comprehensive analysis of rabbinic literature, responsa, and Jewish legal codes, clear precedents emerge authorizing birth control under specific circumstances. Jewish law permits contraceptive use when pregnancy endangers maternal health, when children face risks of fatal congenital diseases or mental abnormalities, and during extraordinary communal crises - as evidenced by rabbinic responses during Nazi persecution. While procreation holds paramount sanctity in Judaism as a pre-Sinaitic universal commandment, preservation of life constitutes a higher obligation when these duties conflict. The analysis reveals that birth control decisions should remain within the purview of affected individuals and qualified medical professionals rather than being subject to broad legal suppression. The research advocates for open dissemination of birth control information under proper medical supervision while rejecting arguments for widespread population control based on allegedly insufficient demographic evidence regarding global overpopulation.

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Published 1962
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Ben Bokser