חיוב האישה לקיים יחסי אישות
לרב שלום! רציתי לשאול גם מבחינה הלכתית וגם מבחינה מעשית בחיי היומיום. האם מבחינה הלכתית, יש מחויבות של האישה כלפיבעלה לקיים עימו יחסי אישות בכל
I am aware that Rabbi Eliezer Yehuda Valdenberg permits terminating a pregnancy if the child will be mentally retarded. In the case of fragile X, there are times when they know that the child will be severely affected and times when they know the child will not be affected at all, but there are also times when they do not know how severely the child will be affected. The child may be learning disabled or he may be severely retarded. This is all based on the sex of the child. Is terminating such a pregnancy also permitted (if the mother cannot handle it)?
As you probably know, the cost for IVF with pre-implantation genetic testing is very high and there is never a guarantee that it will result in a successful pregnancy. The chances for a fragile X carrier are even less because, as I recently found out, fragile X carriers were found to have high levels of the follicle-stimulating hormone, which complicates matters. Also, as I mentioned in my previous letter, in the US they are still doing research on this. Therefore, the most desirable route is to go the natural way and terminate the pregnancy if the child is affected. The problem then would be what to do in the event that the doctors do not know how much the child would be affected.
Your question was passed to Professor Avraham Steinberg, a well-known physician and a qualified rabbi, who answered as follows.
1. Most probably, destruction of a pre-embryo with a genetic disorder, such as fragile X, is permitted in the preimplantation stage, according to all opinions.
2. As you already know, according to R. Valdenberg it should be permitted to abort a male fetus that was diagnosed with fragile X syndrome if the percentage of infected babies that will suffer from retardation and learning disabilities is higher than twenty percent.
3. If the mother is suffering severely after her embryo has been diagnosed as fragile X, it is surely permitted to abort according to R. Valdenberg.
4. See the enclosed photocopy on abortion from Prof. A. S. Abraham’s The Comprehensive Guide to Medical Halacha, second edition, pp. 205-6.
Please note that these rulings are theoretical and before actual practice, after collecting all the medical data, one should always ask a qualified rabbi who is familiar with those involved
לרב שלום! רציתי לשאול גם מבחינה הלכתית וגם מבחינה מעשית בחיי היומיום. האם מבחינה הלכתית, יש מחויבות של האישה כלפיבעלה לקיים עימו יחסי אישות בכל
I find that as I get older (closing in on 40) I have problem sustaining an erection. This causes several problems. First, sometime I prematurely
אני כבת 35 ועדין רווקה. אני חוששת שאם אמתין יותר מידי זמן, אפספס את האפשרות שלי ללדת. רציתי לדעת אם יש מניעה שאלד לבד באמצעות
לורם איפסום דולור סיט אמט, קונסקטורר אדיפיסינג אלית לפרומי בלוף קינץ תתיח לרעח. לת צשחמי צש בליא, מנסוטו צמלח לביקו ננבי, צמוקו בלוקריה.