Pres. Trump reinstated an order barring foreign NGOs from receiving any U.S. foreign assistance if they perform any abortions as part of their service offerings.
Israel has one of the most liberal abortion policies in the world. Virtually all women may obtain abortions at any point in the pregnancy and the government covers the entire expense. This, in a country whose State religion, Orthodox Judaism, forbids abortion unless the mother’s life is in danger.
Israel’s liberalism on this issue has driven the anti-abortion hard-right a bit crazy, knowing that our government offers such huge amounts of aid to a country that fully embraces choice.
A sharp reader just emailed me that the Israeli defense ministry pays for abortions of all military personnel. Another Israeli friend furnished a ministry guideline which states that not only does the ministry provide abortions, anyone serving in the military must have their abortion performed in a military medical facility. Soldiers may not go to a civilian provider.
Thus by rights, the Trump administration should discontinue its aid program to the Israeli military. Of course, that’s never going to happen. Because the rules which apply to everyone else don’t apply to Israel. Israel always seems to have that Get Out of Jail Free card tucked up its sleeve.
As far as the hasbarista and literalists among us, they’ll point out that the IDF isn’t an NGO and Israel doesn’t receive foreign aid. Rather it receives military aid. But all of this is sophistry to conceal the hypocrisy of U.S. policy.
The Times piece is a bit slanted. All abortions in Israel must be approved by a special committee and there has to be a valid reason. The committee may not approve an abortion (in particular when this is a soft reason such as emotional duress). See here –
https://www.health.gov.il/Subjects/pregnancy/Abortion/Pages/default.aspx
(in practice the committee does approve most requests, but part of this is due to the requestess doing committee shopping + telling the appropriate story they know will get approved (and not just – I don’t want the baby). In addition in practice Anti-Abortion activists (www.efrat.co.il) will actively try to convince women before and after they go to the committee – and helpful little birds give them access to the committee).
This is definitely less liberal than many other places – including the US (where you can go to a private clinic and don’t have to provide an “excuse” and possibly be rejected). The difference in Israel is that it is paid for (as many other procedures – including fertility) by the state, and not privately.
In terms of military healthcare – up until recent times all soldiers were insured by the military (and not a general Kupat Hulim HMO). This is however changing somewhat recently, see here –
http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4776303,00.html
I’m not sure of the up to date status – in the past military care was by military clinics on the base level, with complex procedures (including abortions I would assume) done at a civilian hospital (all be it often with military doctors – at Tel HaShomer or Assaf Harophe).
@ lepxii: If the State pays for all abortions then that makes it the most liberal in the world. Especially considering how easy it is to qualify to get an abortion.
You are wrong & didn’t read the link I included. MIlitary personnel MUST have the abortion done through military medical facilities. PLease, read all links provided before commenting so I don’t have to repeat the information featured in the linked source.
Military medical facilities in this case are regular hospitals that provide medical services to the military.
Quoting from the link you provided
“לפיכך את ההפלה עליה לעבור אך ורק בבתי החולים שמספקים שירותים רפואיים לצה”ל”
There are no military hospitals.
@ DH: These are special hospitals which are contracted to provide medical care to military personnel. Call them whatever you want, but they are acting and providing medical care in the name of and on behalf of the IDF. A female soldier may not get a private abortion outside the military system.
What is the problem with that?
To an Israeli this is legitimate, the IDF has full responsibility for the soldiers while they are enlisted.
Also, The same would apply to almost any other medical procedure.
@ DH: Then you shouldn’t mind the Trump regime turning off that $38-billion spigot given that we’re punishing foreign aid recipients who do (or pay for) abortions?
If your conclusion is “Israel is the most liberal in the world”, anything that leads you to that is a blessing.
Interesting to see how you would use even a subject on which you support Israel actions and turn it against it.
“Virtually all women may obtain abortions at any point in the pregnancy and the government covers the entire expense.”
Oy. Israeli law requires any woman who wants to have an abortion to go through a pregnancy termination commission. Each such commission consists of two doctors (one of whom must be ob/gyn) and a social worker; at least one of the commission members must be a woman. The law lists a specific set of criteria which may justify an abortion (Hebrew: https://www.health.gov.il/Subjects/pregnancy/Abortion/Pages/default.aspx).
One of the problems arising from this list is that a married woman under 40 with an “ordinary” pregnancy (i.e., neither resulting from rape nor posing a danger for the health of the woman or the prospective child) cannot have an abortion unless she claims that the pregnancy results from extra-marital sex. Of course, if she claims so, nobody would check her. But raising such a claim, beside being psychologically discomforting for a woman, can harm her if she enters divorce proceedings later.
That is pretty horrible!
I guess you partially missed the last criteria
“המשך ההיריון עלול לסכן את חיי האישה או לגרום לה נזק גופני או נפשי.”
That is, “continuation of the pregnancy may risk the life of the woman or cause he physical or mental damage. The important part you missed is “mental damage”. All the woman has to claim is that she really is not ready to have a child now in her life and if she will be forced to have the child it will badly affect her mental health. With such a cause no wonder practically any woman in Israel that asks to have an abortion gets the approval. Interestingly, Some Ultra Orthodox Jews get an approval from their Rabbi to use contraception under the same cause- that getting pregnant at that point will cause extreme mental pressure to the wife.
Once more wrong, you can after the first trimester receive an abortion but it can only be done for medical or mental illness reasons.
Israel isn’t an NGO, so how can there be a forfeiture?
@ Ben: If the U.S. is defunding NGOs all the more it should defund governments whose national policy it is to provide abortions relatively freely and easily.
Perhaps you are right but it won’t be the first case in which following the letter of the law does not always bring about a logical result…
But i think this is on purpose. They did not want their forign policy to be too constraint and thus did not include states or state-run organizations.
Richard. As you well know, most of the ‘aid’ that the United States bestows on Israel, is in the form of credits on the purchase of military hardware from American defense companies.
The United States government does not send dollars into I.D.F. abortion clinics, much less into Israel’s civilian medical system.
What and odd notion you have.
@ Ben: I explained very clearly how the Trump order works. It does not distinguish between where its aid is spent (i.e. on abortions or elsewhere). If a recipient does any abortions all U.S. aid is cut off. Period. The IDF medical staff performs abortions. Hence the directive should apply to the IDF as well. Next time, read the post more carefully.
You are done in this thread.
Just small correction (yes, I know I can be a nudnik)-
IDF medical staff doesn’t preform abortions or any other routin complicated procedures such as surgeries, chemotherapy etc. It doesn’t have the facilities or man power to do it.
The IDF sends its personal to have these procedures in civilian hospitals and clinics.
The IDF medical staff is tasked only with immidiate medical treatment during military operations and even than once the soldier is stebelized he/she will be sent to a civilian hospital.
On the day-to-day life in army bases, the medical staff takes care of insiginicant health problems (such as giving a soldier a pill if heqshe has a headache). If a soldier seems to have a serious problem he/she will be sent to civilian medical center.
However, it doesn’t of course contradict your basic argument- The IDF indeed allows his soldiers to have abortions and pay for the procedure.
BTW, I just heard that the IDF also pays for transgender soldiers to have sex change procedures. http://www.kipa.co.il/now/68481.html
I must say that I found it suprising and I am curious to know how Trump would have reacted…
Now who’s being a concern troll?
And as much as you like to say it, Orthodox Judaism, while it has the say on adoptions, marriages, death, etc. is not the state religion. Nice try.
@ Policy: You are hopeless. Israel is supposedly a “Jewish” state. The predominant Jewish religious sect is Orthodox Judaism. There are two other very small alternatives which are hated & discriminated against both by the far right political elite and the Orthodox. Hence, Orthodox Judaism is the State religion.
Thank you for sharing this information. I’ve attempted to share this information for years at the Christian Post, to no avail. My comments about this topic gets deleted every time I attempt to share it. With no explanation as to why. Again, thank you.