GEN691 … abortion is one issue on which we find the roots of a genuine Judeo-Christian consensus, an outlook that led to critiques of both religions by ancient pagan authors.  Among the rabbis, the Noahidic law against bloodshed was traditionally interpreted as forbidding abortion.  A fortiori, it was argued, should abortion be restricted for Jews, lest the Torah seem more lax than the general laws of civilized humanity B. Sanhedrin 58b, citing [this verse]; and Tosafot ad 59a, s.v. leika). R. Bacharach urged that a common Judeo-Christian morality should inform halakhic decisions in such areas as this, and David Novak argues today that the common moral commitment to humane and humanizing norms that is exemplified in a shared repugnance for abortion offers a valid staring place in common concerns for the ongoing dialogue among Christians and Jews.  JHRHV 94