Nice try, but no dice.
G-d, through the words of the Torah, places utmost importance on the value of life. In Vayikra, the verse states: “ushmartem et chukotay ve’et mishpatai asher ya’ase otam ha’adam, vechai bahem, ani hashem.”3 You shall observe my decrees and my laws that each man shall carry out and by which he shall live, I am God. This verse teaches us that the commandments were not meant to take precedence over human life. If the observance or the performance of a Torah law would create a risk to a human life, then preservation of that life should take precedence over the observance of that Torah law.
The Gemara in Sanhedrin rules on the basis of this verse that if someone is offered the ultimatum to violate one of the prohibitions in the Torah or be killed, that person has the duty to violate that law and save his life. This rule applies to all the prohibitions in the Torah with three exceptions. The three exceptions are the prohibitions of idol worship, illicit sexual relations and murder. Although the Torah specifically says “vechai bahem,” if a person would be given the ultimatum to violate one of these three transgressions or be killed, he must refuse to violate the prohibition and sacrifice his own life.
The same Gemara in Sanhedrin,5 describes a case where a person being pursued destroys the property of another in effort to save his own life. Rava rules that if the property belongs to the pursuer, then the pursued is exempt from compensating the damage. However, if the person being pursued destroys the property belonging to a third party, he is liable for the damage. We see from this Gemara that it is permissible to destroy another’s property to save your own life, provided that you compensate the owner of the property.
Accepted - How does that jibe with your prior statement:
[gogogodzilla:] Saving the unborn is more of a 3rd order level of need (after both the physical basics of life are met and safety/security is met). src
There is another thing that YHWH said in passing somewhere:
Exo 20:13 Thou shalt not kill.
...Which, as you have declared from the Gemara:
[...] The three exceptions are the prohibitions of idol worship, illicit sexual relations and murder.
What I don't understand then, is that you would consider 'Saving the unborn' to be anything but a necessity of the highest order?
And as an aside, while I agree with the general tenor of your statements upthread about past Buddhist and Hindu societies (as proof that morals are to some degree universal), It is my assertion that any nation can have but one ethos - One moral definition. In our case that IS (and has been since our inception) the Judeo-Christian ethic. One cannot, IMHO remove that ethical conscience without totally destroying what we are... As the commies already understand.
With that in mind, I find your criticism of the Judeo-Christian ethic to be short sighted.