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<font size=3>Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach & Rav Elyashiv ybcl"c -
Must A Women Subject Herself To A Caesarean Delivery?<br><br>
If a woman cannot give birth naturally and her delivery will require
Caesarean section, can she refuse her husband's request to have
children?<br><br>
The Nishmas Avrohom (OC 330:2) brings from Rav Elyashiv shlit"a that
the Meshech Chochma (Noach 9:7) says that a woman, although patur from
the Mitzva of having children (as only a man is chayav), nevertheless is
obligated to her husband to bear him children. This is despite that there
is inherent danger in childbirth. Therefore says Rav Elyashiv the extra
measure of danger inherent in a c-section will not exempt her from her
obligation to her husband.<br><br>
However, says the Nishmas Avrohom, Rav Shlomo Zalman argued and held that
the only obligation a woman has to her husband is for a natural
childbirth. This was understood when she agreed to get married. However a
c-section was not part of the agreement and she may therefore refuse to
have one. <br><br>
He goes as far as saying that even if right before childbirth the doctors
says that it may be dangerous for the child to be born naturally and a
c-section would prove to be a much safer alternative to delivering a
healthy child, she may still refuse on the grounds that she is afraid to
undergo the operation, even at the expense of the child.<br>
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