Life

Offbeat Israel: She ‘Stole’ What?

By Nathan Jeffay May 15, 2009

In the most remarkable of court cases, an Israeli man yesterday claimed he has been a victim of “sperm theft.” The woman who “stole” his sperm and became pregnant as a result should be forced to have an abortion, he demanded.

The 21-year-old man who brought the case claimed that the 26-year-old woman carrying his baby seduced him when he was drunk, and claimed she was using birth control. He said that given these circumstances, sperm was “stolen” from him and that she should not be allowed to continue her pregnancy. He claimed that fathering a child would harm his chances of marrying in the future and harm him emotionally and financially.

The woman responded that he was aware of his actions and denied he was under the impression she was on birth control.

The judge in the Haifa family court rejected the man’s claims, saying that he had no right to make decisions regarding the defendant’s body, and that the woman’s right to continue her pregnancy is protected by law. However, he did say that the claim of “sperm theft” could be suitable for a hearing in the civil court, making it conceivable that he could bring a case demanding compensation or dispensation from giving any financial support to the child.

Israel has been gripped today by a harrowing story of a one-year-old girl who was left alone yesterday for three hours in a hot car.

The girl, from the southern town of Kiryat Gat, was supposed to be dropped by her father at day-care. But he forgot, went to work, parked and left the car with her inside.

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