Emmanuel mother miscarries 'due to mental state'
Medical staff at Mayanei Hayeshua Hospital believes woman's mental state prior to High Court hearing determining whether she will be sent to jail, caused her to miscarry. Haredi elements working to release her husband from prison
The hospital's spokesman Moshe Friedman refused to confirm the details of the report out of respect for the patient's privacy.
Ultra-Orthodox elements were outraged upon receiving word of the tragedy.
Knesset Member Moshe Gafni (United Torah Judaism) said that "the State is becoming inhumane. Today it is with the haredim, tomorrow with other sectors of the population."
Gafni also addressed attempts to release the woman's husband from jail and said, "This is a crossing of red lines. A woman is begging to have her husband beside her during her miscarriage but the court refuses to even respond."
Yitzhak Sheinin, who is active in the haredi struggle, described the incident as "white murder."
"It appears that one can commit murder in the name of the law. We are being portrayed as leaders of a civil mutiny or a coup and as those who wish to turn Israel into Iran, and so in the sake of democracy they wouldn't mind eliminating 1,000 people. " Sheinin noted that police placed snipers on roof tops during the mass haredi protest in Jerusalem last week.
He leveled harsh criticism at High Court judges. "The judges sit conveniently in their air-conditioned chambers while mothers struggle alone in their homes, and as a direct or indirect result such a tragedy occurs. The judges' panel's only aim is to trample over anything to do with religion and the ultra-Orthodox."
'Rabbis above the law'
Meanwhile, the High Court of Justice discussed the request of the 22 mothers from Emmanuel not to be jailed. Several mothers who attended the hearing explained why they had failed to report to prison. "We didn't arrive on Thursday because we were home," one of them said. "We hope you too will be worthy of Heaven's name."
One of the mothers, Yehudit Weinberg, said as she entered the courtroom, "It's not normal putting children's mothers in jail, but I have no problem going to jail. The court is not above the rabbis – the rabbis are above the law.
"On Thursday things were very difficult for us and we had to care for our other children, so we didn't report to jail. In any case, we won't agree to unite the (Ashkenazi and Sephardic) classes."
Another mother, Aliza Lang, added: "We don't want and have no impulse to go to jail in the first place, but if there's no choice – we'll go. We are acting according to our rabbis' opinions."
