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The Gemara on our daf quotes a baraita that offers the following ruling. If the daughter of a kohen marries an ordinary Jew, and he dies with no children, the widow can begin eating terumah immediately. That is to say, we are not concerned with the possibility that she is pregnant with a child, something that would keep her from returning to her father’s household. Rav Chisda explains that this is true for forty days because we can work with the assumption that either she is not pregnant or else the embryo is not considered to be significant for the first 40 days.
The Rabbinic ruling that an embryo is not given halakhic significance for the first 40 days coincides with the stage of development when the embryo loses its similarity to embryos of other animals to the extent that the tail disappears and the human head, hands and legs begin to form. Although at that point the embryo is still small and undeveloped, still it is clearly recognizable as a human form.
In light of the raging debate about the leaked Supreme Court brief planning to overturn Roe vs Wade how opportune a moment to reflect on the nuanced halachic deliberations regarding abortion based upon our daf’s claim that prior to 40 days the legal status of a fetus is dubious since it it merely like Just Plain Water מַיָּא בְּעָלְמָא הִיא