Five hundred years had passed since the close of the Talmud. The locus of Jewish legal thought had shifted from Eretz Yisrael, Sura, and Pumbedita to the lands of Europe. The period of the Geonim (heads of the Babylonian academies) had faded into history. Yet, in a manner characteristic of Jewish legal authorities, Rashi (1040–1105), the Talmud's preeminent commentator, wrote as if the passage of time and the changing cultural geography had all meant nothing. In large measure, Rashi's position reiterated the rabbinic view of fetal status, albeit with one significant elaboration. In the case of a woman undergoing treacherous labor, Rashi's prescription and rationale could hardly have been clearer or more reminiscent:

Just as his rabbinic forebears were, Rashi was plainly in no doubt that when the woman's life was threatened, the interests of the unborn were subordinate to those of its mother. Rashi's rendering, however, takes the Mishnah one fundamental step beyond what had previously been articulated.