What does your religion think about abortion?

Question

I have to make an essay at school about abortion. I know what Christianity thinks about it. God said not to kill. So, abortion is a wrong thing. What about other religions? If they don't agree with it tell me why (give solid arguments) and what religion is that. You could be really useful.

If you have nothing to say about it then don't bother.

Answer 1

Jehovah Witness and it is murder.

Answer 2

As a christian you should not abort. But everyone asks.."But what if you get raped?" If i did get raped i wouldn't kill the child i would pray to God about it, who knows he might make me have a miscarriage or he might make me go through all the pain of actually giving birth to the baby. In anyway that God decides to help me i would accept that and i would definitely not abort the baby, you should see how they kill the babies it's absolutely gruesome! If i did end up giving birth to the child, while i was still doing my education i would put the child in a orphanage and keep track of where my child is so after i finished my education i can adopt my child back!

Answer 3

Most Christians may not believe in Abortion. But, many are pro-choice as they do not believe that the state has the right to regulate this.

My religion doesn't react one way or the other on the issue....it is the woman's personal choice.

Answer 4

How should the Source of human life affect our view of this matter?

Acts 17:28: “By him [God] we have life and move and exist.”

Ps. 36:9: “With you [Jehovah God] is the source of life.”

Rom. 14:12: “Each of us will render an account for himself to God.”

Does Jehovah view the life of a child as precious even during the very early stages of development after conception?

Ps. 139:13-16: “You [Jehovah] kept me screened off in the belly of my mother. . . . Your eyes saw even the embryo of me, and in your book all its parts were down in writing.”

Has God ever stated that a person would be called to account for injury to an unborn child?

Ex. 21:22, 23: “In case men should struggle with each other and they really hurt a pregnant woman and her children do come out but no fatal accident occurs, he is to have damages imposed upon him without fail according to what the owner of the woman may lay upon him; and he must give it through the justices. But if a fatal accident should occur, then you must give soul for soul.” (Some translations make it appear that in this law to Israel the crucial matter was what happened to the mother, not to the fetus. The original Hebrew text, however, refers to a fatal accident to either mother or child.)

How serious is the willful taking of a human life for a reason not authorized by God?

Gen. 9:6: “Anyone shedding man’s blood, by man will his own blood be shed, for in God’s image he made man.”

1 John 3:15: “No manslayer has everlasting life remaining in him.”

Ex. 20:13: “You must not murder.”

Does a doctor’s opinion that allowing a pregnancy to go full term would be harmful to the health of the mother justify an abortion?

Medical opinions are sometimes wrong. Would it be right to kill a fellow human because that one might harm his fellowman? If at the time of childbirth a choice must be made between the life of the mother and that of the child, it is up to the individuals concerned to make that choice. However, advances in medical procedures in many lands have made this situation very rare.

Answer 5

The better question is;(one that is more based in reality) What do you think of it in relation to your highest values as a human being? Does abortion serve those values?

Cause in reality, this is why we do what we do. When something doesn't serve our values, we don't give a crap about what our religion says about it, we find a church that is more tolerant of our decision, after all.

Answer 6

Don't be too sure that you know what ALL Christians think about this. The stand of the Episcopal church is that is a tragic thing, but can be done to save the life of the mother, and in the case of rape or incest.

Answer 7

Catholics do not believe in abortions because it is taking a life

God Bless You

Answer 8

ABORTIONS SHOULD NOT BE PERFORMED BUT THERE ARE OCCASION SUCH AS RAPE THAT YOU SHOULD REALLY PRAY TO GOD ABOUT. THERE ARE MANY TIME THAT GOD WILL ALLOWS MISCARRIAGE EVEN THOUGH EVERYTHING LOOKED OK. BUT HE KNOWS WHY HE DOES IT. BUT IF YOU ARE JUST TRYING TO GET RID OF SOMETHING BECAUSE YOU FELL GUILTY OF A SIN, GOD REDEEMS US BUT THERE ARE CONSEQUENCES, SUCH AS CARRYING THE BABY 9 MONTHS AND THEN HAVING RESPONSIBILITY

Answer 9

I would like to clarify at the outset that the statement you refer to is not in the Qur’an. The Prophet (pbuh) is reported to have said that Allah gives the ‘Ruh’ to a foetus at a particular time, but this statement of the Prophet (pbuh) is not with reference to abortion.

Islam has not given any specific directions regarding the issue of abortion. It is therefore not a matter which has been clearly stated in the Shari`ah (Islamic law) but rather an issue pertaining to the application of our knowledge of the Shari`ah. Such application may vary in outcome with a variation in the basic premises of our arguments.


1.
For example, if we believe that a human being has taken form as soon as a woman conceives a child, we cannot then allow abortion on any grounds other than those which enjoy unquestioned moral and legal acceptance, as in such a case, abortion would be nothing less than taking a sacred life - a life absolutely clear of any sin or crime. Obviously, no person in his right state of mind can allow taking a life without adequate moral and legal justification. In such a case, I think we will be prone to allow such a grave act, only to save the mother’s life. That is, we shall allow abortion only if allowing the child to live endangers the life of the mother. This seems to be the basic reason why most (if not all) of the Muslim Jurists disallow abortion.


2.
On the other hand, if we believe that at the time of conception, it is not a human being but only ‘something’ with a potential of human life – like the human sperm or ovum, even when taken independent of each other -- that would cease to exist if abortion is carried out, we might have an altogether different view regarding this act. We would then try to determine the particular stage of development of the fetus at which it becomes a complete human being and not just 'something' which has a potential of human life, and then, in certain cases, allow abortion before this particular stage and be more strict about disallowing abortion if it is to be carried out after this particular stage.

Thus, the basic decision which, in turn, shall provide us the grounds to allow or disallow abortion is whether it is a human being that exists in its mother’s womb, immediately after conception or is it only ‘something’ which has a potential of becoming a human being at some later stage.

In my opinion, it is not a human being that exists in a mother’s womb immediately after conception, but ‘something’ which has a potential of becoming a complete human being at some later stage. The Qur’an says:


We first created man from an essence of clay: then placed him, a living germ, in a secure enclosure. The germ We made a leech; and the leech a lump of flesh; and this We fashioned into bones, then clothed the bones with flesh; then We develop it into another creation. (Al-Mu’minun 23: 12 - 14)

It seems from the above verse that initially it is only the vessel or the body that is developed. It is only at a later stage that this vessel or body is given the qualities of a human being. The words: "then We develop it into another creation" seem to imply a significant change in the development of the foetus at this particular stage. It seems that it is at this stage that the body becomes a complete human being. This process of development of the human being, in its mother’s womb is further elaborated in the following verse:


He who has made everything which He has created most good. He began the creation of man with (nothing more than) clay, and made his progeny from a quintessence of the nature of a fluid despised. Then He fashioned him in due proportion and breathed into him something of His Ruh. And (with this) He gave you (the faculties of) hearing and sight and understanding. (Al-Sajdah 32: 7 - 9)

It once again seems from the above verse that it is at a later stage in the development of a human being in the mother’s womb that the vessel or the body receives its part of the Divine ‘Ruh’ and subsequently the human faculties of hearing, sight and understanding are developed. In my opinion, it is at this stage that the body becomes a human being. My opinion is also substantiated by the another verse of the Qur’an where Allah orders the angels to prostrate in front of Adam. It is only after Allah breathes of His ‘Ruh’ into Adam that the angels are ordained to carry out the prostration. The Qur’an says:


Your Lord said to the angels: I am creating man from clay. When I have fashioned him and breathed of my Ruh into him, kneel down and prostrate yourselves before him. (Sad 38: 72)

Thus, it seems that it is only after the foetus receives its ‘Ruh’ that it becomes a complete human being. Obviously, we cannot ascertain, on scientific and observable basis, the exact time at which the fetus receives its part of the Divine ‘Ruh’, as it is not a physical phenomenon. But the Qur’an also tells us that at the time the fetus receives its part of the Divine ‘Ruh’, its faculties of sight, hearing and understanding are also developed. I suppose that modern medical and embryonic scientists can ascertain the particular time when these faculties are developed in the fetus. If this can be acheived, it would then become possible for us to say that a complete ‘human being’ can be said to exist in its mother’s womb at this particular time and not before it. Thus, if the process of the development of a human being is to be aborted, it should be aborted before this time.

The Prophet (pbuh) is reported to have said that the various stages in the development of the fetus till the time it receives the Divine ‘Ruh’ takes one hundred and twenty days (Bukhari). If this narrative is correctly ascribed to the Prophet (pbuh) and the narrators have correctly reported the saying of the Prophet (pbuh), then we can say that it is upto this time, after the initial conception, that only the vessel or the body is developed in the mother’s womb and not a complete ‘human being’. Thus, if there are any moral, ethical, social or medical justifications for aborting the process of the formation of a human being, it should be carried out before this time. After this time, in my opinion, abortion should be allowed on the basis of extremely pressing medical grounds only.

I hope this helps.

Answer 10

its wrong..im Methodist
thou shalt not kill is in the ten commands...this means humans not animals

Answer 11

I'm an atheist. & I know abortion is murder.