What are the Buddhist views on abortion and on teenage pregnancy?

Answer 1

Like everybody else, not all Buddhists agree. What the "official" policy is regarding abortion is that there is nothing wrong with abortion since a person does not become a person until after birth. To destroy a collection of cells which have no independent life is not considered as killing so it is not against the Buddhist precepts.
Teenage pregnancy is not an issue in itself. Buddhism does not approve of sexual misconduct so that if sexual misconduct is what led to pregnancy the sexual misconduct would be frowned upon.
Probably the biggest difference between Buddhism and other codes is that Buddhism accepts that people do break the rules and that the result should be that everyone learns from that rather than being condemned to hell or socially punished. The pregnancy or the baby are not considered as a problem, only the sexual misconduct and that has passed already.
People can only move on based on what is rather than try to live with what should or could have been.

Answer 2

Quoted from wikipedia.com:

The Dalai Lama is generally opposed to abortion[12], although he has taken a nuanced position, as he explained to the New York Times:

Of course, abortion, from a Buddhist viewpoint, is an act of killing and is negative, generally speaking. But it depends on the circumstances. If the unborn child will be retarded or if the birth will create serious problems for the parent, these are cases where there can be an exception. I think abortion should be approved or disapproved according to each circumstance.[13]
— The Dalai Lama, New York Times, November 28, 1993


You have to understand that from the Buddhist point of view, whatever being was about to be born will have the opportunity to be born again as a person doesn't have a soul but is in fact a collection of causes and conditions that, when configured properly, creates the person. Given an infinite amount of time, it is inevitable that the causes and conditions will be such that the person comes again. We all will become Enlightened someday.

As for teenage pregnancy, I would say that most Buddhists believe teenagers should be educated by the schools in a manner to show how their lives will be different with a child. Guest speakers who talk from experience (recent experience would be best) would help a lot. Ultimately they will need to make their own choices and all be can do is equip them with the knowledge to help make that choice.

Answer 3

Buddhist Views On Abortion

Answer 4

I am inclined to devote more of my time and energy to preventing the situation from happening than to what happens when you have to decide whether you have to do it or not to do it. If we prepare ourselves in such a way, then the problem will not present itself to us, and we don't have to make a decision between abortion or not abortion. -Thich Nhat Hanh