Religion and abortion

Numerous religious traditions have taken a stance on abortion but few are absolute. These stances span a broad spectrum, based on numerous teachings, deities, or religious print, and some of those views are highlighted below.

Baháʼí Faith

Abortion, merely for the purpose of eliminating an unwanted child, is strongly deprecated in the Baháʼí Faith, though medical reasons may warrant it. Among the possible reasons for terminating a pregnancy are rape, incest, lack of viability of the fetus, and health of the mother. Though Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith, considered the intentional termination of a pregnancy as the ending of a life, there are no specific teachings in the Bahá’í sacred texts addressing it; the Universal House of Justice has thus concluded that it is not quite the same as murder and therefore within the purview of the Universal House of Justice to legislate on it, at a future date, if it so decides. At present, Baháʼís are encouraged to decide based on their own conscience in light of general guidance found in Baháʼí writings and medical advice.

Buddhism

There is no single Buddhist view concerning abortion.Abortion: Buddhism
" ''BBC Religion & Ethics.'' Retrieved January 15, 2008. Some traditional sources, including some Buddhist monastic codes, hold that life begins at conception, and that abortion, which would then involve the deliberate destruction of life, should be rejected.Harvey, Peter. Introduction to Buddhist Ethics (2000). Cambridge University Press. pg. 311–20 Complicating the issue is the Buddhist belief that "life is a continuum with no discernible starting point". Among Buddhists, there is no official or preferred viewpoint regarding abortion.

The Dalai Lama has said that abortion is "negative", but there are exceptions. He said, "I think abortion should be approved or disapproved according to each circumstance."

Inducing or otherwise causing an abortion is regarded as a serious matter in the monastic rules followed by both Theravada and Vajrayana monks; monks and nuns must be expelled for assisting a woman in procuring an abortion. Traditional sources do not recognize a distinction between early- and late-term abortion, but in Sri Lanka and Thailand the "moral stigma" associated with an abortion grows with the development of the foetus. While traditional sources do not seem to be aware of the possibility of abortion as relevant to the health of the mother, modern Buddhist teachers from many traditions – and abortion laws in many Buddhist countries – recognize a threat to the life or physical health of the mother as an acceptable justification for abortion as a practical matter, though it may still be seen as a deed with negative moral or karmic consequences.

Christianity

There is scholarly disagreement on how early Christians felt about abortion, and whether explicit prohibitions of abortion exist in either the Old Testament or New Testament books of the Christian Bible. Some scholars have concluded that early Christians took a nuanced stance on what is now called abortion, and that at different times, and in separate places, early Christians have taken different stances.When Children Became People: the birth of childhood in early Christianity
by Odd Magne BakkeAbortion and the Politics of Motherhood
by Kristin Luker, University of California Press Other scholars have concluded that early Christians considered abortion a sin at all stages; although there is disagreement over their thoughts on what type of sin it was,Michael J. Gorman, ''Abortion and the Early Church: Christian, Jewish, and Pagan Attitudes'' (InterVarsity Press 1982
), p. 50Stem cells, human embryos and ethics: interdisciplinary perspectives: Lars Østnor, Springer 2008
/ref> and how grave a sin it was held to be, it was seen as at least as grave as sexual immorality.Robert Nisbet, ''Prejudices: A Philosophical Dictionary'' (Harvard University Press 1982 ), p. 2 Some early Christians believed that the embryo did not have a soul from conception, McBrien, Richard P. ''The HarperCollins encyclopedia of Catholicism''
/ref>Dictionary of ethics, theology and society
By Paul A. B. Clarke, Andrew Linzey and consequently, opinion was divided as to whether or not early abortion was murder or ethically equivalent to murder.

Early church councils punished women for abortions that were combined with other sexual crimes, as well as makers of abortifacient drugs, but, like some early Church Fathers such as Basil of Caesarea, did not make distinction between "formed" and "unformed" foetuses.Michèle Goyens, Pieter de Leemans, An Smets, ''Science Translated: Latin and Vernacular Translations of Scientific Treatises in Medieval Europe'' (Leuven University Press 2008
), p. 384, 399 While Gregory of Nyssa and Maximus the Confessor held that human life already began at conception, Augustine of Hippo affirmed Aristotle's concepts of ensoulment occurring some time after conception, after which point abortion was to be considered homicide, while still maintaining the condemnation of abortion at any time from conception onward. Aquinas reiterated Aristotle's views of successive souls: vegetative, animal, and rational. This would be the Catholic Church's position until 1869, when the limitation of automatic excommunication to abortion of a ''formed'' foetus was removed, a change that has been interpreted as an implicit declaration that conception was the moment of ensoulment. Most early penitentials imposed equal penances for abortion whether early-term or late-term, but later penitentials in the Middle Ages normally distinguished between the two, imposing heavier penances for late-term abortions and a less severe penance was imposed for the sin of abortion "before he foetushas life".

Contemporary Christian denominations have nuanced positions, thoughts, and teachings about abortion, especially in extenuating circumstances."Religious Groups’ Official Positions on Abortion"
Pew Forum
USA Today The Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church Oriental Orthodoxy, and most evangelical Protestants oppose deliberate abortion as immoral, while allowing what is sometimes called indirect abortion, namely, an action that does not seek the death of the foetus as an end or a means, but that is followed by the death as a side effect. Some mainline Protestant denominations such as the Methodist Church, Episcopal Church (United States), United Church of Christ, Presbyterian Church (USA), and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, among others, are more permissive of abortion. More generally, some Christian denominations can be considered anti-abortion, while others may favor abortion rights. Additionally, there are sizable minorities in some denominations that disagree with their denomination's stance on abortion.

Hinduism

Classical Hindu texts strongly condemn abortion. The British Broadcasting Corporation
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