Different Religions and Their Stance on Abortion

Buddhism is a religion that believes in reincarnation, more specifically, teaching that life is permeated with suffering caused by desire, that suffering ceases when desire ceases, and that enlightenment obtained through right conduct and wisdom and meditation releases one from desire and suffering and rebirth. The stance from original doctrine (not new age groups who twist beliefs to make their wants fit that of their chosen beliefs) indicates that abortion is wrong and creates bad karma. Buddhists believe in reincarnation, thus believing that life begins at conception and that is the beginning of the soul's spiritual journey. Then there is the Buddhism belief on killing (or murder) which is broken down below. (Ref 1)

According to the teachings of Buddha, five conditions must be present to constitute an act of killing.

· the thing killed must be a living being

· you, the killer, must know or be aware that it is a living being

· you must have the intention to kill it

· there must be an effort to kill

· the being must be killed as the result

Here's an example of how an abortion might constitute an act of killing:

· When a baby is conceived, a living being is created and that satisfies the first condition. Although Buddhists believe that beings live in a cycle of birth death and rebirth, they regard the moment of conception as the beginning of the life of an embodied individual.

· After a few weeks the woman becomes aware of its existence and that meets the second condition.

· If she decides she wants an abortion that provides an intention to kill.

· When she seeks an abortion that meets the fourth condition of making an effort to kill.

· Finally the being is killed because of that action.

Therefore the First Precept of Buddhism - not to kill - is violated and this is tantamount to killing a human being.

Damien Keown has done one of the most comprehensive studies on abortion from the Buddhist perspective. In a quote below he states what he understands as the basic point for Buddhist beliefs regarding abortion.

Buddhism believes in rebirth and teaches that individual human life begins at conception. The new being, bearing the karmic identity of a recently deceased individual, is therefore as entitled to the same moral respect as an adult human being.

Damien Keown, Science and Theology News, April 2004

Hinduism, like Buddhism, believes in reincarnation. Therefore traditional Hindu's also believe that abortion is interfering with the soul's journey. Many traditional Hindu scholars and leaders have stances that are legitimately "pro-life". (Ref 2)

There are of course modern objections to these "sacred principles" but the before mentioned reference link will help those curious to dive deeper into the subject. Then there are more direct quotes, such as one from Mohandas Gandhi:

"It seems to me clear as daylight that abortion would be a crime."

In retrospect, with the exception of extreme and modern interpretation on abortion, Hindu and Buddhist doctrine stand against abortion.

Islam

In researching the teachings of Islam and researching perspectives I was continually a consistent mode of contradiction; that abortion is wrong, yet it is okay for health reasons, but never after the 120 day mark, which is supposed to be the point of ensoulment. The following scriptures from the Quran will help the reader with understanding how difficult it may be when interpreting the Quran's teachings.

"We created man of an extraction of clay, then We set him a drop in a safe lodging, then We created of the drop a clot, then we created of the clot a tissue, then We created of the tissue bones, then We covered the bones in flesh; thereafter We produced it an another creature. So blessed be God, the Best of Creators." 23 12-14

"Kill not your offspring for fear of poverty; it is we who provide for them and for you. Surely, killing them is a great sin." 17:32

In interpreting the first provided verse it is to be understood that life begins with the creator forming the life. Nonetheless there are virtually no other reasonable sources that have testified to the remittance of abortion unless the mother's life is in dire risk. While this remains debatable in virtually every religion, one side note is interesting in Islam. It is never okay for a woman who is unmarried to have an abortion since premarital sex is strictly forbidden. In that case the only way to debate it from the spiritual standpoint would be in the case of rape.

In summary most of Islamic schools in Islamic countries have at least sided on the issue that never more than one hundred twenty days and only in the case if the mother's physical health (not mental) is in direct threat of the pregnancy.

(See (ref 3) for more information.)

Christianity

The fun began here since there is far more access to Christian theology concerning abortion and far more sectors of the faith itself (denominations), thus creating a wide view of beliefs and contradiction within the Christian community. So what do you do with such a problem? Use simple math and move on. I found a common denominator that all of the Christian denominations have; a centralized belief and focus on the teachings of Jesus Christ and the Bible.

Now the Catholic Church is definitely the most famous in the discussion of abortion and Christianity. The Catholic Church's standpoint is immovable and direct; abortion, regardless of any circumstances is wrong. This kind of makes sense in ways of abortion for convenience: You cannot right a wrong by committing a wrong, or as the Bible calls it, sin. While many pro-choice will argue that a lot of the women getting abortion claim to be Catholic, the Bible does tell us that people are sinners and that Jesus is the way to salvation. The basic point is that the act of a sin will not send us to damnation since we are born into sin. Only Christ can save us.

Nonetheless, the teachings of the Bible, though never literally speaking the word abortion, do give us insight that life begins at conception. The story of how Jesus was given birth means He was born of the same way the rest of us, thus giving insight that the life inside the womb was planned out by God. Further supporting this argument is the following scripture:

"And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Behold thou art with child..."

Genesis 16:11

Through this we understand that God recognizes the life of a child during the pregnancy. Another insightful scripture is:

"Know ye that the Lord He is God: it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves."

Psalms 100:3

(See (ref 4) for more information and scripture)

Clearly the amount of versus containing the word womb are too many to list without making this article seem to be Christian biased. The point is that the Christian God is the Creator of all life and that those who have abortions are interfering with His creation, or as some would call it: murdering. This is the basic point on which the Catholic Church stands, though it is responsible to remember that they are far from being alone on this topic. Lutheran's, Latter Day Saints (Mormon), Disciples of Christ and many others stand strong in their beliefs that abortion is a sin and that there is no difference between abortion and murder.

Summary

In reflection of the study it is my understanding that every single religion covered has the recurring theme that life is sacred from the beginning, which is conception. None openly seem to support using abortion as a form of birth control or as a strategic social tool to avoid responsibility for ones actions. The only case that can honestly be made is if the fetus or child will not survive the pregnancy or birth. The word wisdom comes to mind when reflecting on this issue and the difference between knowledge and wisdom is knowledge is the understanding of the situation and wisdom is having the foresight to avoiding it. To translate into modern social terms: prevention. Since birth control is another topic all together, we will simply have to do with abstinence.

There is no reference to Judaism or Scientology or any other religion because this article was not meant to cover every form of religion in the world, but to give insight on some of the main religions that stem from some form of scripture. I encourage those that are curious and those that oppose this study based on biased beliefs to study further before making their final decision. The information is out there. All you have to do is read.

References:

1. http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/buddhistethics/abortion.shtml

2. http://www.fnsa.org/fall98/murti.html

3. http://www.iaari.hbi.ir/journal/archive/articles/v6s5ar2.pdf

4. http://www.biblegateway.com/