The religious view of Abortion
| Subject: | 🏥 Health Care |
| Type: | Informative Essay |
| Pages: | 3 |
| Word count: | 844 |
| Topics: | 👨🏼⚕️ Abortion, ✝️ Christianity, Church, Hinduism, Islam |
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Table of Contents
In recent years, Abortion issue has become the subject of debate among various religions. Abortion, which is the intentional ending of a human pregnancy, is frequently done at the first 28 weeks of pregnancy (Adamczyk & Valdimarsdóttir, 2018). The abortion issue is a religious concern for many different religions since they feel that it raises important moral and ethical questions about human relationships, life and death, right and wrong, and societal norms. Individuals involved in Abortion typically experience profound emotional and spiritual effects. They frequently turn to their friends for solace and counsel as they attempt to make sense of their emotions and find a way to deal with their guilt and atonement (Dozier et al., 2018). Many people find a purely intellectual discussion of Abortion to be ultimately unsatisfying because it affects the heart and mind and involves life and death. This paper seeks to discuss how different religions, such as Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism, view the concept of Abortion.
Christian view on Abortion
The Christian religion and Abortion have a complicated and long history, with various Christian denominations taking various positions on the issues. Christians regard the Bible as a source of authority, and it influences their decisions and faith. Several biblical chapters have been interpreted to show either moral opposition to or approval of Abortion. The church affirms that any abortion is a moral evil; teaching from the catholic church catechism declares that the notion has not changed in recent years and will remain unchanged (Byrnes, 2019). The Bible holds that terminating a person’s life between conception and birth is wrong and violates God’s sixth commandment, which states that you shall not kill. According to biblical perspectives, all humans were created in the image and likeness of God. As a result, there is a strong bond between man and God, and man represents God’s image. As a result, one’s life is sacred and divine, representing God as our creation, giving rise to the concept of life sanctity.
Hinduism’s view on Abortion
Hinduism’s medical ethical concerns are derived from the nonviolent law of Ahimsa. In considering Abortion, Hinduism chooses actions that may not cause more harm to the people involved, such as women, fetuses, fathers, and society (Aramesh, 2019). As a result, the religion opposes Abortion except when it is critical in saving the mother’s life. Hinduism is pro-life because it emphasizes Ahimsa, or internal reverence for life. The Hindu religion compares Abortion to the murder of a priest; another text claims that Abortion is the same as killing one’s parent, and yet another claims that mothers who abort their child will lose their caste (Anthony & Sterkens, 2019). Many modern Hindus and traditional Hindus regard termination of pregnancy way of violating a woman’s role of producing children for the continuity of the family chain and bringing new members into the community. However, Abortion is still practiced in India since the religious prohibition of the act is eventually overruled due to society’s preference for boys. This results in female feticide, or Abortion, to prevent the birth of baby girls.
Islamic views on Abortion
The Islam religion view on Abortion is influenced by Hadith and the opinions of religious scholars, commentators, and legal laws. Intentional Abortion is not directly addressed in the Quran, leaving interpretation to national laws (Ghodrati, 2020). There are no restrictions on the mother’s ability to end the pregnancy under Islamic law, even though Muslim scholars have differing opinions on the subject. All four schools of Islamic law agree that pregnancy can only be terminated after 120 days if doing so would endanger the mother’s life.
Second, some scholars contend that situations involving rape, adultery, and incest act make Abortion acceptable and ought to be carried out within the first 120 days. However, some scholars disagree with the claim and think it is false. To prevent the family members and the mother from enduring the hardship of raising a disabled child, Muslim lawmakers consider that Abortion should be permitted post-ensoulment when it is assumed that the baby will die immediately after delivery and may be mentally or physically malformed permanently (Ghodrati, 2020). However, Abortion is not permitted in the Islamic faith; the points they argue have consequences like harming mothers; the Islamic religion is remarkably liberal.
Conclusion
Many religious traditions have taken a serious stand on Abortion, but just a few are absolute. These opinions cover a broad spectrum and are based on various teachings, religious texts, or deities. Therefore, the subject of Abortion continues to be divisive, challenging, and unresolved for different religious groups. There is no universally accepted definition of when life begins and when Abortion is morally acceptable among different religious groups, such as Islam, which lacks organizational authority. Abortion has serious consequences for those who undergo it, as they typically suffer deep emotional and spiritual consequences. They frequently seek consolation and advice from their friends as they try to understand their emotions and find a way to deal with their guilt and reparation. Therefore many individuals find the discussion over Abortion to be ultimately unsatisfying since it affects the victim’s heart and mind and involves life and death.
- Adamczyk, A., & Valdimarsdóttir, M. (2018). Understanding Americans’ abortion attitudes: The role of the local religious context. Social Science Research, 71, 129-144.
- Anthony, F. V., & Sterkens, C. (2019). Religion and the right to (dispose of) life: A study of the attitude of Christian, Muslim and Hindu students in India concerning the death penalty, euthanasia, and Abortion. In Euthanasia, Abortion, Death Penalty and Religion-The Right to Life and its Limitations (pp. 13-63). Springer, Cham.
- Aramesh, K. (2019). Perspectives of Hinduism and Zoroastrianism on Abortion: a comparative study between two pro-life ancient sisters. Journal of Medical Ethics and History of Medicine, 12.
- Byrnes, T. A. (2019). The Politics of Abortion: The Catholic Bishops. In The Catholic Church and the Politics of Abortion (pp. 14-26). Routledge.
- Dozier, J. L., Hennink, M., Mosley, E., Narasimhan, S., Pringle, J., Clarke, L., … & Rice, W. S. (2020). Abortion attitudes, religious and moral beliefs, and pastoral care among Protestant religious leaders in Georgia. PloS one, 15(7), e0235971.
- Ghodrati, F. (2020). Controversial issues of abortion license according to religious and jurisprudential laws in Iran: a systematic review. Current Women’s Health Reviews, 16(2), 87-94.
Offered for reference purposes only.