Abortion

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Induced abortion

Classification and external resources

ICD-10 O04.

ICD-9 779.6

DiseasesDB 4153

MedlinePlus 002912

eMedicine article/252560

Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by the removal or expulsion of a fetus or embryo from the uterus,
resulting in or caused by its death.[1] An abortion can occur spontaneously due to complicationsduring
pregnancy or can be induced in humans and other species. In the context of human pregnancies, an abortion
induced to preserve the health of the gravida (pregnant female) is termed a therapeutic abortion, while an
abortion induced for any other reason is termed an elective abortion. The term abortion most commonly refers
to the induced abortion of a human pregnancy, while spontaneous abortions are usually termed miscarriages.

Abortion has a low risk of maternal mortality except for abortions performed unsafely, which result in 70,000
deaths and 5 million disabilities per year globally.[2] Abortions are unsafe when performed by persons without
the proper skills or outside of a medically safe environment. An estimated 42 million abortions are performed
annually with 20 million of those abortions done unsafely around the world.[2] Forty percent of the world's
women are able to access therapeutic and elective abortions within gestational limits.[3]

Abortion has a long history and has been induced by various methods including herbal abortifacients, the use
of sharpened tools, physical trauma, and other traditional methods. Contemporary medicine utilizes
medications and surgical procedures to induce abortion. The legality, prevalence, cultural status, and religious
status of abortion vary substantially around the world. In many parts of the world there is prominent and
divisive public controversy over the ethical and legal issues of abortion. Abortion and abortion-related issues
feature prominently in the national politics in many nations, often involving the opposing pro-life and pro-
choice worldwide social movements (both self-named). Incidence of abortion has declined worldwide as access
to family planning education and contrace

Types
Induced

A 10-week-old fetus removed via a therapeutic abortion from a 44-year-old woman diagnosed with early-stage uterine
cancer. The uterus (womb), included the fetus.

A pregnancy can be intentionally aborted in many ways. The manner selected depends chiefly upon
the gestational age of the embryo or fetus, which increases in size as the pregnancy progresses.
[5]
Specific procedures may also be selected due to legality, regional availability, and doctor-patient
preference. Reasons for procuring induced abortions are typically characterized as either therapeutic or
elective. An abortion is medically referred to as a therapeutic abortion when it is performed to:

 save the life of the pregnant woman;[6]

 preserve the woman's physical or mental health;[6]

 terminate pregnancy that would result in a child born with a congenital disorder that would be fatal or
associated with significant morbidity;[6] or

 selectively reduce the number of fetuses to lessen health risks associated with multiple pregnancy.[6]

An abortion is referred to as elective when it is performed at the request of the woman "for reasons other
than maternal health or fetal disease."[7]
Spontaneous
Main article: Miscarriage

Spontaneous abortion (also known as miscarriage) is the expulsion of an embryo or fetus due to
accidental trauma or natural causes before approximately the 22nd week of gestation; the definition by
gestational age varies by country.[8] Most miscarriages are due to incorrect replication of chromosomes;
they can also be caused by environmental factors. A pregnancy that ends before 37 weeks of gestation
resulting in alive-born infant is known as a "premature birth". When a fetus dies in utero after about 22
weeks, or during delivery, it is usually termed "stillborn". Premature births and stillbirths are generally not
considered to be miscarriages although usage of these terms can sometimes overlap.

Between 10% and 50% of pregnancies end in clinically apparent miscarriage, depending upon the age
and health of the pregnant woman.[9] Most miscarriages occur very early in pregnancy, in most cases,
they occur so early in the pregnancy that the woman is not even aware that she was pregnant. One study
testing hormones for ovulation and pregnancy found that 61.9% of conceptuses were lost prior to 12
weeks, and 91.7% of these losses occurred subclinically, without the knowledge of the once pregnant
woman.[10]

The risk of spontaneous abortion decreases sharply after the 10th week from the last menstrual
period (LMP).[9][11] One study of 232 pregnant women showed "virtually complete [pregnancy loss] by the
end of the embryonic period" (10 weeks LMP) with a pregnancy loss rate of only 2 percent after 8.5
weeks LMP.[12]

The most common cause of spontaneous abortion during the first trimester is chromosomal abnormalities
of the embryo/fetus,[13] accounting for at least 50% of sampled early pregnancy losses.[14] Other causes
include vascular disease (such as lupus),diabetes, other hormonal problems, infection, and abnormalities
of the uterus.[13] Advancing maternal age and a patient history of previous spontaneous abortions are the
two leading factors associated with a greater risk of spontaneous abortion.[14] A spontaneous abortion can
also be caused by accidental trauma; intentional trauma or stress to cause miscarriage is considered
induced abortion or feticide.[15]

Methods

Gestational age may determine which abortion methods are practiced.

Medical
Main article: Medical abortion
"Medical abortions" are non-surgical abortions that use pharmaceutical drugs. As of 2005, medical
abortions constitute 13% of all abortions in the United States.[16] Combined regimens
include methotrexate or mifepristone, followed by a prostaglandin (either misoprostol or gemeprost:
misoprostol is used in the U.S.; gemeprost is used in the UK and Sweden.) When used within 49 days
gestation, approximately 92% of women undergoing medical abortion with a combined regimen
completed it without surgical intervention.[17] Misoprostol can be used alone, but has a lower efficacy rate
than combined regimens. In cases of failure of medical abortion, vacuum or manual aspiration is used to
complete the abortion surgically.
Surgical

A vacuum aspiration abortion at eight weeks gestational age (six weeks after fertilization).
1: Amniotic sac
2: Embryo
3: Uterine lining
4: Speculum
5: Vacurette
6: Attached to a suction pump

In the first 12 weeks, suction-aspiration or vacuum abortion is the most common method.
[18]
Manual vacuum aspiration (MVA) abortion consists of removing the fetus or embryo, placentaand
membranes by suction using a manual syringe, while electric vacuum aspiration (EVA) abortion uses an
electric pump. These techniques are comparable, and differ in the mechanism used to apply suction, how
early in pregnancy they can be used, and whether cervical dilation is necessary. MVA, also known as
"mini-suction" and "menstrual extraction", can be used in very early pregnancy, and does not require
cervical dilation. Surgical techniques are sometimes referred to as 'Suction (or surgical) Termination Of
Pregnancy' (STOP). From the 15th week until approximately the 26th, dilation and evacuation (D&E) is
used. D&E consists of opening the cervix of the uterus and emptying it using surgical instruments and
suction.
Dilation and curettage (D&C), the second most common method of surgical abortion, is a standard
gynecological procedure performed for a variety of reasons, including examination of the uterine lining for
possible malignancy, investigation of abnormal bleeding, and abortion. Curettage refers to cleaning the
walls of the uterus with a curette. The World Health Organization recommends this procedure, also
called sharp curettage, only when MVA is unavailable.[19]

Other techniques must be used to induce abortion in the second trimester. Premature delivery can be
induced with prostaglandin; this can be coupled with injecting the amniotic fluid with hypertonic solutions
containing saline or urea. After the 16th week of gestation, abortions can be induced by intact dilation and
extraction (IDX) (also called intrauterine cranial decompression), which requires surgical decompression
of the fetus's head before evacuation. IDX is sometimes called "partial-birth abortion," which has
been federally banned in the United States. A hysterotomy abortion is a procedure similar to a caesarean
section and is performed under general anesthesia. It requires a smaller incision than a caesarean
section and is used during later stages of pregnancy.[20]

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has recommended that an injection be used to
stop the fetal heart during the first phase of the surgical abortion procedure to ensure that the fetus is not
born alive.[21]
Other methods

Bas-relief at Angkor Wat, Cambodia, c. 1150, depicting a demon inducing an abortion by pounding the abdomen of a
pregnant woman with a pestle.[22]

Historically, a number of herbs reputed to possess abortifacient properties have been used in folk
medicine: tansy, pennyroyal, black cohosh, and the now-extinctsilphium (see history of abortion).[23] The
use of herbs in such a manner can cause serious—even lethal—side effects, such as multiple organ
failure, and is not recommended by physicians.[24]

Abortion is sometimes attempted by causing trauma to the abdomen. The degree of force, if severe, can
cause serious internal injuries without necessarily succeeding in inducing miscarriage.[25] Both accidental
and deliberate abortions of this kind can be subject to criminal liability in many countries. In Southeast
Asia, there is an ancient tradition of attempting abortion through forceful abdominal massage.[26] One of
thebas reliefs decorating the temple of Angkor Wat in Cambodia depicts a demon performing such an
abortion upon a woman who has been sent to the underworld.[26]

Reported methods of unsafe, self-induced abortion include misuse of misoprostol, and insertion of non-
surgical implements such as knitting needles and clothes hangers into the uterus. These methods are
rarely seen in developed countries where surgical abortion is legal and available.[27]

Health risks
See also: Health risks of unsafe abortion

Abortion, when legally performed in developed countries, is among the safest procedures in medicine.[28]
[29]
In such settings, risk of maternal death is between 0.2–1.2 per 100,000 procedures.[30][31][32][33] In
comparison, by 1996, mortality from childbirth in developed countries was 11 times greater.[30][34][35][36][37]
[38]
Unsafe abortions (defined by the World Health Organization as those performed by unskilled
individuals, with hazardous equipment, or in unsanitary facilities) carry a high risk of maternal death and
other complications.[39] For unsafe procedures, the mortality rate has been estimated at 367 per 100,000
(70,000 women per year worldwide).[2][40]
Physical health

Surgical abortion methods, like most minimally invasive procedures, carry a small potential for serious
complications.[41]

Surgical abortion is generally safe and the rate of major complications is low[42] but varies depending on
how far pregnancy has progressed and the surgical method used.[43] Concerning gestational age,
incidence of major complications is highest after 20 weeks of gestation and lowest before the 8th week.
[43]
With more advanced gestation there is a higher risk of uterine perforation and retained products of
conception,[44] and specific procedures like dilation and evacuation may be required.[45]

Concerning the methods used, general incidence of major complications for surgical abortion varies from
lower for suction curettage, to higher for saline instillation.[43] Possible complications include hemorrhage,
incomplete abortion, uterine or pelvic infection, ongoing intrauterine pregnancy,
misdiagnosed/unrecognized ectopic pregnancy, hematometra (in the uterus), uterine perforation and
cervical laceration.[46] Use of general anesthesia increases the risk of complications because it relaxes
uterine musculature making it easier to perforate.[47]

Women who have uterine anomalies, leiomyomas or had previous difficult first-trimester abortion are
contraindicated to undertake surgical abortion unless ultrasonography is immediately available and the
surgeon is experienced in its intraoperative use.[48]Abortion does not impair subsequent pregnancies, nor
does it increase the risk of future premature births, infertility, ectopic pregnancy, or miscarriage.[29]

In the first trimester, health risks associated with medical abortion are generally considered no greater
than for surgical abortion.[49]

Although some epidemiological studies suggest an abortion – breast cancer hypothesis, the World Health
Organization has concluded that there is "no consistent effect of first trimester induced abortion upon a
woman's risk of breast cancer later in life".[50][51] The National Cancer Institute,[52] The American Congress
of Obstetricians and Gynecologists,[53] the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists,[54] and
other major medical bodies have also concluded that abortion does not cause breast cancer.[55]
Mental health
Main article: Abortion and mental health

No scientific research has demonstrated that abortion is a cause of poor mental health in the general
population. However there are groups of women who may be at higher risk of coping with problems and
distress following abortion.[56] Some factors in a woman's life, such as emotional attachment to the
pregnancy, lack of social support, pre-existing psychiatric illness, and conservative views on abortion
increase the likelihood of experiencing negative feelings after an abortion.[57] The American Psychological
Association (APA) concluded that abortion does not lead to increased mental health problems.[58]

Some proposed negative psychological effects of abortion have been referred to by pro-life advocates as
a separate condition called "post-abortion syndrome." However, the existence of "post-abortion
syndrome" is not recognized by any medical or psychological organization.[59][60][61]

Incidence
There are two commonly used methods of measuring incidence of abortion:

 Abortion rate - number of abortions per 1000 women between 15 and 44 years of age

 Abortion ratio - number of abortions out of 100 known pregnancies (excluding miscarriages and
stillbirths)

The number of abortions performed worldwide has decreased between 1995 and 2003 from 45.6 million
to 41.6 million, which means a decrease in abortion rate from 35 to 29 per 1000 women. The greatest
decrease has occurred in the developed world with a drop from 39 to 26 per 1000 women in comparison
to the developing world, which had a decrease from 34 to 29 per 1000 women. Out of a total of about 42
million abortions 22 million occurred safely and 20 million unsafely.[2]

On average, the frequency of abortions is similar in developing countries (where abortion is generally
restricted) to the frequency in developed countries (where abortion is generally much less restricted).[3]
[62]
Abortion rates are very difficult to measure in locations where those abortions are illegal,[63] and pro-life
groups have criticized researchers for allegedly jumping to conclusions about those numbers.
[64]
According to the Guttmacher Institute and the United Nations Population Fund, the abortion rate in
developing countries is largely attributable to lack of access to modern contraceptives; assuming no
change in abortion laws, providing that access to contraceptives would result in about 25 million fewer
abortions annually, including almost 15 million fewer unsafe abortions.[65]

The incidence of induced abortion varies regionally. Some countries, such as Belgium (11.2 out of 100
known pregnancies) and the Netherlands (10.6 per 100), had a comparatively low ratio of induced
abortion. Others like Russia (62.6 out of 100), Romania (63 out of 100) and Vietnam (43.7 out of 100) had
a high ratio (data for last three countries of unknown completeness). The estimated world ratio was 26%,
the world rate - 35 per 1000 women.[66]
By gestational age and method

Histogram of abortions by gestational age in England and Wales

during 2004. Average is 9.5 weeks. (left) Abortion in the United States
by gestational age, 2004. (Data source: Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention) (right)

Abortion rates also vary depending on the stage of pregnancy and the method practiced. In 2003, from
data collected in those areas of the United States that sufficiently reported gestational age, it was found
that 88.2% of abortions were conducted at or prior to 12 weeks, 10.4% from 13 to 20 weeks, and 1.4% at
or after 21 weeks. 90.9% of these were classified as having been done by "curettage" (suction-
aspiration, Dilation and curettage, Dilation and evacuation), 7.7% by "medical" means (mifepristone),
0.4% by "intrauterine instillation" (saline or prostaglandin), and 1.0% by "other"
(including hysterotomy and hysterectomy).[67] The Guttmacher Institute estimated there were 2,200 intact
dilation and extraction procedures in the U.S. during 2000; this accounts for 0.17% of the total number of
abortions performed that year.[68] Similarly, in England and Wales in 2006, 89% of terminations occurred
at or under 12 weeks, 9% between 13 to 19 weeks, and 1.5% at or over 20 weeks. 64% of those reported
were by vacuum aspiration, 6% by D&E, and 30% were medical.[69] Later abortions are more common in
China, India, and other developing countries than in developed countries.[70]
By personal and social factors

A bar chart depicting selected data from the 1998 AGI meta-study on the reasons women stated for having an abortion.

A 1998 aggregated study, from 27 countries, on the reasons women seek to terminate their pregnancies
concluded that common factors cited to have influenced the abortion decision were: desire to delay or end
childbearing, concern over the interruption of work or education, issues of financial or relationship
stability, and perceived immaturity.[71] A 2004 study in which American women at clinics answered a
questionnaire yielded similar results.[72] In Finland and the United States, concern for the health risks
posed by pregnancy in individual cases was not a factor commonly given; however, in Bangladesh, India,
and Kenya health concerns were cited by women more frequently as reasons for having an abortion.
[71]
1% of women in the 2004 survey-based U.S. study became pregnant as a result of rape and 0.5% as a
result of incest.[72] Another American study in 2002 concluded that 54% of women who had an abortion
were using a form of contraception at the time of becoming pregnant while 46% were not. Inconsistent
use was reported by 49% of those using condoms and 76% of those using the combined oral
contraceptive pill; 42% of those using condoms reported failure through slipping or breakage.[73] The
Guttmacher Institute estimated that "most abortions in the United States are obtained by minority women"
because minority women "have much higher rates of unintended pregnancy."[74]

Some abortions are undergone as the result of societal pressures. These might include the stigmatization
of disabled people, preference for children of a specific sex, disapproval of single motherhood, insufficient
economic support for families, lack of access to or rejection of contraceptive methods, or efforts
toward population control (such as China's one-child policy). These factors can sometimes result in
compulsory abortion or sex-selective abortion.
Unsafe abortion

Soviet poster circa 1925, warning against midwives performing abortions. Title translation: "Abortions performed by either
trained or self-taught midwives not only maim the woman, they also often lead to death."

Main article: Unsafe abortion

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines an unsafe abortion as being "a procedure ... carried out by
persons lacking the necessary skills or in an environment that does not conform to minimal medical
standards, or both."[75] For example, an unsafe abortion may refer to an extremely dangerous life-
threatening procedure in unhygienic conditions that is self-induced or induced by another person without
medical training, or it may refer to a much safer abortion performed by a medical practitioner who does
not provide appropriate post-abortion attention.[76] Unsafe abortion is a significant cause of maternal
mortality andmorbidity in the world. Most unsafe abortions occur where abortion is illegal,[77] or
in developing countries where affordable well-trained medical practitioners are not readily available,[78]
[79]
or where moderncontraceptives are unavailable.[80]

About one in eight pregnancy-related deaths worldwide are associated with unsafe abortion.[81] Unsafe
abortions sometimes occur where abortion is legal, and safe abortions sometimes occur where abortion is
illegal.[76][82][79][83] The illegality of abortion contributes to maternal mortality, but that contribution is not as
great as it once was, due to medical advances including penicillin and the birth control pill.[84]

Unsafe abortion remains a public health concern due to the higher incidence and severity of its
associated complications, such as incomplete abortion, sepsis, hemorrhage, and damage to internal
organs. While maternal mortality seldom results from safe abortions, unsafe abortions result in 70,000
deaths and 5 million disabilities per year.[2] Complications of unsafe abortion are said to account,
regionally, for approximately 12% of maternal mortalities in Asia, 25% in Latin America, and 13% in sub-
Saharan Africa.[85] Although the global rate of abortion declined from 45.6 million in 1995 to 41.6 million in
2003, unsafe procedures still accounted for 48% of all abortions performed in 2003.[86] Health education,
access to family planning, and improvements in health care during and after abortion have been proposed
to address this phenomenon.[87]

History

"French Periodical Pills." An example of a clandestine advertisement published in an 1845 edition of the Boston Daily Times.

Main article: History of abortion

Induced abortion can be traced to ancient times.[88] There is evidence to suggest that, historically,
pregnancies were terminated through a number of methods, including the administration
of abortifacient herbs, the use of sharpened implements, the application of abdominal pressure, and other
techniques.

The Hippocratic Oath, the chief statement of medical ethics for Hippocratic physicians in Ancient Greece,
forbade doctors from helping to procure an abortion by pessary. Soranus, a 2nd-century Greek physician,
suggested in his work Gynaecology that women wishing to abort their pregnancies should engage in
energetic exercise, energetic jumping, carrying heavy objects, and riding animals. He also prescribed a
number of recipes for herbal baths, pessaries, and bloodletting, but advised against the use of sharp
instruments to induce miscarriage due to the risk of organ perforation.[89] It is also believed that, in addition
to using it as a contraceptive, the ancient Greeks relied upon silphium as an abortifacient. Such folk
remedies, however, varied in effectiveness and were not without risk. Tansy and pennyroyal, for example,
are two poisonous herbs with serious side effects that have at times been used to terminate pregnancy.
During the Islamic Golden Age, physicians there documented detailed and extensive lists of birth control
practices commenting on their effectiveness and prevalence.[90] They listed many different birth control
substances in their medical encyclopedias, such as Avicenna's list of twenty in The Canon of
Medicine (1025 CE) and Muhammad ibn Zakariya ar-Razi's list of 176 substances in his Hawi (10th
century CE) This was "unparalleled in European medicine until the 19th century".[91]

During the Middle Ages, abortion was tolerated[where?] and there were no laws against it.[92][non-
primary source needed]
A medieval female physician, Trotula of Salerno,[93] administered a number of remedies for
the “retention of menstrua,” which was sometimes a code for early abortifacients.[94] Pope Sixtus V (1585–
90) is noted as the first Pope to declare that abortion is homicide regardless of the stage of pregnancy.
[95]
Abortion in the 19th century continued, despite bans in both the United Kingdom and the United States,
as the disguised, but nonetheless open, advertisement of services in the Victorian erasuggests.[96][non-
primary source needed]

In the 20th century the Soviet Union (1919), Iceland (1935) and Sweden (1938) were among the first
countries to legalize certain or all forms of abortion.[97] In 1935 Nazi Germany, a law was passed
permitting abortions for those deemed "hereditarily ill," while women considered of German stock were
specifically prohibited from having abortions.[98][99][100][101]

However, the procedure remained relatively rare until the late 1960s. In late 1960s and early 1970s, due
to a confluence of factors, the number of abortions exploded worldwide. In West Germany, the number of
reported abortions spiked from 2,800 in 1968 to 87,702 in 1980.[102] In the United States, some sources
show an even greater increase, from 4,600 in 1968 to 1.5 million in 1980. However, the fact that abortion
remained illegal in many states prior to the landmark 1973 decision of Roe v. Wade may have affected
the number of reported abortions prior to 1973.

Society and culture

Abortion debate
This section needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material
may be challenged and removed. (November 2008)
 Pro-choice activists near the Washington Monument at the March for
Women's Lives in 2004. (left) Pro-life activists near the Washington
Monument at the annual 2009 March for Life in Washington, DC.
(right)

Main article: Abortion debate

See also: Religion and abortion

In the history of abortion, induced abortion has been the source of considerable debate, controversy, and
activism. An individual's position on the complex ethical, moral, philosophical, biological, and legal issues
is often related to his or her value system. The main positions are one that argues in favor of access to
abortion and one argues against access to abortion. Opinions of abortion may be described as being a
combination of beliefs on its morality, and beliefs on the responsibility, ethical scope, and proper extent of
governmental authorities in public policy. Religious ethics also has an influence upon both personal
opinion and the greater debate over abortion (see religion and abortion).

Abortion debates, especially pertaining to abortion laws, are often spearheaded by groups advocating one
of these two positions. In the United States, those in favor of greater legal restrictions on, or even
complete prohibition of abortion, most often describe themselves as pro-life while those against legal
restrictions on abortion describe themselves as pro-choice. Generally, the former position argues that a
human fetus is a human being with a right to live making abortion tantamount to murder. The latter
position argues that a woman has certain reproductive rights, especially the choice whether or not to carry
a pregnancy to term.

In both public and private debate, arguments presented in favor of or against abortion access focus on
either the moral permissibility of an induced abortion, or justification of laws permitting or restricting
abortion.

Debate also focuses on whether the pregnant woman should have to notify and/or have the consent of
others in distinct cases: a minor, her parents; a legally married or common-law wife, her husband; or, for
any case, the biological father. In a 2003 Gallup poll in the United States, 79% of male and 67% of female
respondents were in favor of legalized mandatory spousal notification; overall support was 72% with 26%
opposed.[103]
Abortion law
The examples and perspective in this article may not
represent a worldwide view of the subject.
Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk
page. (December 2010)

Main article: Abortion law

See also: Reproductive rights and History of Abortion Law Debate

International status of abortion law:

Legal on request

Illegal with exception for rape, maternal life, health, mental health, fetal defects, and/or socioeconomic factors

Illegal with exception for rape, maternal life, health, mental health, and/or fetal defects

Illegal with exception for rape, maternal life, health, and/or mental health

Illegal with exception for maternal life, health, and/or mental health

Illegal with no exceptions

Varies by region

No information

The earliest secular laws regulating abortion reflect a concern with class and caste purity and
preservation of male prerogatives. Abortion as such was not outlawed, but wives who procured abortions
without their husband's knowledge could be severely punished, as could slaves who induced abortions in
highborn women. Generally, abortions prior to quickening were treated as minor crimes, if at all.
The new philosophies of the Axial Age, which began discussing the nature and value of human life in
abstract terms, had little impact on existing abortion laws. Even the Christian ecclesiastical courts of the
Middle Ages imposed penance and no corporal punishment for abortion, and retained the pre- and post-
quickening distinction from the ancient philosophies.

With the sole exception of Bracton,[104] commentators on the English common law formulated the born
alive rule, excluding feticide from homicide law, using language dating back to the Leges Henrici Primi.[105]

In the late 18th century, it was claimed that scientific knowledge of human development beginning
at fertilization,[106] justified stricter abortion laws. This was part of a larger struggle on the part of the
medical profession to distinguish modern, theory based medicine from traditional, empirically based
medicine, including midwifery and herbalism.[107]

Both pre- and post-quickening abortions were criminalized by Lord Ellenborough's Act in 1803.[108] In
1861, the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed the Offences against the Person Act 1861, which
continued to outlaw abortion and served as a model for similar prohibitions in some other nations.[109]

The Soviet Union, with legislation in 1920, and Iceland, with legislation in 1935, were two of the first
countries to generally allow abortion. The second half of the 20th century saw the liberalization of abortion
laws in other countries. The Abortion Act 1967 allowed abortion for limited reasons in the United Kingdom
(except Northern Ireland). In the 1973 case, Roe v. Wade, the United States Supreme Court struck down
state laws banning abortion, ruling that such laws violated an implied right to privacy in the United States
Constitution. The Supreme Court of Canada, similarly, in the case of R. v. Morgentaler, discarded its
criminal code regarding abortion in 1988, after ruling that such restrictions violated the security of person
guaranteed to women under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.[110] Canada later struck down
provincial regulations of abortion in the case of R. v. Morgentaler (1993). By contrast, abortion in
Ireland was affected by the addition of an amendment to the Irish Constitution in 1983 by popular
referendum, recognizing "the right to life of the unborn".

Current laws pertaining to abortion are diverse. Religious, moral, and cultural sensibilities continue to
influence abortion laws throughout the world. The right to life, the right to liberty, the right to security of
person, and the right to reproductive health are major issues of human rights that are sometimes used as
justification for the existence or absence of laws controlling abortion. Many countries in which abortion is
legal require that certain criteria be met in order for an abortion to be obtained, often, but not always,
using a trimester-based system to regulate the window of legality:

 In the United States, some states impose a 24-hour waiting period before the procedure, prescribe
the distribution of information on fetal development, or require that parents be contacted if their minor
daughter requests an abortion.[111]
 In the United Kingdom, as in some other countries, two doctors must first certify that an abortion is
medically or socially necessary before it can be performed.[citation needed]

Other countries, in which abortion is normally illegal, will allow one to be performed in the case of rape,
incest, or danger to the pregnant woman's life or health.

 A few nations ban abortion entirely: Chile, El Salvador, Malta, and Nicaragua, with consequent rises
in maternal death directly and indirectly due to pregnancy.[112][113] However, in 2006, the Chilean
government began the free distribution of emergency contraception.[114][115]

 In Bangladesh, abortion is illegal, but the government has long supported a network of "menstrual
regulation clinics", where menstrual extraction (manual vacuum aspiration) can be performed as
menstrual hygiene.[116]

In places where abortion is illegal or carries heavy social stigma, pregnant women may engage in medical
tourism and travel to countries where they can terminate their pregnancies. Women without the means to
travel can resort to providers of illegal abortions or try to do it themselves. [117]

In the US, about 8% of abortions are performed on women who travel from another state.[118] However,
that is driven at least partly by differing limits on abortion according to gestational age or the scarcity of
doctors trained and willing to do later abortions.[citation needed] Thousands of women every year travel from
Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Poland, and other countries where elective abortion is illegal, to
Britain or other countries with less restrictive laws, in order to obtain abortions.[119][120]

In the United States and some Canadian localities, it is a legal offense to obstruct access to a clinic or
doctor's office where abortions are performed. "Buffer zones," regulating how close protesters can come
to the clinic or to the patients, may exist.

Other issues in abortion law may include the requirement that a minor obtain the consent of one or both
parents to the abortion or that she notify one or both parents, the requirement that a woman obtain the
consent of her husband to the abortion and the question of whether the fetus's father can prohibit an
abortion, the requirement that abortion providers inform patients of the supposed health risks of the
procedure, and wrongful birth laws.
Sex-selective
Main article: Sex-selective abortion

Sonography and amniocentesis allow parents to determine sex before childbirth. The development of this
technology has led to sex-selective abortion, or the targeted termination of female fetuses.

It is suggested that sex-selective abortion might be partially responsible for the noticeable disparities
between the birth rates of male and female children in some places. The preference for male children is
reported in many areas of Asia, and abortion used to limit female births has been reported in China,
Taiwan, South Korea, and India.[121]

In India, the economic role of men, the costs associated with dowries, and a common Indian tradition
which dictates that funeral rites must be performed by a male relative have led to a cultural preference for
sons.[122] The widespread availability of diagnostic testing, during the 1970s and '80s, led to
advertisements for services which read, "Invest 500 rupees [for a sex test] now, save 50,000 rupees [for a
dowry] later."[123] In 1991, the male-to-female sex ratio in India was skewed from its biological norm of 105
to 100, to an average of 108 to 100.[124] Researchers have asserted that between 1985 and 2005 as many
as 10 million female fetuses may have been selectively aborted.[125] The Indian government passed an
official ban of pre-natal sex screening in 1994 and moved to pass a complete ban of sex-selective
abortion in 2002.[126]

In the People's Republic of China, there is also a historic son preference. The implementation of the one-
child policy in 1979, in response to population concerns, led to an increased disparity in the sex ratio as
parents attempted to circumvent the law through sex-selective abortion or the abandonment of unwanted
daughters.[127] Sex-selective abortion might be an influence on the shift from the baseline male-to-female
birth rate to an elevated national rate of 117:100 reported in 2002. The trend was more pronounced in
rural regions: as high as 130:100 in Guangdong and 135:100 in Hainan.[128] A ban upon the practice of
sex-selective abortion was enacted in 2003.[129]
Anti-abortion violence
Main article: Anti-abortion violence

Doctors and facilities that provide abortion have been subjected to various forms of violence, including
murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, stalking, assault, arson, and bombing. Anti-abortion violence has
been classified by governmental and scholarly sources as terrorism.[130][131] Only a small fraction of those
opposed to abortion commit violence, often rationalizing their actions as justifiable homicide or defense of
others, committed in order to protect the lives of fetuses.

In the United States, four abortion providers—Drs. David Gunn, John Britton, Barnett Slepian,
and George Tiller—have been assassinated. Attempted assassinations have also taken place in the
United States and Canada, and other personnel at abortion clinics, including receptionists and security
guards, have been killed in the United States and Australia. Hundreds of bombings, arsons, acid attacks,
invasions, and incidents of vandalism against abortion providers have also occurred.[132][133] Notable
perpetrators of anti-abortion violence include Eric Robert Rudolph, Scott Roeder, Shelley Shannon,
and Paul Jennings Hill, the first person to be executed in the United States for murdering an abortion
provider.[134]
Art, literature and film
Art serves to humanize the abortion issue and illustrates the myriad of decisions and consequences it
has. One of the earliest known representations of abortion is in a bas relief at Angkor Wat (c. 1150). Pro-
life activist Børre Knudsen was linked to a 1994 art theft as part of a pro-life drive in Norway surrounding
the 1994 Winter Olympics.[135] A Swiss gallery removed a piece from a Chinese art collection in 2005, that
had the head of a fetus attached to the body of a bird.[136] In 2008, a Yale student proposed using aborted
excretions and the induced abortion itself as a performance art project.[137]

The Cider House Rules (novel 1985, film 1999) follows the story of Dr. Larch an orphanage director who
is a reluctant abortionist after seeing the consequences of back-alley abortions, and his orphan medical
assistant Homer who is against abortion.[138]Feminist novels such as Braided Lives (1997) by Marge
Piercy emphasize the struggles women had in dealing with unsafe abortion in various circumstances prior
to legalization.[139] Doctor Susan Wicklund wrote This Common Secret (2007) about how a personal
traumatic abortion experience hardened her resolve to provide compassionate care to women who decide
to have an abortion. As Wicklund crisscrosses the West to provide abortion services to remote clinics, she
tells the stories of women she's treated and the sacrifices she and her loved ones made.[140] In 2009, Irene
Vilar revealed her past abuse and addiction to abortion in Impossible Motherhood, where she aborted 15
pregnancies in 17 years. According to Vilar it was the result of a dark psychological cycle of power,
rebellion and societal expectations.[141]

Various options and realities of abortion have been dramatized in film. In Riding in Cars with Boys (2001)
an underage woman carries her pregnancy to term as abortion is not an affordable option, moves in with
the father and finds herself involved with drugs, has no opportunities, and questioning if she loves her
child. While in Juno (2007) a 16-year-old initially goes to have an abortion but decides to bear the child
and allow a wealthy couple to adopt it. Other films Dirty Dancing (1987) and If These Walls Could
Talk (1996) explore the availability, affordability and dangers of illegal abortions. The emotional impact of
dealing with an unwanted pregnancy alone is the focus of Things You Can Tell Just By Looking At
Her (2000) and Circle of Friends (1995). As a marriage was in trouble in the The Godfather Part
II (1974) Kay knew the relationship was over when she aborted "a son" in secret.[142] On the abortion
debate, an irresponsible drug addict is used as a pawn in a power struggle between pro-choice and pro-
life groups in Citizen Ruth (1996).[143]

In other animals
Further information: Miscarriage#In other animals

Spontaneous abortion occurs in various animals. For example, in sheep, it may be caused by crowding
through doors, or being chased by dogs.[144] In cows, abortion may be caused by contagious disease,
such as Brucellosis or Campylobacter, but can often be controlled by vaccination.[145]
Abortion may also be induced in animals, in the context of animal husbandry. For example, abortion may
be induced in mares that have been mated improperly, or that have been purchased by owners who did
not realize the mares were pregnant, or that are pregnant with twin foals.[146]

Feticide can occur in horses and zebras due to male harassment of pregnant mares or forced copulation,
[147][148][149]
although the frequency in the wild has been questioned.[150] Male Gray langur monkeys may
attack females following male takeover, causing miscarriage.[151]

Is abortion justifiable in cases of rape or incest?

A woman who becomes pregnant due to an act of either rape or incest is the victim
of a horribly violent and morally reprehensible crime. Although pregnancy as a result
of either rape or incest is extremely rare,[1] there is no getting around the fact that
pregnancy does occur in some instances. Bioethicist Andrew Varga summarizes the
abortion argument from rape and incest in the following way:
It is argued that in these tragic cases the great value of the mental health
of a woman who becomes pregnant as a result of rape or incest can best
be safe-guarded by abortion. It is also said that a pregnancy caused by
rape or incest is the result of a grave injustice and that the victim should
not be obliged to carry the fetus to viability. This would keep reminding
her for nine months of the violence committed against her and would just
increase her mental anguish. It is reasoned that the value of the woman's
mental health is greater than the value of the fetus. In addition, it is
maintained that the fetus is an aggressor against the woman's integrity
and personal life; it is only just and morally defensible to repel an
aggressor even by killing him if that is the only way to defend personal
and human values. It is concluded, then, that abortion is justified in these
cases. [2]

Despite its forceful appeal to our sympathies, there areproblems with this argument.
1. It is not relevant to the case for abortion on demand, the position
defended by the popular pro-choice movement. This position states
that a woman has a right to have an abortion for any reason she
prefers during the entire nine months of pregnancy, whether it be
for gender-selection, convenience, or rape.[3] To argue for abortion
on demand from the hard cases of rape and incest is like trying to
argue for the elimination of traffic laws from the fact that one might
have to violate some of them in rare circumstances, such as when
one's spouse or child needs to be rushed to the hospital. Proving an
exception does not establish a general rule.

2. Since conception does not occur immediately following intercourse,

pregnancy can be eliminated in all rape cases if the rape victim
receives immediate medical treatment by having all the male
semen removed from her uterus.[4]

3. The unborn entity is not an aggressor when its presence does not
endanger its mother's life (as in the case of a tubal pregnancy). It is
the rapist who is the aggressor. The unborn entity is just as much
an innocent victim as its mother. Hence, abortion cannot be justified
on the basis that the unborn is an aggressor.

4. This argument begs the question by assuming that the unborn is

not fully human. For if the unborn is fully human, then we must
weigh the relieving of the woman's mental suffering against the
right-to-life of an innocent human being. And homicide of another is
never justified to relieve one of emotional distress.

Although such a judgment is indeed anguishing, we must not forget that the
same innocent unborn entity that the career-oriented woman will abort in order
to avoid interference with a job promotion is biologically and morally
indistinguishable from the unborn entity that results from an act of rape or
incest. And since abortion for career advancement cannot be justified if the
unborn entity is fully human, abortion cannot be justified in the cases of rape
 and incest. In both cases abortion results in the death of an innocent human
life.
As Dr. Bernard Nathanson has written,
"The unwanted pregnancy flows biologically from the sexual act, but
not morally from it."[5]

Hence, this argument, is successful only if the unborn are not fully human.
Some pro-choice advocates claim that the pro-lifer lacks compassion, since the pro-
lifer's position on rape and incest forces a woman to carry her baby against her will.
Nothing could be further from the truth. It is the rapist who has already forced this
woman to carry a child, not the pro-lifer. The pro-life advocate merely wants to
prevent another innocent human being (the unborn entity) from being the victim of a
violent and morally reprehensible act (abortion), for two wrongs do not make a right.
As theologian and ethicist Dr. Michael Bauman has observed:
"A child does not lose its right to life simply because its father or its
mother was a sexual criminal or a deviant."[6]

Furthermore, the anguish and psychic suffering caused by rape and incest has been
treated quite effectively. Professor Stephen Krason points out that…
"psychological studies have shown that, when given the proper support,
most pregnant rape victims progressively change their attitudes about
their unborn child from something repulsive to someone who is innocent
and uniquely worthwhile." [7]

The pro-life advocate believes that help should be given to the rape victim...
to make it as easy as possible for her to give up her baby for
adoption, if she desires. Dealing with the woman pregnant from
rape, then, can be an opportunity for us—both as individuals and
society—to develop true understanding and charity. Is it not
better to try to develop these virtues than to countenance an
ethic of destruction as the solution?[8]

FOR FURTHER READING

Explore one of God's greatest miracles, LIFE... in this fresh,
attractive presentation brought to you by the Christian
Answers Network. Learn about the development of babies,
and more, with answers to frequently-asked-questions,
 Home like:

 See: Personal stories about abortion, including those

involving rape
 "Is abortion justifiable when the child is unwanted?
Doesn't unwantedness lead to child abuse?" Answer
 "Is the unborn human less than human at any
stage?" Answer
 "Doesn't a woman have the right to control her own
body?" Answer
 "Is it true that 'No one knows when life
begins'?"Answer
 "Abortion Law - What is legal in the U.S. and why?
Can women get an abortion for any reason?"Answer
 "Why does God allow innocent people to
suffer?"Answer
 "How do I know what God's will is for my
life?"Answer
 and many more

To use our Handy Pregnancy Calculator, click here

REFERENCES
1. Concerning this, Dr. Stephen Krason writes: "A number of studies have shown
that pregnancy resulting from rape is very uncommon. One, looking at 2190 victims,
reported pregnancy in only 0.6 percent." (Abortion: Politics, Morality, and the
Constitution [Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1984], p. 283.)
[up]

2. See Andrew Varga, The Main Issues in Bioethics, revised edition (New
York: Paulist Press, 1984), pp. 67-68. Varga himself, however, does not
believe that abortion is morally justified in the cases of rape and incest.
[up]

3. On the fact that abortion on demand is legal in America, see Part One
in a series on abortion by Francis J. Beckwith, Christian Research
Journal(Fall 1990). [up]

4. See the results of studies of 4,800 victims of rape in the St. Paul-
Minneapolis area, as cited in John F. Hillabrand, "Dealing With a Rape
Case," Heartbeat 8 (March 1975), p. 250. [up]

5. Bernard Nathanson, M.D., Aborting America (New York: Doubleday,

 1979), p. 238. [up]

6. Michael Bauman, "Verbal Plunder: Combatting the Feminist

Encroachment on the Language of Religion and Morality," paper
presented at the 42nd annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological
Society, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, New Orleans,
Louisiana, Nov. 15-17, 1990, p. 16. [up]

7. Stephen M. Krason, Abortion: Politics, Morality, and the

Constitution(Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1984), p. 284.
For an overview of the research, see Sandra Kathleen Mahkorn,
"Pregnancy and Sexual Assault," in David Mall and Walter F. Watts,
M.D., The Psychological Aspects of Abortion (Washington, D.C.:
University Publications of America, 1979), pp. 67-68. [up]

8. Krason, p. 284. [up]

[ If this information has been helpful, please prayerfully consider a donation to help pay the
expenses for making this faith-building service available to you and your family! Donations are
tax-deductible. ]

Author: Francis J. Beckwith. Adapted from a series in Christian Research Journal,

Spring 1991. Provided with permission by Summit Ministries and the author.
Copyright © 1995, 1998, Christian Research Institute, 1991, 1998, All Rights Reserved - except as
noted on attached “Usage and Copyright” page that grants ChristianAnswers.Net users generous
rights for putting this page to work in their homes, personal witnessing, churches and schools.

For further reading on abortion issues

 Francis J. Beckwith, Politically Correct Death: Answering the Arguments
for Abortion Rights (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1993).

 Francis J. Beckwith, Abortion and the Sanctity of Human Life (Joplin,

Missouri: College Press, 2000).

 Stephen Schwarz, The Moral Question of Abortion (Loyola University

Press, 1990).

 Randy Alcorn, Prolife Answers to Prochoice Arguments (Sisters, Oregon:

Multnomah Press, 2000).

www.ChristianAnswers.Net
Christian Answers Network
 PO Box 200
Gilbert AZ 85299

Sanctity of life

Islamic teachings on abortion

Islam rarely permits abortion after 120 days. This foetus is about 112 days old ©

Muslims regard abortion as wrong and haram (forbidden), but many accept that it may be
permitted in certain cases.

All schools of Muslim law accept that abortion is permitted if continuing the pregnancy
would put the mother's life in real danger. This is the only reason accepted for abortion after
120 days of the pregnancy.

Different schools of Muslim law hold different views on whether any other reasons for
abortion are permitted, and at what stage of pregnancy if so.

Some schools of Muslim law permit abortion in the first 16 weeks of pregnancy, while others
only permit it in the first 7 weeks.

However, even those scholars who would permit early abortion in certain cases still regard
abortion as wrong, but do not regard it as a punishable wrong. The more advanced the
pregnancy, the greater the wrong.

The Qur'an does not explicitly refer to abortion but offers guidance on related matters.
Scholars accept that this guidance can properly be applied to abortion.

Sanctity of life

The Islamic view is based on the very high priority the faith gives to the sanctity of life. The
Qur'an states:
 Whosoever has spared the life of a soul, it is as though he has spared the life of all people.
Whosoever has killed a soul, it is as though he has murdered all of mankind.
Qur'an 5:32
Most Muslim scholars would say that a foetus in the womb is recognised and protected by
Islam as a human life.

Protection of the mother's life

Islam allows abortion to save the life of the mother because it sees this as the 'lesser of two
evils' and there is a general principle in Sharia (Muslim law) of choosing the lesser of two
evils.

Abortion is regarded as a lesser evil in this case because:

• the mother is the 'originator' of the foetus

• the mother's life is well-established

• the mother has with duties and responsibilities

• the mother is part of a family

• allowing the mother to die would also kill the foetus in most cases
Providing for the child

The Qur'an makes it clear that a foetus must not be aborted because the family fear that
they will not be able to provide for it - they should trust Allah to look after things:

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.
Qur'an 17:32
The same (and similar) texts also ban abortion on social or financial grounds relating to the
mother or the rest of the family - e.g. that the pregnancy wasn't planned and a baby will
interfere with the mother's life, education or career.

Top

For the baby's sake

Abortion for the sake of the baby

If it is confirmed in the early period of pregnancy that a foetus suffers from a defect that
can't be treated and that will cause great suffering to the child, a number of scholars would
say that it is permissible to abort, provided that the pregnancy is less than 120 days old.
 Foetuses with a particular genetic blood disorder can be aborted ©

A slightly more liberal opinion is that abortion within the first 120 days would be permitted if
a child would be born with such physical and mental deformity as would deprive the child of
a normal life. The opinion of at least two competent medical specialists is required.

Other scholars disagree and hold that abortion is not permitted in such cases.

There is almost unanimous opinion that after 120 days an abortion is not permissible unless
the defect in the embryo puts the mother's life in danger.

In recent times in Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khameni has issued a fatwa permitting abortion for
foetuses under 10 weeks shown to have the genetic blood disorder thalassemia.

And also in Iran, Grand Ayatollah Yusuf Saanei issued a fatwa which permits abortion in the
first three months for various reasons. Saanei accepted that abortion was generally
forbidden in Islam, but went on to say:

But Islam is also a religion of compassion, and if there are serious problems, God
sometimes doesn't require his creatures to practice his law. So under some conditions--such
as parents' poverty or overpopulation--then abortion is allowed,
Grand Ayatollah Yusuf Saanei quoted in Los Angeles Times, December 29, 2000
Widely quoted is a resolution of the Islamic jurisprudence council of Mekkah Al Mukaramah
(the Islamic World League) passing a Fatwa in its 12th session held in February 1990. This
allowed abortion if the foetus was:

grossly malformed with untreatable severe condition proved by medical investigations and
decided upon by a committee formed by competent trustworthy physicians, and provided
that abortion is requested by the parents and the foetus is less than 120 days computed
from moment of conception.
Attributed, Mekkah Al Mukaramah, February 1990
NB: We have not been able to obtain an English language copy of this fatwa to corroborate
the quote.
Rape, incest and adultery

Some scholars state that abortion where the mother is the victim of a rape or of incest is
permissible in the first 120 days of the pregnancy.

Others say abortion for such reasons is never permitted.

Explaining the difficulty of such a case, one scholar says:

I believe that the value of life is the same whether this embryo is the result of fornication
with relatives or non-relatives or valid marriage. In Sharia life has the same value in all
cases.
Sheikh M. A. Al-Salami, Third Symposium on Medical Jurisprudence
It is reported that Bosnian women raped by the Serbian army were issued a fatwa allowing
them to abort, but were urged to complete the abortion before the 120 day mark. A similar
fatwa was issued in Algeria.

This demonstrates that Islamic law has the flexibility to be compassionate in appropriate
circumstances.

In Egypt (where abortion is illegal) in June 2004, Muhammad Sayed Tantawi, the Grand
Sheikh of Al Azhar, approved a draft law allowing women to abort a pregnancy that is the
result of rape. The law would also make it legal for women to undergo an abortion more
than four months after conception.

His decision caused controversy among other Muslim scholars: The mufti of Egypt, Ali
Gomaa, said Tantawi's decision was wrong and violated the Qur'an's injunction that "forbids
killing innocent souls." He said, "It is haram [forbidden] to abort the fetus after life is
breathed into it, in other words after 120 days." However, he added that a woman could
terminate a pregnancy if she was in immediate danger.

Islam does not permit abortion where an unwanted pregnancy is the result of unforced
adultery.

Top
 The soul

Abortion and the soul

Abortion is not permissible after the foetus has a soul

Islam forbids the termination of a pregnancy after soul or 'Ruh' is given to the foetus.

There's disagreement within Islam as to when this happens. The three main opinions are:

• at 120 days

• at 40 days

• when there is voluntary movement of the foetus

• This usually happens during the 12th week of gestation but many women don't notice the
movement until much later - sometimes as late as 20 weeks.

A relevant hadith suggests that the moment of ensoulment is 120 days:

Narrated Abdullah: Allah's Apostle, the true and truly inspired said, "(as regards your
creation), every one of you is collected in the womb of his mother for the first forty days,
and then he becomes a clot for another forty days, and then a piece of flesh for another
forty days. Then Allah sends an angel to write four words: He writes his deeds, time of his
death, means of his livelihood, and whether he will be wretched or blessed (in religion).
Then the soul is breathed into his body..."
Sahih Bukhari, Volume 4, Book 55, Number 549
However, it's important to note that many scholars believe that life begins at conception,
and that all scholars believe that an embryo deserves respect and protection at all stages of
the pregnancy.

Top

Find out more

• Ethics: abortion

• Islam and contraception

 Top
«More Islam
See also

• Interfaith calendar

• Salah calculator

• Message boards

• Ethics
Top of Form

Search

Search term:
Bottom of Form
bbc.co.uk navigation
• News
• Sport
• Weather
• Travel
• TV
• Radio
• More
BBC links
• About the BBC
• BBC Help
• Contact Us
• Accessibility Help
• Terms of Use
• Jobs
• Privacy & Cookies
• Advertise With Us

©M

Abortion in Islam
by Ibrahim B. Syed, Ph. D.
President
Islamic Research Foundation International, Inc.
7102 W. Shefford Lane
Louisville, KY 40242-6462, USA
E-mail: IRFI@INAME.COM
Website: http://WWW.IRFI.ORG
http://www.irfi.org/articles/articles_101_150/abortion.htm
In principle, the Qur'an condemns the killing of humans (except in the case of defense or as
capital punishment), but it does not explicitly mention abortion. This leads Islamic
theologians to take up different viewpoints: while the majority of early Islamic theologians
permitted abortion up to day 40 of pregnancy or even up to day 120, many countries today
interpret these precepts protecting unborn children more conservatively. Although there is no
actual approval of abortion in the world of Islam, there is no strict, unanimous ban on it,
either. Islam has not given any precise directions with regard to the issue of abortion. Hence it is
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
conclusion with a difference in the basic premises of one's arguments.
The Qur'an clearly disapproves of killing other humans: “Take not life which Allah has made
sacred” (6:151; see also 4:29 “If a man kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is Hell, to
abide therein (for ever)” (4:93). Allah (SWT) went even further, making unlawful killing of a
single individual human being equal to mass murder of the whole of mankind: "Because of that,
We ordained for the children of Israel that if anyone killed a person not in retaliation for murder
or for spreading mischief on earth, it would be as if he killed all mankind. And who saved a life,
it would be as if he saved all mankind." (Al-Maidah, 5:32)
As to whether abortion is a form of killing a human, the Qur'an does not make any explicit
statements. Only Surah 17:31 warns believers in general: “Kill not your children for fear of
want. We shall provide sustenance for them as well as for you. Verily the killing of them is a
great sin.”

There are those in Islam who oppose all abortions. A favored text to support this is: "Do not kill
your children for fear of poverty for it is We who shall provide sustenance for you as well as for
them." (Surah, Al-An' am, 6:151). This Qur'anic reference is to killing already born children--
usually girls. The text was condemning this custom. The Arabic word for killing used in this
text "means not only slaying with a weapon, blow or poison, but also humiliating or degrading or
depriving children of proper upbringing and education." The text doesn't explicitly address the
abortion and therefore doesn't close the argument on it.
The Qur'an says:

We 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. (Surah Al-Mu'minoon, 23: 12-14)
This verse reveals how the fetus is formed and transforms into a complete human being.
The elaborate process of the development of the first human being is given in the Qur'an as
follows:

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 some-
thing of His Ruh(Life-Energy). And (with this) He gave you (the faculties
of ) hearing and sight and understanding. (Surah Al-Sajadah, 32:7-9).

During the development of fetus, the body received the Divine Ruh (Life-energy) and
subsequently the human faculties of hearing, sight and understanding were developed.
There is no agreement among legal scholars – including those of the founders of the four
schools of religious law of the early Islamic period – as to the exact point in time this happens,
however.

Abortion

Islam's approach to the issue of birth control and abortion is very balanced. It allows women to
prevent pregnancy but forbids them to terminate it. In case of rape the woman should use the
morning after pill or RU486 immediately after the sexual assault in order to prevent the possible
implantation of a fertilized ovum. Modern technology (like ultra sound scan) has made it
possible to know whether or not a child has a defect long before he is born. Some people justify
the abortion of a defective fetus.

The Shari'ah allows abortion only when doctors declare with reasonable certainty that the
continuation of pregnancy will endanger the woman's life. This permission is based on the
principle of the lesser of the two evils known in Islamic legal terminology as the principle of al-
ahamm wa 'l-muhimm (the more important and the less important). The Prophet said, "When two
forbidden things come [upon a person] together, then the lesser will be sacrificed for the
greater." In the present case, one is faced with two forbidden things: either abort the unborn child
or let a living woman die. Obviously, the latter is greater than the former; therefore, abortion is
allowed to save the live person. 1
Permissibility of Abortion 2

"And do not kill your children for fear of poverty: We give them sustenance and
yourselves (too): surely to kill them is a great wrong." (17:31)
The abortion of a fetus from the mother's womb is a different issue, since the sperm and egg
have already met and fertilized what could become a human being. The scholars all agree that
abortion is forbidden after the first four months of pregnancy, since by that time the soul has
entered the embryo but it would allow the use of RU486 (the "morning-after pill"), as long as it
could be reasonably assumed that the fertilized egg has not become implanted on the wall of the
uterus. Most scholars say that abortion is legal under Islamic Shari'ah (law), when done for valid
reasons and when completed before the soul enters the embryo. To abort a baby for such vain
reasons as wanting to keep a woman’s youthful figure, are not valid.
"...And do not slay your children for (fear of) poverty -- We provide for you and
for them --- and do not draw nigh to indecencies, those of them which are
apparent and those which are concealed, and do not kill the soul which Allah has
forbidden except for the requirements of justice: this He has enjoined you with
that you may understand." (6:151)

Qur’anic verses misinterpreted 3

There are, however, some Qur'anic verses which prohibit infanticide:

"And do not kill your children for fear of poverty: We give them sustenance and
yourselves (too): surely to kill them is a great wrong." (17:31)

These verses in fact were revealed to forbid the pre-Islamic Arab practice of killing or burying
alive a newborn child (particularly a girl) on account of the parents' poverty or to refrain from
having a female child. Perhaps in those days, people did not know safe methods of contraception
and early abortion.

Embryonic development was central to the Muslim arguments on abortion. According to Muslim
scholars, it is lawful to have an abortion during the first 120 days, but after the stage of
ensoulment (after the soul enters into the fetus), abortion is prohibited completely except where
it is imperative to save the mother's life. After ensoulment, however, abortion is prohibited
absolutely and is akin to murder.

The Hanafi scholars, who comprised the majority of orthodox Muslims in later centuries,
permitted abortion until the end of the four months. According to them, a pregnant woman could
have an abortion without her husband's permission, but she should have reasonable grounds for
this act. One reason, which was mentioned frequently, was the presence of a nursing infant. A
new pregnancy put an upper limit on lactation, and the jurists believed that if the mother could
not be replaced by a wet-nurse, the infant would die.

Views of Four Madhhabs (Schools of Thought) 4

There is broad acceptance in the major Islamic schools of law on the permissibility of abortion in
the first four months of pregnancy. Most of the schools that permit abortion insist that there must
be a serious reason for it such as a threat to the mother's life or the probability of giving birth to a
deformed or defective child. However, as the Egyptian booklet."(The Arab Republic of Egypt
published a booklet called "Islam's Attitude Towards Family Planning.") says: "Jurists of the
Shiite Zaidiva believe in the total permissibility of abortion before life is breathed into the fetus,
no matter whether there is a justifiable excuse or not." That would be a pure form of what some
call "abortion on demand."
The majority of orthodox Muslims (following the Hanafi school) in later centuries, allowed
abortion until the end of the four months. According to them, a pregnant woman could have an
abortion without her husband's permission, but she should have reasonable grounds for this act.
Most of the Maliki jurists (legal scholars) described abortion as completely forbidden. In their
view, when the semen settles in the womb, it is expected to develop into a living baby and it
should not be disturbed by anyone. According to Ibn Jawziyyah, when the womb has retained
the semen, it is not permitted for the husband and wife, or one of them or the master of the slave-
wife, to induce an abortion. After ensoulment, however, abortion is prohibited absolutely and is
akin to murder.
The Hanafi school (prevalent in Turkey, the Middle East and Central Asia) allows abortions to
take place principally until day 120; some jurists restrict this provision to “good cause”, e.g. if
the mother is still nursing an infant and fears that her milk may run out during the new
pregnancy. In aborting up to day 120, the woman commits a mere moral transgression, not a
crime. The Shafi school (dominant in Southeast Asia, southern Arabia, parts of East Africa)
allows abortions to be performed up to day 120. For the Maliki school (prevalent in North and
Black Africa) an abortion is permissible with the consent of both parents up to day 40; it is no
longer allowed after that. For the Hanbali school (predominant in Saudi Arabia and United
Arabic Emirates) abortions are principally prohibited from day 40 onward.

Some Shiite groups, such as the Ismailis, do not permit abortions to take place at all. In case of
infringements of this law, abortions before day 40 are penalized with a monetary fee. Other
Shiite groups such as the Zaydites allow abortions to be performed up to day 120, equating an
abortion up to this point with contraception. Whoever injures a pregnant woman to the extent
that she loses her child must pay compensation according to Islamic law. Strictly speaking, this
money belongs to the dead child, who is to inherit it. The family of the woman who undergoes
an abortion must also pay compensation if the child’s father had not consented to the abortion
performed on her.
Several differences become clear, however, between modern legal practices and the statements
made by early Islamic jurists. In principle, the protection of unborn lives is today in the
forefront, i.e. modern-day legal scholars judge more conservatively than the authors of the early
Islamic legal texts. Exceptions are made in some countries if the life of the mother is
endangered, based on Surah Baqarah, 2:233: "A mother should not be made to suffer because of
her child.” As a result, abortion is possible for health reasons up to day 90 in many countries. In
Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Pakistan and Turkey abortion is fully prohibited (an exception is made if
the mother’s life is endangered); this does not imply, however, that abortions are not at all
performed. Tunisia’s liberal abortion practice allows for abortions to be performed up to the end
of the third month. There, abortions are principally permissible for single as well as married
women in the first three months, provided that a registered doctor performs them. The approval
of the husband or of a male guardian is not required in Tunisia.
Some contemporary voices speak out fully against abortion, arguing that Islam is granted
strength through multitudes of children. Traditionally, a large family with several sons has
always been the ideal situation in the Islamic world. Abortion in this context is compared with
murder, with references to the endangered health of the woman. Other voices view abortion as a
type of birth control and refer to the fact that the wives of prophets also practiced birth control
with the approval of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Muslim women’s rights
advocates demand the right to free abortion in connection with the demand for self-
determination. The hesitation of many doctors, for fear of legal prosecution, to perform
abortions in clinics leads to illegal operations and numerous cases of death. A number of legal
assessments (fatwas) have been published on the subject of abortion; this support one viewpoint
or the other but do not legally have the character of law and are therefore not binding.
Abortion in Islam 5
Some Muslims argue that abortion is permissible if the fetus is younger than four months (120
days). They quote a statement from the Prophet (s) that refers to a human being starting as a
fertilized ovum in the uterus of the mother for forty days, then it grows into a clot for the same
period, then into a morsel of flesh for the same period, then an angel is sent to that fetus to blow
the Ruh into it and to write down its age, deeds, sustenance, and whether it is destined to be
happy or sad.
Assuming the Hadith to be authentic, scholars explain that the error comes from understanding
that before the Ruh is blown into the fetus at 120 days, the fetus is not a living entity, and
therefore aborting it does not amount to killing it. It therefore becomes clear that aborting a fetus
before 120 days is still killing a living entity, let alone abortion after that presumed period.
Some Muslims argue that the only case when aborting a fetus, before or after 120 days, is
allowed in Islam, is when a medical situation threatens the life of the mother, leaving only two
options, to let either the other or the fetus survive, but not both. Scholars argue that such a case
can only be determined by a specialist, trusted and committed Muslim doctor. They argue that
the mother can have other children, whereas the child cannot make up for losing the mother.
Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi 6
Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi states in his well-known book, “The Lawful and the Prohibited in
Islam”:

“While Islam permits preventing pregnancy for valid reasons, it does not allow doing violence to
it once it occurs.

Muslim jurists have agreed unanimously that after the fetus is completely formed and has been
given a soul, abortion is Haram. It is also a crime, the commission of which is prohibited to the
Muslim because it constitutes an offense against a complete, living human being. Jurists insist
that the payment of blood money (diya) becomes incumbent if the baby is aborted alive and then
died, while a fine of lesser amount is to be paid if it is aborted dead.

However, there is one exceptional situation. If, say the jurists, after the baby is completely
formed, it is reliably shown that the continuation of the pregnancy would necessarily result in the
death of the mother, then, in accordance with the general principle of the Shari'ah, that of
choosing the lesser of two evils, abortion must be performed. The reason for this is that the
mother is the origin of the fetus; moreover, her life is well established with duties and
responsibilities, and she is also a pillar of the family. It would not be possible to sacrifice her life
for the life of a fetus which has not yet acquired a personality and which has no responsibilities
or obligations to fulfill.

Allah Almighty knows best.

REFERENCES:
1. Marriage and Morals in Islam. Chapter 4: contraceptives and Abortion. Sayyid Muhammad
Rizvi, Pub. By Islamic Education and Information Center, Scarborough, Ont. Canada.
2. www.understanding-Islam.com 1st March 1999
3.Family Planning and Islam: A Review by Khalid Farooq Akbar Hamdard Islamicus Vol.
17, No. 3, 1974.
4. Abortion in Islam. Christine Schirrmacher (Institute for Islamic Studies) Online
at www.islaminstitut.de/english/publications/abortion.htm
5. Abortion in Islam. Elsayed Kandil, SALAM Magazine, Sydney, New South
Wales http://www.famsy.com/salam/.
6. Yusuf Al-Qaradawi. "Lawful and the Prohibited in Islam" Islamic Book Service, 1982

MXI
Pro-abortion - Definition
Pro-abortion is the belief in the right to choose to terminate a fetus (fertilized embryo). Pro-abortion is also
a movement, which fights for the rights of women to have a choice to end unwanted pregnancies.
Pro-abortion - History of the Movement
Pro-abortion advocates fought and won the legalization of abortion in Colorado and California in 1967.
Pro-abortion advocates continued on their path and by 1970 sixteen states allowed abortion. New York,
Hawaii, California and Alaska had more liberal policies, allowing abortion on demand up to 20 weeks into
pregnancy. However Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Kansas, Maryland, Mississippi, New
Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina and Virginia only allowed abortion in cases of rape,
incest, and severe fetal abnormalities or to protect the life of the mother. The pro-abortion movement was
slowed and many appeals were filed to reverse these legislative policies. All other states refused to allow
abortions.

Pro-abortionists' greatest victory was won in "Roe vs. Wade". Through this lawsuit, the Supreme Court
legalized abortion in all 50 states on January 22, 1973. Although the popular vote was against abortion on
demand, "Roe vs. Wade" became the foundation of the pro-abortion agenda.
Pro-abortion - Today
The pro-abortion agenda has matured from back alley abortions, to abortion on demand in all 50 states
up to 24-25 weeks after fertilization, and even to the point of allowing partial birth abortions. Pro-abortion
advocates believe in the right to choose to terminate a pregnancy. There are even laws now dictating
abortion rights of teenagers and their parents. Is the law on the side of pro-abortion, or isn't it?
Pro-abortion - The Problem
Pro-abortion - Is the verdict really in? Abortion is legal in all 50 states. On the other hand, murder is illegal
in all 50 states. Herein lies the problem -- How can we say it is against the law to kill and allow the
abortion rate of 1 in 4 pregnancies to continue? When does the origin of life begin? Were we created at
conception, knit together in our mother's womb right from the beginning? Or is it the air in our lungs that
changes our status from a fetus to a life? Of course, the pro-abortion position must advocate that life
doesn't begin until some time late in the gestation process. However, God's position has always been that
we are each a unique individual created by Him for a special purpose from the moment of
conception.Recent discoveries in biochemistry confirm what the Bible has declared for centuries, that
each of us is "fearfully and wonderfully made." From the moment the sperm miraculously fertilizes the
egg, God begins the process of creating our inmost being and knits us together in our mother's womb
(Psalm 139:13-14).
Pro-abortion - A Final Thought
On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court's decision in the case of Roe v. Wade, allowed abortions in the
first six months of pregnancy. Twenty-three years later, Norma McCorvey, who was the "Jane Roe" in the
Roe v. Wade suit, was interviewed by USA Today. She stated that once, while employed at a clinic when
no one was in: "I went into the procedure room and laid down on the table... trying to imagine what it
would be like having an abortion... I broke down and cried." On ABC's World News Tonight, Norma
McCorvey said: "I think abortion's wrong. I think what I did with Roe v. Wade was wrong." (American
Minute with Bill Federer, January 22, 2003)

bortion in the Case of Rape: Moral and Prudential Considerations

Lynn D. Wardle
I agree with Todd Bindig that abortion usually exacerbates the harm of rape for the pregnant rape victim.
I also agree that it is generally immoral to abort an unborn child because her father was a rapist. Adoption
certainly provides a wonderful and preferable option for the pregnant rape victim in most cases when the
pregnant rape victim needs and wants to avoid parenthood.
However, there are some significant moral and prudential justifications for allowing abortion in some
cases of rape. There are countervailing moral considerations that in rare cases may override the moral and
social interest in protecting the life of an unborn child.
Rape-Caused Pregnancy Can Do Harm
First, respecting the moral dilemma forced involuntarily upon a pregnant rape victim is not an
insignificant moral consideration. It should not be dismissed or considered lightly. The right to act in self-
preservation is a right of natural law. (Self-defense is still a valid defense in many contexts in the criminal
law.) In some cases, the pregnant rape victim may fall into the self-preservation category.
Second, while I agree that in most cases abortion would increase the harm done to the pregnant rape
victim, I recognize that there are some cases—they appear to be only a small number of cases—in which
abortion could significantly reduce the harm done to the pregnant rape victim. Bindig tacitly concedes
that such rare situations may or do exist. Those exceptional situations must be addressed in the law. The
law should provide exceptions to deal with exceptional cases.
Third, denial of abortion in the exceptional case when continuation of pregnancy would significantly
increase the injury to the pregnant rape victim perpetuates the aggression of the rapist—double
victimization. It forces the woman to be complicit in the act of aggression against her. Surely, her
dilemma between continuing the act of aggression against herself or passing it along to the unborn child
she is carrying as a result of the rape is very profound. Unlike less compelling moral conflicts, such a
great, serious moral dilemma may justify a shift of the locus of the decision-making from society to the
most poignantly and dangerously affected party, especially in cases in which (as noted below) the mores
of society strongly support the morality of the exceptional abortion.
Fourth, respect for rights of conscience in coping with profound and deeply significant dilemmas may
justify abortion in the rare case. Our composite and diverse society recognizes the importance of matters
of conscience in such founding documents as the Bill of Rights. When the moral dilemma is so very
profound, and moral perspectives about what is the right solution to the dilemma are so divided—as in the
case of a pregnancy resulting from rape that is causing great harm and threatens to cause increasing and
grave injury to the pregnant victim—the best solution may be to defer to the conscience of the victim.
Practical Pro-Life Wisdom
One additional category of justifications for legal abortion in the case of rape relates to what Princeton
Professor of Jurisprudence Robert George calls the “poorly understood, largely neglected and desperately
need virtue” of prudence.[1] “Prudence is practical wisdom.”[2] As longtime pro-life legal advocate
Clarke Forsythe argues, prudence recognizes that it is “moral … to achieve to partial good in politics and
public policy when the ideal is not possible.”[3]
It is prudential to do as much as you realistically can to accomplish good and eliminate evil. It requires
evaluation of the possible. It accepts the morality of the “ratchet approach” to moving social policy
toward a desired goal, even if it takes only incremental steps to achieving that goal.
There is overwhelming popular support for permitting abortion in “hard cases,” such as when the
pregnant woman has been the victim of rape. While nearly 25 percent of Americans believe that abortion
should be legally permitted for any reason and nearly 20 percent believe that it should be illegal for any
reason, the great majority of Americans—well over 50 percent (consistently 53–57 percent in Gallup
polls since 2003) believe that abortion should be permitted only for certain (hard-case) reasons. Most
Americans who take a pro-life position on abortion believe that abortion should be “permitted … in cases
such as rape, incest and to save the woman’s life.” Gallup reported in 2003 that 72 percent of those polled
believed that abortion should be legal in the first trimester when the pregnancy was caused by rape or
incest, and 59 percent responded that abortion should be legal even in the third (last) trimester when the
pregnancy was caused by rape or incest.
So the prudential position is to seek to reform the radical current regime—of Roe v. Wade, of abortion on
demand for any reason—by proposing and supporting a rule that would allow abortion only for cases of
rape, incest, or threat to the life of the mother. That appears to attract enough popular support to make it a
politically feasible position and a threat to Roe. A purist might argue as a matter of philosophy that
abortion when unnecessary to prevent the death of the mother is morally unacceptable. However, the
purist must be asked whether insistence on perfection (all or nothing) in lawmaking is not immoral if it
perpetuates and gives practical support to the status quo rule of abortion on demand—which allows at
least 1.2 million abortions per year—and impedes adoption of a rule allowing abortions only in hard cases
such as cases of rape, incest, or threat to the life of the mother, which would outlaw all but a small
fraction of that number of abortions.
An Incremental Step
Finally, one of the most tragic consequences of Roe is that by constitutionalizing the issue and mandating
legalization of abortion on demand (at least until viability), the Supreme Court effectively terminated the
legislative discussion of options, solutions, and compromises to deal with the issue of abortion generally.
The moral dimensions have been supplanted in constitutional discourse by claims about personal privacy,
individual liberty, and undue burdens.
If the debate about Roe and abortion legality were refocused on the choice between abortion on demand
and abortion in hard cases such as cases of rape, incest, or threat to the life of the mother, it would
significantly change the demeanor of the public discourse. A proposal that abortion be prohibited
generally, but allowed in cases of rape, incest and threat to maternal life, attracts significantly more
support than the position of abortion on demand for any reason, which is the Roe constitutional mandate.
This proposal has the greatest potential to initiate a valuable redirection of the public discourse. Focusing
public attention on that choice and those issues—rather than on the purist issue whether abortion should
be allowed in cases of rape—could lead more quickly to a change in legal policy that would eliminate
many unnecessary, elective abortions. That is the most prudent approach.

[1] Clarke D. Forsythe, Politics for the Greatest Good (Nottingham, U.K.: IVP Books, 2009), i.
[2] Ibid., 16.
[3] Ibid., 11.
The discussion continues …

Abortion and Rape: Is the “Middle Position” Untenable? (A Four-Part Series)

Part 1: Todd Bindig: Why Pregnancy Due to Rape Fails as a Justification for Abortion
Part 2: Lynn Wardle: Abortion in the Case of Rape: A Response to Todd Bindig
Part 3: Todd Bindig: Abortion in the Case of Rape: Answering Lynn Wardle
Part 4: Lynn Wardle: Abortion in the Case of Rape: Moral and Prudential Considerations

Discuss