Abortion itself is not a religious issue, as you do not need to believe in God in order to believe in universal human rights.

Nevertheless, many religions include different historical perspectives on the immorality of abortion, whether it can ever be permitted, and how believers should respond.

Buddhism

Buddhists generally oppose abortion as it is contrary to the Buddha's scriptures and to reasoning, since it brings about the destruction of human life.

For instance, Lord Buddha says in the Pratimoksha Sutra: 'Whatever monk intentionally with his own hand destroys the life of a human or a human foetus or searches for a weapon or searches for a slayer ... and should he die by that, that monk ... is to be expelled'.¹

Jetsun Drakpa Gyaltsen, the third of the 'five venerable masters' of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism who lived from 1147-1216, reiterated this point by explaining that for the act of killing to constitute a 'defeat' for a lay person or renunciate (the commission of which brings about expulsion from the monastic community), the being whose life is taken must be a human being at whatever stage of development.²

1. 'dGe slong so sor thar pa'i mdo, in bKa' 'gyur, vol. ca, Ladakhi Palace edition, pp. 9-10.z
2. Grags pa rGyal mthsan, rTsa ba'i ltung ba bcu bzhi pa'i 'grel pa gsal byed 'khrul spong, in Sa skya'i bka' 'bum, vol. 7, p.278.

Christianity

Early Christian Tradition

Judeo-Christian tradition going back thousands of years has always valued human life, including unborn human life. The Bible repeatedly refers to children before birth as simply very small/young children. In Luke's Gospel, Jesus and John the Baptist 'greet' one another whilst they are still in the wombs of their mothers. Verse 41 of the first chapter says: "It happened, when Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit."

Psalm 139 describes the development of the unborn baby: "For you created my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body." One of the earliest Christian writings, the Didache or the Teaching of the Twelve Apostles states: "You shall not kill the child in the womb or murder a new-born infant."

Protestant Christianity

Many Protestant and Evangelical Christians are against abortion. In Northern Ireland, Catholics and Protestants have united against abortion. However, some denominations are more pro-abortion. The Church of England states that the unborn child is alive and created by God. The 1993 General Synod stated that "the number of abortions carried out since the passage of the Abortion Act 1967 is unacceptably high." However, the Church of England also believes that abortion is sometimes morally acceptable such as when a baby is suffering from a serious disability. (Anglican website)

Catholic Christianity

The Catholic Church opposes abortion because it believes that life is sacred and inviolable. In 1995, Pope John Paul II wrote an encyclical letter called Evangelium Vitae (the Gospel of Life) in which he spoke of "the sacred value of human life from its very beginning" and of the struggle between the Culture of Life and the Culture of Death.

Orthodox Christianity

Generally, the Orthodox Churches forbid abortion as going against the commandment 'Thou shalt not kill'. The Russian Orthodox Church condemned abortion in its The Church and the Nation published in 2000.

Hinduism

Hindu scriptures refer to abortion as garha-batta (womb killing) and the Atharva Veda describes abortionists as the greatest of sinners. Gandhi, perhaps the most respected Hindu of the twentieth century, said: "It seems to me clear as daylight that abortion would be a crime."

Islam

Islam teaches that life begins at conception and is created by God. The unborn child has certain rights such as the right to care, protection and life. Abortion on any grounds is forbidden in the Islamic holy book Al'Quran. "Do not kill or take a human life which God has declared to be sacred." (Chapter 6,verse 151)

Judaism

The Torah or Jewish law forbids the taking of innocent life and stresses that human beings are made in the image of God. Maimonides, a twelfth century interpreter of Jewish law declared: "A descendent of Noah who kills any human being, even a foetus in its mother's womb, is to be put to death." The only exception was if the mother's life was in danger. However, even though traditional Judaism condemns abortion, there has been considerable argument within the Jewish community since the 1960s about whether abortion is permissible.

Atheists and agnostics for life

Many atheists and agnostics view abortion as a violation of human rights and hold pro-life opinions for this reason. As one pro-life atheist who once had an abortion commented: "for the atheist who believes that when you die, your life is over... there will be no comforting of this being by a heavenly father, angels or relatives after a torturous death; there will be no mere re-incarnational transfer. Thousands of times each day unique, never-to-be again, individual beings have their one and only chance at life terminated."

As Doris Gordon, founder of Libertarians for Life, expresses it: "the purpose of abortion is not merely pregnancy termination; its purpose is to kill, to take the life of prenatal human offspring. Under justice, however, there is no such thing as a right to kill innocent people - no exceptions." Atheists can be passionately against injustice, violence, murder, the death penalty and war. They can therefore, just as logically, oppose abortion.

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