Hinduism and abortion

Abortion in Hinduism is taught to be sinful by traditional Hindu scriptures.[1] The Mahanarayana Upanishad lists abortion with actions such as breaking one's vow of chastity.[2] Hindu scriptures teach that "abortion a worse sin than killing one's parents" and "another text says that a woman who aborts her child will lose her caste".[1] Hinduism teaches ahimsa (nonviolence), a principle that abortion is taught to stand in conflict with.[1]

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Interpretation based on Hindu Texts

According to the Hinduism Today website, "Several Hindu institutions have shared their positions on abortion recently. The Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University does not take a formal unchanging political or religious stance on the issue of abortion. According to Vedic literature an eternal individual soul inhabits the body of every living creature...The soul enters the womb at the time of conception, and this makes the fetus a living, individual person."[3] Some Hindu theologians believe personhood begins at 3 months and develops through to 5 months of gestation, possibly implying permitting abortion up to the third month and considering any abortion past the third month to be destruction of the soul's current incarnate body.[4] The Hindu teaching of the word Karma, the result of good and bad actions, makes abortions improper. In this teaching, the opposite of life is thought to be rebirth. Abortion causes termination not only to the unborn, but also to the unborn child's karma. It is believed that negative karma goes to those who interrupt karma's continuing cycle.[2]

The Mahanarayana Upanishad lists abortion with actions such as breaking one's vow of chastity.[2] Individual Hindus hold varying stances on abortion. For this reason it has become common to not state the Hindu view on abortion but rather one Hindu view on abortion. Even with a high rate of abortion in India statistics showed 80 per cent of Indian women disapproved and 56 per cent consider it a heinous crime.[5] Hindus go as far as to make clear distinctions in their sacred texts between abortions and miscarriages. The text goes as far as stating that killing a male embryo who could have been a Brahmin the same as killing an adult Brahmin which is considered one of the worst sins one can commit.[5]

Amount of suffering

If the mother's life is at risk, Hinduism permits abortion. The Vedic texts compare abortion to the killing of one's own parents.[6] The general value system of Hinduism teaches that the correct course of action in any given situation is the one that causes the least harm to those involved. Thus in the case where the mother's life is at risk, abortion is considered acceptable.[6]

References
  1. "Hinduism: Abortion". BBC. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  2. Stephens, Moira, Christopher Jordens, Ian Kerridge, and Rachel A. Ankeny (2010). "Religious Perspectives on Abortion and a Secular Response". Journal of Religion and Health, 49 (4D), 513–535.
  3. "Hindus In America Speak out on Abortion Issues". Hinduism Today. 7 September 1985. Retrieved 14 September 2010.
  4. Crawford, S. Cromwell (1995). "The Ethics of Abortion". Dilemmas of Life and Death: Hindu Ethics in a North American Context. State University of New York Press. ISBN 0-7914-2165-1.
  5. Damian, Constantin-Iulian (January–March 2010). "Abortion from the Perspective of Eastern Religions: Hinduism and Buddhism". Romanian Journal of Bioethics. 8 (1): 125. Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
  6. "Hinduism and abortion". BBC. 25 August 2009. Retrieved 14 September 2010.
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