The abortion issue has always been a hot topic. For the last 1400 years, the majority of the Muslims were misled by their scholars into believing that abortion in the first three months of pregnancy is permissible. While disregarding the clear orders in the Quran, these Muslims built their conclusion on fabricated hadiths. Some of these hadiths claimed that the soul of the foetus does not enter the body until the fourth month of gestation and therefore killing the foetus is permissible. It was God’s blessing that we were guided back to the Quran by the messenger of the covenant who strongly refused the fabricated hadiths and clearly indicated that the Quran certainly condemns the killing of both the born and the unborn children.
As we learned from history, after the departure of every messenger, some people will distort the message and confuse the others. Now we hear the call to go back to the laws of ignorance and allow the killing of the unborn children during the first three months of pregnancy. This call comes from those who are confused, misled, misinformed and misguided. "Losers are those who killed their children foolishly, due to their lack of knowledge, and prohibited what God has provided for them, and followed innovations attributed to God. They have gone astray, they are not guided." (6:140) months of pregnancy. This call comes from those who are confused, misled, misinformed and misguided. "Losers are those who killed their children foolishly, due to their lack of knowledge, and prohibited what God has provided for them, and followed innovations attributed to God. They have gone astray, they are not guided." (6:140) some argued, on no basis but fabricated hadiths that the foetuses in the first four months do not have a soul yet and therefore it is permissible to kill him/her. They do not realize that the soul has nothing to do with abortion. In abortion you are dealing with the physical body and its life, you are destroying the physical body of the foetus not the soul. We cannot kill the soul even if we try. Whether the soul entered the foetus body in the first minute of life or after four months of pregnancy is irrelevant to the abortion issue.
Halacha (Jewish law) does define when a foetus becomes a nefesh (person). "...a baby...becomes a full-fledged human being when the head emerges from the womb. Before then, the foetus is considered a 'partial life.' " 5 In the case of a "feet-first" delivery, it happens when most of the foetal body is outside the mother's body. Jewish beliefs and practice not neatly match either the "pro-life" nor the "pro-choice" points of view. The general principles of modern-day Judaism are that:
Hindu scriptures and tradition have from the earliest of times condemned the practice of abortion, except when the life of the mother is in danger. Hinduism teaches that the foetus is a living, conscious person needing and deserving protection. Hindu scriptures refer to abortion as womb killing and killing the undeveloped soul. A hymn in the Rig Veda begs for protection of foetuses. The Kaushitaki Upanishad draws a parallel between abortion and the killing of one's parents. The Atharva Veda remarks that the foetus slayer, or brunaghni, is among the greatest of sinners.
