Hinduism And Abortion

Superior Essays
Abortion is essentially defined as the termination of pregnancy. This topic is very controversial as many women argue that it is their fundamental right to make decisions about their body. This topic can be viewed through two perspectives: pro-life and pro-choice. The stance that pro- life individuals take is that abortion is illegal since the fetus and the embryo are human beings, thus, have the right to live. On the other side, pro-choice believers argue that women deserve to make the choice of whether they want to terminate pregnancy or not. Currently, there is no single strict law abided by everyone since abortion laws differ from province to province. Abortion in general has been permitted in Canada since 1988. This means that every …show more content…
Mahatma Gandhi, one of the most respectful Hindu preeminent leaders, truly believed abortion should be considered a crime. Hinduism strongly opposes abortion as its religious books compare it to killing a priest, who are given a lot of respect by Hindu’s as they assist in the worship of the deities. Some of their religious texts also state that women who terminate pregnancy will lose their caste. Hence, Hindu culture emphasizes on the production of off springs as they believe it’s a public duty instead of a personal choice. Another religion that opposes abortion is Islam. Islam believes that the unborn have rights too. As women argue that they have the right to make decisions about their lives, Islam believes the child also has rights like the right of protection and the right of life. The Quran, the Holy book of Islam, states that abortion is not allowed under any conditions because human life is considered sacred. If for some reason a woman aborts a child, she must pay Diyah (blood money). Diyah is a traditional compensation that women would be responsible to pay. In pre Islam, the Diyah for taking a life was 10-she- camels. This number was increased to 100. The Diyah for unintentional killing must be paid in gold as Islam believes that the severest punishment should be given to the

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Abortion has been a controversial topic throughout the world for many years. Whether the support or lack of it is due to morals, religious beliefs, health concerns, and many other factors, there are split sides on this big decision. Is it considered murder? Is it a right women should have and should be able to decide themselves on without being criticized? Should abortion be legal or illegal, and whose rights is it interfering with?…

    • 1283 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In recent discussions of women having abortion, a controversial issues has been whether it should be against the law or not for women to have an abortion. On one hand, some argue that it should be against the law for women to have an abortion because some a portion of the population thinks it should illegal since the mother is ending her pregnancy by killing the baby. They believe it is considered murder since the mother is practically killing the fetus. On the other hand, however, others argue that women should be allowed to have an abortion if they want to because if the individual believes that she is not able to support the baby or does not want to have it due to personal issues, then the mother should be able to abort the pregnancy.…

    • 842 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    While abortion is not forbidden, the woman seeking an abortion must consult with a rabbi who is qualified to give advice on the matter of abortion. Abortion is allowed—even encouraged—when the mother’s life is at risk. The limitations on this, however, are that the risk to the mother must be substantial and that the abortion cannot happen in late stages of the pregnancy. If she has life-threatening difficulty in childbirth, then an abortion is permissible until the head or another part of the unborn child leaves the mother’s body. If continuing the pregnancy would drive the mother to suicide, then an abortion is allowed.…

    • 1238 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Each day people are confronted with having to solve an ethical dilemma. Some decisions are easier to make than other. How we make our decision is based on our worldview. Throughout this essay, I will be focusing on an ethical dilemma about abortion in a Christian worldview understanding, when being told your unborn child has Down syndrome. 1.…

    • 1504 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    When Judaism was founded, its view of a god was much different from those of pre-existing religions. The monotheistic religion viewed God as kind, merciful, and selfless. Other religion’s saw their gods as self-concerning, amoral beings. Judaism’s God also made man. In the Torah, Genesis 1:26-27 states, “And God created man in His image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”…

    • 1284 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The opinions of people usually fall into two groups; pro-life and pro-choice. Pro-life advocates believe that abortion is murder. They feel strongly that terminating a pregnancy is terminating a life. Often time’s abortion is against a religion. At the point of conception a fetus is recognized by god, therefore terminating a pregnancy is a form of murder which disobeys many religions (AbortionProcon.org).…

    • 985 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Dbq Essay On Abortion

    • 994 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Abortion is the process of removing a fetus from inside a woman to prevent unwanted pregnancy and parenthood. Abortions terminate about ¼ of pregnancies. There are multiple types of abortions, depending on how far the woman is into the pregnancy such as trimester one, trimester two, or trimester three. The woman has the option to have a medical or surgical abortion performed. To numerous people, abortion is considered a basic right for all women because it gives them control of their bodies and future.…

    • 994 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Abortion is a topic that to this day remains as controversial as it was in 1869 for many Canadians. It still makes headlines when new movements arise, it still is common to hear people trying to persuade others to become pro-choice or pro-life, and it still is something that supposedly needs debated about in Canada’s House of Parliament. Simply put, the importance of having a choice has affected a majority of women throughout Canada as whether one chose to continue with their pregnancy or not, they still had the choice. When it comes to abortion it should be about understanding the needs of an induvial versus the wants of the opposition party; it is the importance of choice that has carried society to where it stands today regarding the viewpoint…

    • 1205 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Abortion has been a great topic of debate for many years, both in terms of law/rights and in morality/religion. The constant debate has split people into two sides: Pro-Choice and Pro-Life. Those who are Pro-Choice believe that women have a right to decide the fate of their body, health, and life. They personally may not get an abortion, but they feel that it is still the right of the mother to choose. Abortion prevents unsafe pregnancies, protects women 's right to choose, liberates women from patriarchal control over women 's sexual and reproductive lives, and allows the mother to choose whether, when, and how often to have a child.…

    • 1600 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Theological Stances on Abortion Abortion is a taboo in religious societies and raises questions about life, thus creating a bond between two different natures. These questions focus on when life begins, if the fetus is even considered human, does it have a soul within, but most importantly, why do religions condemn abortions? Religion and Termination Throughout history and many lives, pious matters have always been fundamental for those devoted to faith. Most of them are based on persuasion in order to have the Almighty's mercy and to be awarded with some certain divinity after death.…

    • 842 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Grass Roots Abortion Abortion has been involved in multiple accounts of controversial arguments. It is defined in which the developing fetus is killed by the choice of the mother bearing the child. Women of the fetuses have reasons to why their decision of removing the fetus from their belly, such as the protection of Women 's Rights, the medical risk of the mother 's life, and to prevent severe disorders of the child 's life . Women 's Rights correlates to every individuals, including males. Women have the moral right to decide what to do with their own bodies, whether it is customization of any surgical procedures that involves cosmetics, or outside situations that causes the woman to be impregnated with an unwanted partner.…

    • 839 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    EWC462 November 4, 14 Dr. Winslade Medical Ethics: Wednesday 4-5 Abortion The abortion dispute inquires whether it should be ethically permissible to terminate a pregnancy before traditional delivery. Multitudes of people in our society today have made the decision to end their pregnancy due to very logical personal reasons. I believe that in certain circumstances, abortion is an optimistic option. While many people believe that abortion is a sin, I choose to have an open mind on the idea that abortion is sometimes the only option for many people.…

    • 2242 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    The Utilitarian and Deontological Discussion of Abortion Today, abortion has become a heavily debated topic whether socially or politically since the medical procedure was voted legal by the Supreme Court over 40 years ago. It is defined as the purposeful termination of a pregnancy before a normal childbirth (Abortion: Get Facts About the Procedure and Statistics). Whether you find yourself agreeing with it or not, many people have something to say. Abortion is very controversial because of the discussion whether or not a fetus is a person. Many wonder if there is a morally relevant point at some duration throughout the pregnancy or development of the fetus that could justify having an abortion or possibly not having an abortion.…

    • 1747 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    One of the most controversial topics amongst religions is the issue of women’s reproductive health. This includes religions’ stances on abortion and contraception. Most religions have strict rules about what is permitted and what is not according to their sacred texts. For example, Roman Catholicism has always considered any deviation from the natural procreation a sin. Additionally, some books and letters from Bible condemn abortion and the use of contraception.…

    • 1520 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    An abortion is the medical procedure of destroying an embryo before birth, to prevent having a child. Abortions have caused many issues of controversy to arise, relating to the sanctity of life and the moral and legal status of induced labour. Many women turn to abortion services to abort their child under many different circumstances. These may be due to health, financial, social and personal circumstances ( such as rape, incest and or failure of contraception). In the UK women have the freedom of choice to have an abortion, this is situations of child neglect, child abuse and harassment from people that are unfit or in no position to be parents.…

    • 694 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays

Related Topics