Hinduism Views on Abortion:

Hindus believe that it is acceptable to choose the action that will do the least amount of harm to the people involved: the mother and father, the child and society. Hence, Hinduism is generally opposed to abortion unless it is necessary to save the mother's life. Ahimsa (non-violence) teaches that it is wrong not only to kill living beings, but to also to kill embryos, therefore, it is usually best not to have an abortion unless having a child brings up major health concerns for the mother. Hindu texts are strongly opposed to abortion: one text compares abortion to the killing of a priest, another text considers abortion a worse sin than killing one's parents, another text says that a woman who aborts her child will lose her caste. Another reason many Hindus are opposed to abortion is that many of them regard having kids as a duty to society rather than a personal choice. The belief in reincarnation can be used to make a strong argument against abortion: If a fetus is aborted, the soul within it suffers a karmic setback. It is deprived of the opportunities its potential human existence would have given it to earn good karma, and is returned immediately to the cycle of birth, death and rebirth. Thus abortion hinders a soul's spiritual progress. With all of this in mind, people might not be sure why abortion is even legal in India. Abortion is practiced in Hindu culture in India, because the religious ban on abortion is sometimes overruled by the cultural preference for sons. This can lead to abortion for the purpose of preventing the birth of girl babies, which is called 'female feticide'. This also happens in countries such as China who also prefer to raise male children. This is an additional controversy and debate based on morals. On the contrary, reincarnation can also be used to make a case that abortion should be permitted. Under the doctrine of reincarnation, abortion only deprives the soul of one of many births that it will have. The consequences of abortion are therefore not as bad as they are in those religions where a soul gets only one chance to be born and where abortion deprives the soul of all possibility of life. Hindus believe that all life is sacred, to be loved and revered, and therefore practice ahimsa (non-violence). All life is sacred because all creatures are manifestations of Brahman. There are many reasons why Hindus are generally opposed to abortion, but the most significant factor is if the child will bring harm to any people involved in it's birth and upbringing (including the child).