What is Buddhisms attitude regarding abortions?
The act of abortion, i.e. terminating the life of a foetus, is explicitly mentioned in Buddhist canonical scripture (the Vinaya-Pitaka) as a great offence. In theory, this is true but it depends on the situation. If a pregnant woman knows that the foetus is deformed and she is not allowed to abort it, it would be extremely unfair to the mother who will have to devote her whole life to take care of the deformed child. Also, if a woman becomes pregnant as a result of being raped, she would never be willing to take care of her foes child. Thus, the mother should have the right to make her own decision, on condition that the mother fully understand that she has to bear all resulting causes and consequences.
