Hinduism's Arguments Against Abortion

were to lose their baby due to an injury by another person, that person needs to pay compensation. Technically speaking this money belongs to the dead child who is to inherit it. Lastly, abortions are only allowed in a certain time frame. Whether this is the required forty days or one hundred twenty days this timeline needs to be followed otherwise a monetary penalty will be placed on the family involved.
Unlike Judaism and Islam, Hinduism does not allow abortion unless the pregnancy could harm the mother. However, there are still minor exceptions to this ban. For Hindus abortion is not allowed as the physical body of the fetus and its soul are considered to be joined from the point of conception. Additionally, according to the Hindu doctrine of reincarnation the fetus is not developing into a person as it is already considered a person from its conception. Therefore, aborting the fetus would be the same as committing murder. However if the fetus and continued pregnancy of the mother will result in harm to the mother, an abortion is allowed. For the most part, Hindu medical ethics stem from the principle of ahimsa or non- violence. Therefore, when faced with the choice of aborting the fetus the family must consider which decision will result in the least amount of people being harmed. It is
One of the reasons that abortion is not acceptable in Hinduism is that it deters the mother from doing her duty to her family. It is part of the responsibility of the mother to her family to continue her family line and produce more members into society. However, there are instances that the religious ban on abortion is overruled by a cultural preference for sons. For example, in India there is a preference for sons so there are some instances in which “female feticide” occurs to prevent the birth of girls and increase the chance for the birth of a