Is abortion a religious issue? Some say yes, others say no.

At the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation, we believe abortion is a human rights violation that people of all faiths and no faith can work together to end.

Today, I found a helpful outline of world religions and abortion beliefs. It comes from the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, a British organization. It helped me to understand the foundation of various religious beliefs about abortion, and I hope it will help you, too.

Here are just a few. To view the whole list, click here.

Islam teaches that life begins at conception and is created by God. The unborn child has certain rights such as the right to care, protection and life. Abortion on any grounds is forbidden in the Islamic holy book Al’Quran. “Do not kill or take a human life which God has declared to be sacred.” (Chapter 6,verse 151)

The Torah, or Jewish law, forbids the taking of innocent life and stresses that human beings are made in the image of God. Maimonides, a twelfth century interpreter of Jewish law declared: “A descendent of Noah who kills any human being, even a foetus in its mother’s womb, is to be put to death.” The only exception was if the mother’s life was in danger. However, even though traditional Judaism condemns abortion, there has been considerable argument within the Jewish community since the 1960s about whether abortion is permissible.

In Buddhism there is no central authority on ethical matters but the Dalai Lama has spoken in favour of abortion under certain circumstances. In 1993 he said: “Of course, abortion, from a Buddhist viewpoint, is an act of killing and is negative, generally speaking. But it depends on the circumstances. If the unborn child will be retarded or if the birth will create serious problems for the parent, these are cases where there can be an exception.” (Quoted by Clive Erricker in Buddhism, Hodder & Stoughton, 1995 (page 119))