Different views on abortion
 

Buddhists believe that life should not be destroyed, but they regard causing death as morally wrong only if the death is caused deliberately or by negligence. Traditional Buddhism rejects abortion because it involves the deliberate destroying of a life.

It’s a personal decision. Buddhists are expected to take full personal responsibility for everything they do and for the consequences that follow. The decision to abort is therefore a highly personal one, and one that requires careful and compassionate exploration of the ethical issues involved, and a willingness to carry the burden of whatever happens as a result of the decision.

According to the teachings of Buddha, five conditions must be present to constitute an act of killing: The thing killed must be a living being; you, the killer, must know or be aware that it is a living being; you must have the intention to kill it; there must be an effort to kill; the being must be killed as the result. Therefore the First Precept of Buddhism - not to kill - is violated and this is tantamount to killing a human being.

Buddhists face a difficulty where an abortion is medically necessary to save the life of the mother and so a life will be lost whether there is or isn't an abortion. In such cases the moral status of an abortion will depend on the intentions of those carrying it out. If the decision is taken compassionately, and after long and careful thought then although the action may be wrong the moral harm done will be reduced by the good intentions involved.