Numerous religious traditions have taken a stance on abortion but few are absolute. These stances span a broad spectrum, based on numerous teachings, deities, or religious print, and some of those views are highlighted below. People of all faiths and religions use reproductive health care services. Abortion is perceived as murder by many religious conservatives. Anti-abortion advocates believe that legalised abortion is a threat to social, moral, and religious values. Religious people who advocate abortion rights generally believe that life starts later in the pregnancy, for instance at quickening, after the first trimester. The religious influence over the population of the country tends to be one of the massive determining factors on the legality of abortion.
Baháʼí Faith Abortion, merely for the purpose of eliminating an unwanted child, is strongly deprecated in the Baháʼí Faith, although medical reasons may warrant it. Among the possible reasons for terminating a pregnancy are rape, incest, lack of viability of the fetus, and health of the mother. Though Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith, considered the intentional termination of a pregnancy as the ending of a life, there are no specific teachings in the Bahá'í sacred texts addressing it; the Universal House of Justice has thus concluded that it is not quite the same as murder and therefore within the purview of the Universal House of Justice to legislate on it, at a future date, if it so decides. At present, Baháʼís are encouraged to decide based on their own conscience in light of general guidance found in Baháʼí writings and medical advice.
Buddhism
There is no single Buddhist view concerning abortion. Some traditional sources, including some Buddhist monastic codes, hold that life begins at conception, and that abortion, which would then involve the deliberate destruction of life, should be rejected. Complicating the issue is the Buddhist belief that "life is a continuum with no discernible starting point". Among Buddhists, there is no official or preferred viewpoint regarding abortion. The Dalai Lama has said that abortion is "negative", but there are exceptions. He said, "I think abortion should be approved or disapproved according to each circumstance." Inducing or otherwise causing an abortion is regarded as a serious matter in the monastic rules followed by both Theravada and Vajrayana monks; monks and nuns must be expelled for assisting a woman in procuring an abortion. Traditional sources do not recognize a distinction between early- and late-term abortion, but in Sri Lanka and Thailand the "moral stigma" associated with an abortion grows with the development of the foetus. While traditional sources do not seem to be aware of the possibility of abortion as relevant to the health of the mother, modern Buddhist teachers from many traditions – and abortion laws in many Buddhist countries – recognize a threat to the life or physical health of the mother as an acceptable justification for abortion as a practical matter, though it may still be seen as a deed with negative moral or karmic consequences.
Christianity
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