Issues > Abortion - part II

 

Abortion - part II

The fetus's deformity does not justify abortion

Many people may suffer from the problem of the fetus's deformity. In Islam, it is prohibited in general to abort the deformed fetus; otherwise, it would be permissible for us to kill deformed persons. And if we are going to kill deformed people or fetuses, why do we then establish hospitals and sanatoriums for deformed people? Moreover, if it is permissible to kill the deformed fetus, why is it prohibited to kill him when he is growing up? Both, the deformed fetus and the deformed person represent a problem in people's views. Then, why do not we think that medicine may become more advanced and help in a way or another in treating this deformity.

Moreover, undergoing abortion because the woman was exposed to a radioactive material and that the fetus may have been deformed is impermissible. That is because "abortion is permissible only if the pregnant woman is in danger and not if the fetus is deformed".

Regarding the opinion that says that medicine can make a precise diagnosis that can discover deformed fetuses who would not live, such as discovering some fetuses who do not have skulls, we consider that "this issue may be related to the moral aspect that has to do with life. Is the creature's life considered an ordinary issue that is subjected to material elements? Which means that a creature will be born and I do not want him to make me tired, so I kill him?! Moreover, I believe that some cases are not impossible to be treated because medicine has made progress in these domains. Therefore, why do not we give him a chance to live? And as we said, if we supposed that the issue is that the deformed child will make us tired, so, why do we support and provide for the elderly and handicapped and the like? And why do those who suffer from incurable diseases live and feel pain? This issue is a matter of principle."

On the other hand, there is no extraordinary one hundred percent diagnosis because there might be an error in the machine and the diagnosis might be wrong. Therefore, we can not give a decisive ruling for killing every fetus that is diagnosed as deformed. Besides, some persons might be wrongly diagnosed as deformed and then we discover that the diagnosis was wrong. I had a personal experience in this respect; my wife was pregnant and sick and doctors said that the baby will absolutely be deformed, but in the end he was one of my most beautiful children. Consequently, general laws could not be comprehensive.

They may not apply on 30 percent of the cases. And the thirty percent could be raised in many cases to seventy percent. Therefore, we have to accept the negativities in our life so that the general law that protects the positivities is applied.