Cover image depicts a graveyard for aborted babies in Vietnam
Yesterday on The Project there was a story on the topic of abortion, in relation to the Irish referendum*, and they showed the story of an Irish mum who was forced to travel to the UK to abort her baby. The doctors decided that the baby was severely deformed since it was missing part of it’s skull and that it would most likely die shortly after birth. There are two issues here:
1) The right to abortion
Many claim to be fighting for ethics nowadays, however these same people are trying to justify one of the most unethical actions, namely killing, and trying to reframe the situation as being one of human rights. Abortion is killing. Every abortion is ending the life of a living being. No one can deny this.
The argument comes up that it is the woman’s body and it is her right to do what she wants. This idea seems logical at first but in fact, it underpins the idea that individual interest overrides morality. Even if she ‘owns’ her body, she certainly cannot claim to own the body of another human being even if it was her own child that was created inside her. It is also in direct contradiction to Islamic philosophy where the body (as well as our health, wealth etc.) is seen as a trust from God. We cannot choose when we die, when we are born, what ethnicity or appearance we have or what illnesses afflict us – what kind of ownership is that? God is the true owner of all things so we must obey His commands in all spheres of our life.
In an age where people claim that we need to ask for consent from babies to change their nappies**, it is shocking that we can proceed to end that baby’s life with no ‘consent’ whatsoever. Vegans argue that every animal feels pain and suffering and does not want to be killed and they use this as an argument for the immorality of killing animals. So why then are these same groups claiming that abortion is a right? Does this unborn baby want to die? Is this not ‘baby cruelty’?
It is generally impermissible in Islam to abort a baby since it is considered a human being that deserves to live even before it is fully formed. However, Islam is a religion which recognises the complexity of life and that there are rare circumstances where the mother’s life is put in danger and only in such cases would abortion be allowed. This is based on the Quranic rule: “and [Allah] has imposed no difficulties on you in religion” (22:78). It is absolutely impermissible to abort a baby that is determined to be deformed or disabled in any way or if the mother thinks she cannot look after it.
2) The valuing of life based on disability
Severe disability or deformity is not a valid reason to end a life. Firstly, If the baby is so deformed that it would die anyway, why not let it die naturally? Why must it be killed by the very person who is supposed to love it unconditionally? Doctors misdiagnose things all the time so why kill it when there may be a chance, no matter how small, that the diagnosis is wrong? Further, what kind of moral basis is this, that we decide if a being has the right to live based on it’s physical imperfections? Why then do we not exterminate the elderly, disabled, mentally ill? This implies that severely disabled people deserve to die, for an unborn baby is a person too.
It is important to note however that this issue should not be blamed on the mothers only – this is a societal problem. Our societies are plagued with injustices and issues and this can put these mothers in difficult situations that lead them to ending the life of their unborn child. This is a huge, complex problem, but abortion is certainly not the solution. We need to analyse the reasons mothers seek abortion and find out ways of addressing them. Of course, every child has a father and it is important that they be held to account also.
The least we can do is honour the unborn babies, as Vietnamese man Tong Phuoc Phu*** did. Aborted babies are treated as medical waste and he decided to give them a dignified burial. He also offers to look after the babies of women who believe they cannot look after them and encourages the mothers to come back whenever they are ready to take back their child. Instead of focusing on denying these children their lives, why don’t we focus on providing similar services?
Tong Phuoc Phu preparing an aborted baby for burial
These beautiful children below are the lucky ones. They would have never gotten a chance at life but would have ended up as medical waste if Tong Phuoc Phu didn’t take them in.
Tong Phuoc Phu with the children he rescued from abortion
It truly is a great loss and injustice as Allah (swt) says in Surat Al-In’am aya 140:
قَدْ خَسِرَ الَّذِينَ قَتَلُوا أَوْلَادَهُمْ سَفَهًا بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ وَحَرَّمُوا مَا رَزَقَهُمُ اللَّهُ افْتِرَاءً عَلَى اللَّهِ ۚ قَدْ ضَلُّوا وَمَا كَانُوا مُهْتَدِينَ – 6:140
Those will have lost who killed their children in foolishness without knowledge and prohibited what Allah had provided for them, inventing untruth about Allah . They have gone astray and were not [rightly] guided.
* Ireland voted to change the 8th amendment that gave an unborn child the right to life, which prohibited abortion. The yes vote won to change it and allow abortion.
**See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaCS-QErpT8
***Tong Phuoc Phu story from: http://goodyfeed.com/amazing-story-tong-phuoc-phu-will-restore-faith-humanity/
Originally posted on 28 May, 2018.
