The Right to Abortion for Women from the Islamic Ethics Point of View

The purpose of the current research was to investigate the right to abortion for women in Islamic ethics. The research universe included all written texts and references of Islamic ethics. The research sample subsumed the subjects related to abortion right for women in Islamic ethics texts. The research method was descriptive-analytical. The data was analyzed via content analysis procedure. The results showed that there were two main arguments about voluntary abortion among non-Muslim thinkers. One argument was the mother's ownership of her own body for abortion, and the other was the fetus's individual identity. According to the perspective of Islamic ethics regarding abortion, it was found that the argument that the mother owns her own body for abortion would be correct to some extent; This meant that the mother could have an abortion if she might be harmed in some cases. Also, the criterion of fetus's individual identity would be generally accepted from the Islamic ethics point of view and in this context, the Holy Law put forward a basis that would be the final words and in fact, a proof of narration and devotion. From this point of view, a fetus before four months would be not considered a living creature. This view regarding the individual identity of the fetus could be called Islamic fetus's individual identity, which would be different from what scientists of experimental sciences discussed. According to Islamic teachings, willing and voluntary abortion that leads to the death of the fetus would be not legitimate unless the mother's life would be in danger or the spirit had not been blown into the fetus and its existence had an unusual and considerable harm to the mother.