Abortion due to sicknesses

27 Feb 2018 Ref-No#: 439

Assalamu ‘alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatuhu Mufti Sahib,

Forwarding you a question on behalf of a sister:

“I’m a 50-years-old woman, my weight is 110 kg and I’ve three daughters who were born through caesarean section. My health condition is unstable (due to hypothyroidism and diabetes); I would like to know if in my condition is it permissible for me to resort to abortion as I remained pregnant “by mistake”.

Jazakallahu khayran,

Wassalam,

Answer

As Muslims, we believe that everything is decreed by Allah Ta’ala. If Allah Ta’ala willed that you get a child, there is nothing that will stop you from getting the child. There is no such thing as a ‘mistake.’ You should now be content with the decree Allah Ta’ala and make du’a to Allah Ta’ala that He makes things easy for the you and the rest of the family.

In spite of expecting an adverse effect on your physical well being, it would not be permissible to abort the baby. Even if the mother’s life is in danger, the baby’s life cannot be snuffed out to save the mother’s life. Likewise, even if it is expected that the baby will be affected in some way, then too it will not permissible to terminate the pregnancy. There are many instances where doctors assumed that the baby will not survive, but a healthy baby was born and there were no complications at all.

Since you are already pregnant, you should visit the doctor frequently to have your thyroid levels checked during the pregnancy so that the doctor can monitor your health and determine medication dosage.

Yes, if after this pregnancy you find that the difficulty that you had to endure as a pregnant mother was more than normal and it had a profound negative effect on your health, then you should seek medical advice from a Deeni-inclined Muslim doctor. If the doctor sincerely advises that you should practice some form of contraception then you should contact an Alim and discuss the reasons given by the doctor. He would advise accordingly.

Hadhrat Mufti Mahmood Hasan Sahib (may Allah be pleased with him) gave leeway for practicing temporary birth control measures, due to the hardships experienced by a woman during pregnancy. However, these should be temporary measures, to be utilized only until the woman regains her strength. [Fataawa Mahmudiyya, Vol. 5, Pg. 343, Vol. 6, Pg. 370].

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