The ruling on terminating a pregnancy for medical necessity
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The questioner:
She was pregnant and was struck by a severe fever, so she went to one of the doctors, and he said, “I will give you a treatment, but it will cause the fetus to be aborted. If you do not take this treatment, you will die.” At that point, she used the treatment, and as the doctor said, the fetus was aborted. So, is there any sin on me? May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. To proceed: It is not permissible for a woman to abort her pregnancy, which is called abortion. The prohibition becomes more emphatic once the soul has been breathed into it and it moves after four months, for aborting it at that point is the killing of a soul that is forbidden to be killed, and it is not permissible to kill it. Before that, it is also not permissible to abort the pregnancy except for a valid religious excuse. If there is a severe illness and she needs to abort it based on a report from the doctors, and it is before the soul is breathed into it, then there is no harm in that. As for after the soul has been breathed into it and it is alive, this, as we mentioned, is the killing of a soul, which is not permissible except in a case of extreme necessity where there is a fear of her death. If the questioner is truthful that the doctors—meaning it is not sufficient for just one doctor—require a decision from doctors or a medical committee that gathers and agrees that the continued presence of this fetus in this woman will lead to her death and cause her death, then this is a confirmed harm, or one that is likely to occur. In this case, it is permissible for her to abort the fetus, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)Sunan Ibn Majah 2340Da'if (Darussalam) and the saying of Allah the Exalted [Al-Baqarah 2:195]. In this case of necessity, it is permissible, but it is necessary that a medical committee or a specialized medical board decides that the continued presence of this fetus will cause the death of this woman. At that point, it is permissible to abort it. However, if the abortion is for the sake of getting rid of it, or if it is for a suspected matter, or based on the report of only one doctor, then this is absolutely not permissible after the soul has been breathed into it. Yes.
The questioner:
May Allah reward you with good. So, what is required of her now that she has done this, Shaykh Salih, if you would be so kind?
The Shaykh:
If it is as we mentioned, that it was a case of necessity or a report from a trusted medical committee or board, then there is no blame on her for that. However, if it was without a report from a trusted medical committee and the soul had already been breathed into it, then she has nothing on her except sincere repentance to Allah, the Exalted and Majestic. She also has to pay the blood money (diyah) for the fetus if the heirs of the fetus demand it. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you with good, and may He do you good.
She was pregnant and was struck by a severe fever, so she went to one of the doctors, and he said, “I will give you a treatment, but it will cause the fetus to be aborted. If you do not take this treatment, you will die.” At that point, she used the treatment, and as the doctor said, the fetus was aborted. So, is there any sin on me? May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. To proceed: It is not permissible for a woman to abort her pregnancy, which is called abortion. The prohibition becomes more emphatic once the soul has been breathed into it and it moves after four months, for aborting it at that point is the killing of a soul that is forbidden to be killed, and it is not permissible to kill it. Before that, it is also not permissible to abort the pregnancy except for a valid religious excuse. If there is a severe illness and she needs to abort it based on a report from the doctors, and it is before the soul is breathed into it, then there is no harm in that. As for after the soul has been breathed into it and it is alive, this, as we mentioned, is the killing of a soul, which is not permissible except in a case of extreme necessity where there is a fear of her death. If the questioner is truthful that the doctors—meaning it is not sufficient for just one doctor—require a decision from doctors or a medical committee that gathers and agrees that the continued presence of this fetus in this woman will lead to her death and cause her death, then this is a confirmed harm, or one that is likely to occur. In this case, it is permissible for her to abort the fetus, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)
It was narrated from 'Ubadah bin Samit that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) ruled: “There should be neither harming nor reciprocating harm.”
لا ضرر ولا ضرار،and do not throw [yourselves] with your [own] hands into destruction [by refraining]
وَلَا تُلْقُوا بِأَيْدِيكُمْ إِلَى التَّهْلُكَةِThe questioner:
May Allah reward you with good. So, what is required of her now that she has done this, Shaykh Salih, if you would be so kind?
The Shaykh:
If it is as we mentioned, that it was a case of necessity or a report from a trusted medical committee or board, then there is no blame on her for that. However, if it was without a report from a trusted medical committee and the soul had already been breathed into it, then she has nothing on her except sincere repentance to Allah, the Exalted and Majestic. She also has to pay the blood money (diyah) for the fetus if the heirs of the fetus demand it. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you with good, and may He do you good.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، امرأة حامل قال لها الطبيب إن لم تأخذي العلاج فسوف تهلكين علما أن العلاج يسبب إسقاط الجنين فأخذته...؟ — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.