Editing Religion and abortion (section)

==Buddhism==
{{main|Buddhism and abortion}}
There is no single [[Buddhist]] view concerning abortion.<ref name="bbc">"[https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/buddhistethics/abortion.shtml Abortion: Buddhism]." ''BBC Religion & Ethics.'' Retrieved January 15, 2008.</ref> Some traditional sources, including some Buddhist monastic codes, hold that life begins at conception, and that abortion, which would then involve the deliberate destruction of life, should be rejected.<ref name="Harvey">Harvey, Peter. Introduction to Buddhist Ethics (2000). Cambridge University Press. pg. 311–20</ref> Complicating the issue is the Buddhist belief that "life is a continuum with no discernible starting point".<ref>[http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Buddhism-and-Abortion.html Buddhism and Abortion on Patheos] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100301172029/http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Buddhism-and-Abortion.html |date=2010-03-01 }}</ref> Among Buddhists, there is no official or preferred viewpoint regarding abortion.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/buddhistethics/abortion.shtml Buddhism and abortion on BBC Religions]</ref>

The [[14th Dalai Lama|Dalai Lama]] has said that abortion is "negative", but there are exceptions. He said, "I think abortion should be approved or disapproved according to each circumstance."<ref>{{cite news |author=Claudia Dreifus |author-link=Claudia Dreifus |work=New York Times |date=28 November 1993 |url=http://www.tibet.ca/en/newsroom/wtn/archive/old?y=1993&m=12&p=5_1 |title=New York Times Interview with the Dalai Lama |access-date=31 March 2009 |archive-date=25 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100525061331/http://www.tibet.ca/en/newsroom/wtn/archive/old?y=1993&m=12&p=5_1 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Inducing or otherwise causing an abortion is regarded as a serious matter in the monastic rules followed by both [[Theravada]] and [[Vajrayana]] monks; monks and nuns must be expelled for assisting a woman in procuring an abortion.<ref name="Harvey"/> Traditional sources do not recognize a distinction between early- and late-term abortion, but in Sri Lanka and Thailand the "moral stigma" associated with an abortion grows with the development of the foetus.<ref name="Harvey"/> While traditional sources do not seem to be aware of the possibility of abortion as relevant to the health of the mother, modern Buddhist teachers from many traditions&nbsp;– and abortion laws in many Buddhist countries&nbsp;– recognize a threat to the life or physical health of the mother as an acceptable justification for abortion as a practical matter, though it may still be seen as a deed with negative moral or karmic consequences.<ref name="Harvey"/>