Abortion
An abortion is the removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus from the uterus, resulting in or caused by its death. The spontaneous expulsion of a fetus or embryo before the 20th week is commonly known as a miscarriage Sikhs believe that life begins and conception and that life is the creative work of God. Therefore, in principle at least, the Sikh religion takes a very strong position against abortion as a sin. Despite this, abortion is common in the Sikh community in India; in fact, there are concerns about too many female fetuses being aborted, leading to too many male Sikhs. Clearly the theoretical anti-abortion stance of Sikhism is balanced by more practicality in real life.
Abortion is generally forbidden in Sikhism, as it interferes in the creative work of God - who created everything and is present in every being.
Most Sikhs accept that life begins at conception (one reference is found on page 74 of the Guru Granth Sahib).
So if conception has taken place, it would be a sin to destroy life and hence deliberate miscarriage or abortion is forbidden.
The Sikh code of conduct does not deal with abortion (or indeed many other bioethical issues).
Despite this theoretical viewpoint, abortion is not uncommon among the Sikh community in India, and there is concern that the practice of aborting female embryos because of a cultural preference for sons is growing.
What is the Sikh view on homosexuality? What is the Sikh view of abortion? What is the Sikh view on divorce? What is the Sikh view on abortion? What is the Sikh view on euthanasia? What is the Sikh view on contraception and birth control? The current Rehit Maryada does not contain any answers to any of these questions. Answers to such questions can be found in the Living Guru, Sri Guru Granth Sahib, but every Sikh currently has their own interpretations and views on these topics. It is precisely to avoid such a plurality of views and to foster Panthic uniformity as per the Sikh doctrine that we must rely on the Rehit Maryada to provide us with the answers.
