When is abortion legal?
Reasons for abortion
Some societies ban abortion almost completely while others permit it in certain cases.
Such societies usually lay down a maximum age after which the foetus must not be aborted, regardless of the circumstances.
At various times some of the following have been allowed in some societies:
- abortion for the sake of the mother's health
- including her mental health
- abortion where a pregnancy is the result of a crime
- such as crimes like rape, incest, or child abuse
- abortion where the child of the pregnancy would have an ' unacceptable quality of life' such as cases where the child would have
- serious physical handicaps,
- serious genetic problems,
- serious mental defects
- abortion for social reasons, including:
- poverty,
- mother unable to cope with a child (or another child),
- mother being too young to cope with a child
- abortion as a matter of government policy
- as a way of regulating population size
- as a way of regulating groups within a population
- as a way of improving the population
Most opponents of abortion agree that abortion for the sake of the mother's health can be morally acceptable if there is a real risk of serious damage to the mother.
Abortion for social reasons is usually least acceptable to opponents.