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Can a Rape Victim Abort Fetus?

18 February, 2024
Q As-salamu `alaykum. Can a rape victim abort her fetus if she is not interested in having a child born out of rape?

Answer

Wa `alaykum as-salamu wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.


In this fatwa:

Some scholars are of the view that abortion is allowed in case of rape as long as it is done during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.

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In his response to your question, Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and an Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states:

Aborting a fetus in case of rape has been ruled as permissible in some cases by eminent Muslim scholars. However, abortion must be performed before the expiry of 12 weeks of pregnancy and not after. For it is at this point that soul is breathed into the fetus; therefore abortion afterwards is wholly forbidden unless it is done in order to save the mother’s life.

For more, see these fatwas:

Marital Rape: How Seen From an Islamic Perspective?

Can a Woman Commit Suicide If She Is About to be Raped?

A Man Raped His Daughter-in-Law: Any Punishment?

Forcing a Girl to Marry Her Rapist: What Does Shariah Say?

Allah Almighty knows best.