In recent times, medical scientists have developed a pill, called “morning-after pill”. Well, technically its called “morning-after”, but I think a woman can take it within three days after having sexual intercourse and this pill will stop pregnancy (either will stop fertilization or will terminate a fertilized egg).
There is a lot of debate about status of abortion in Islam. There are more debates on the issue of using contraceptives.
This thread is to get your views on these questions. I am not looking from scholarly responses copied from other sites… rather I am more interested in the views of the members of Gupshup. Please respond to the following two questions, using your own views. Thanks
Do you think morning-after pill should be made available to victims of rape? Why? Why not?
Do you think morning-after pills should be made easily available to all women? Why? Why not?
my personal opinion is it is perfectly all right to have an abortion before the soul has been breathed in to it but it is wrong to abort it after that.
Thanks MQ & MS -- Are there any Quranic verses that provide guidelines?
I'm okay with abortions in cases of rape or when a mother's life is injured. But what PK Taz says makes sense. Is it alive before the soul is breathed into it? If not, then the morning after pill is not problematic Islamically and could be made available regularly. However, the pill is very strong and excessive use is probably dangerous, so perhaps it needs to be administered with guidelines.
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*Originally posted by Sahar02: *
Thanks MQ & MS -- Are there any Quranic verses that provide guidelines?
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There are no Quranic verses that indicate when the sould enters a foetus. As mentioned, the figure of 120 days is most commonly accepted, from the following hadith
"Indeed, the creation of each one of you is brought together in the mother's belly for 40 days in the form of a drop of sperm, then he is a germ-cell for a like period, then an embryonic lump for a like period, then there is sent to him the angel who blows the breath of life into him* and who is commanded about four matters: to write down his means of livelihood, his life span, his actions and whether happy or unhappy.
By Allah, other than whom there is no God, one of you may behave like the people of paradise until there is but an arm's length between him and it, and that which has been written overtakes him and so he behaves like the people of hell fire and thus he enters it; and one of you behaves like the people of hell fire until there is but an arm's length between him and it, and that which has been written overtakes him and so he behaves like the people of paradise and thus he enters it." (Related by Al Bukhari & Muslim.)*
Well, remember that there are atleast five different views on the topic of contraceptive and abortion, depending on how you interpret the ayat ("And do not kill your children for fear of poverty" 17:31).
1. Some hold the view that all forms of contraceptives are prohibited and it is Allah who is responsible for fertilization and sustenance of all human beings, and so no attempt should be made to control birth. A sperm is considered the same as a child and it should not be wasted at all. (The most strict interpretation)
Some others hold the view that as long as the egg is not fertilized, it is ok to stop the sperm from getting there (contraceptives are permissible), but once it is fertilized, no interference should be made in the process from that point on.
Another view is that contraceptives are permissible, and abortion is only permissible when mother's health is in danger.
A fourth view is that abortion is permissible, in case of rape or when mother's health is in danger.
*]And I guess the last view would be that the pregnancy can be aborted for any reason before a certain point in pregnancy (40 days or 120 days) is over.
The question of morning-after pill, therefore, lies somewhere in these different view points.
before the soul has been breathed into it, it is just a bunch of cells, this is only my opinion and i’ve not consulted with a scholar or anything.
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some hold the view that all forms of contraceptives are prohibited and it is allah who is responsible for fertilization and sustenance of all human beings, and so no attempt should be made to control birth.
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the sahaabah (raziallaahoanhum) use to practice birth control by pulling out just before cumming, if birth control had been forbidden then allah would have revealed something concerning it. of course it is forbidden if its out of fear of poverty because ar-razzaaq is the one who provides rizq for his creation.
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a sperm is considered the same as a child and it should not be wasted at all. (the most strict interpretation)
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this can’t be islamic millions of sperms are ‘wasted’ anyway only one fertilises the egg, plus allah mian has made us so that if we don’t have any action for a while our bodies will get rid of the old sperms through wet dreams.
although scholars insist that birth-control is not allowed, i have the same thoughts as pktaz has mentioned above....
about rape victims, i think the child shud be aborted....
i still havent received a firm answer on the exact status of a raped woman and the child born due to a rape, hence i think the process shud be aborted before the child takes form....
some women get pregnant, but then due to carelessness have the child/egg wated in the first couple of weeks....
that is not taken seriously so why shud the pills be....
This issue has wide spread implications eg in term of concept, biology, psychology, sociology, economics, political set up etc etc.
For example, biologically all human sperms or ova do not end up into individuals, for nature does not work like that. Even firtilised eggs do not necessarily end up into individuals for various reasons. Therefore destruction of some of these is as good as of others. Food chain and reproduction are very closely linked ie poverty and population control. To deny the obvious is not a sensible step.
Psychologically, it depends on social ethics as to how people look at the raped woman and her to be child in their society. Moreover, things are decided on the basis of economic set up as well as personal ability of the person involved to cope with the situation. If a person can only raise one child, having a dozen will certainly raise problems of all sorts.
Thus issue raised here is a very complex one and cannot be explained in a few sentences, for each of its aspects needs to be discused in a great detail to drive the point home.
From religious point of view, it is not fault of the yet to be born baby if its father has raped its mother. Likewise, there is nothing wrong if one is poor and cannot even raise a child due to that leaving other implications aside.
This is why reality check is necessary so that life remains practically possible for the living. It is precisely the reason religion cannot be taken as guide under all circumstances and situations, for there are times when religion is as confusing as the people themselves if not more. It is just as wrong to be blinded by science as by religion when it comes practicalities of living one's daily life.
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ofcourse not…
any event that does not have 4 witnesses, according to the laws of stupidity founded by the critics of Islam, did not really happen…
so even u r one of them, then no it did not really happen…
and if, otherwise u r a sensible person, u wud not really need an aswer to this question…
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*Originally posted by pk taz: *
the sahaabah (raziallaahoanhum) use to practice birth control by pulling out just before cumming
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Well if he practiced pulling out before climax. Goodness, that sucks. Secondly, pre-semenal fluid that reduces the pH level of the area also contains sperm. Not much of a precaution there now, is it?
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no one claimed it to be the most efficient method, or even very efficient....
after all pills, condoms, etc etc r also not that efficient....
as they say "accidents still happen"....
Well if he practiced pulling out before climax. Goodness, that sucks. Secondly, pre-semenal fluid that reduces the pH level of the area also contains sperm. Not much of a precaution there now, is it?
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its the best they could do in those days.
getting pregnant with precum is a bit far fetched, i'm not saying it doesn't happen but its not very likely, besides some men dont have it.
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*Originally posted by armughal: *
some women get pregnant, but then due to carelessness have the child/egg wated in the first couple of weeks....
that is not taken seriously so why shud the pills be....
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Not sure where this discussion is leading, but there is definitely a big difference between an involuntary miscarriage/still-born and deliberate abortion.
Anyway, its not certain if all people who responded in this thread actually gave their answers to the questions posed in the first post.
One argument that is frequently used to oppose easy availability of contraceptives is that it promotes promiscuity. Making morning-after pill widely available may make people more reckless about sexual encounters (consensual and forced). On the other hand, if you only allow the pill to rape victims, you are assuming that this will be administered in a secure environment, presumably after the victim has lodged a police report or something. Looking at Pakistan's social environment, wouldn't it kinda sabotage the whole concept of having a morning-after pill?
