What should be done when during pregnancy the life of the mother is under threat and doctors recommend abortion?

From: Utkarsh Parekh

I have a dilemma, my sister in london is in her 3 trimester of pregnancy, her water has broken. part of the foetus membrane has also come out. She is under observation and undergoing complete bed rest.

Doctors have advised after check up to abort the child (MTP) they say that child growth will be abnormal. Keeping child would entail risk to life of mother & also the foetus, since they are unsure of its growth.

Transcript

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Question from Utkarsh Parekh Prabhu. I have a dilemma.
My sister in London is in her three trimester of pregnancy. Her water has broken. Part of the fetus membrane has also come out.
She is under observation and undergoing complete bed rest. Doctors have advised after check-up to abort the child MTP. They said the child growth would be abnormal.
Keeping child would entail risk to life of mother and also the fetus, since they are unsure of its growth. Is it not sin to commit MTP? What to do in such a case? Answer. These are difficult situations where our intelligence, our integrity and our faith are all tested.
So, as you rightly pointed out, medical termination of pregnancy involves killing the fetus, which is actually not just a tissue of flesh, but which is a real life child, a potential human being. Abortion, which has been legalized all over the world today, unfortunately overlooks the fact that the fetus is actually a human being. Genetically, it is a human being.
It has all the genes which human beings have. It has all the potentiality to become a human being. And one moment after birth, it is a human being.
Why not one moment before? So, it’s definitely in that sense abortion is wrong. However, there is the broad principle that if the mother’s life is in danger because of the pregnancy and for this, of course, one has to be careful to take multiple medical opinions. If the mother’s life is really in danger, then at that time in such circumstances, only in such circumstances, the abortion is acceptable.
Because the principle is that, just like in self-defense, normally we would never kill anyone. But if somebody attacks to kill, then while defending oneself, if one has to kill the attacking person, then that is allowed. So, the Vedic scriptures do not teach us to become devotees of non-violence.
We are trying to become devotees of Krishna. So, in a particular case, if the presence of the fetus is a threat for the life of the mother, then in that case, and in that case alone, medical termination of pregnancy is okay. At the same time, this should not be used as a license for allowing the termination of pregnancy or causing the termination of pregnancy for convenience purposes.
Certainly, the child is going to be born with some deformities, then taking care of the child is a greater challenge. But then we understand that is the way that we also become free from our past karma. So, that’s why it should not be done for the sake of avoiding discomfort or avoiding trouble.
However, there is a difference between avoiding discomfort and avoiding death. So, if there is a serious chance that there is a threat to the life of a person, of the mother during the pregnancy, then for the sake of the protection of the mother, the child can be aborted. So, here it is a matter of, as I said, it’s a difficult matter, but the broad principle is that for one’s own self-defense, one can sacrifice, one may have to do the needful, which may include also, if a murderer is coming to kill, to kill that person.
Of course, the child here is, we cannot call the child as a killer of the mother by any token, but circumstantially, medically, for whatever reasons, the child’s appearance is in the womb in such a way that it may cause the death of the mother. So, even if one decides not to do that in such a situation, then still there is a chance that, not only, still the mother may also risk her life and the child may also risk their life. Child may also not be able to live.
So, if that is the case, then better go for the lesser evil and protect the life of the mother. But this is not to be taken as a blanket license for abortion. Only in the specific situation where there is threat to the life of mother and where the threat is confirmed from multiple medical sources, reliable multiple medical sources, then radical termination is not considered sinful.
It is considered to be more like a necessary duty or necessary obligation, necessary circumstantial, unavoidable course of action, just as killing for self-defences. Thank you.