What are the spiritual ramifications of abortion? Is abortion murder? Is it a sin? Does a woman acquire negative karma when she terminates her pregnancy? Does the father who agrees to an abortion suffer any negative karma? Do souls choose to be aborted? What happens to souls when they are aborted? These are all great questions that I have received in the last few months. I know abortion is a heated issue but let’s view this from a spiritual perspective.
First a soul decides it wants to incarnate. It selects its parents and life circumstances. When the egg is fertilized a contract has been made; an agreement between the new soul and the parents. The baby’s soul does not immediately enter into the fetus, however that doesn’t mean that life does not begin at conception. I would say rather that intent begins at conception. The contract begins at conception. Life mazes are created, events are planned, a journey is begun, a commitment is made.
When does the soul enter the fetus? My understanding, as it has been explained to me by my spirit guides, is that the soul does not fully engage its new body right away. Rather, it comes and goes freely while the mother’s body is growing its “shell.” It appears, however, that during the last trimester the baby’s soul will spend most of its time in the womb and hardly any time in the ether. So somewhere in the second trimester the baby is getting ready to settle in for good. This is an important stage for the baby as it has to accustom itself to physical life and bond with its mother in a physical and spiritual way.
Miscarriage is not an abortion, as I’m sure everyone knows, but I want to mention that when a miscarriage happens it is often the conscious choice of the baby’s soul who may decide for a wide variety of reasons not to incarnate. Perhaps its parents’ life circumstances have changed and it can see it won’t be in the same position it expected to be in when it incarnates. Or perhaps conditions elsewhere in the baby’s maze have changed (for example, a key player in their future dies unexpectedly) and the baby decides the time is not right for it to incarnate. Sometimes the mother or father’s higher self determines that having a baby at that time would not be right and arranges with the baby’s soul to step out of the incarnation process and seek other parents or wait until the timing is better. But don’t fret when you have a miscarriage. The baby’s soul is still very much intact and safe.
Now, let’s get back to the baby in the womb. There are so many reasons that a woman could choose to have an abortion, I couldn’t possibly cover them all. But I’ll mention a few of the more obvious reasons:
- Her circumstances have changed and she decides having the baby would be a bad idea (i.e. money problems, a promotion at work, imminent divorce from the baby’s father, etc.)
- She was the victim of rape or incest and does not want to have the child.
- She is getting pressure from the baby’s father or even her family and friends to have the abortion.
- She doesn’t practice safe sex, knew she could end up pregnant, and decided in advance to abort any baby that resulted from her encounters.
- She receives information from a doctor that the baby has a serious birth defect and knows the baby’s quality of life will be poor or its condition fatal.
- She is carrying multiples and the lives of all of the babies are in jeopardy and must selectively abort one or more of them for the sake of the others.
- Her own life would be in danger if she had the child (i.e. delaying cancer treatment).
As you can see, there are many reasons a woman could decide to abort her baby, certainly more than I’ve listed. But the universe only cares about intent and asks the question: Is it a loving decision? Is there love here? Or is there fear and irresponsibility? The woman who makes the painful decision to abort a child with a known life-threatening defect is not in the same situation – spiritually or karmically – as the irresponsible woman who sees abortion as birth control. In the first case, there is love. In the second case there is irresponsibility.
So what happens to someone who chooses to end their baby’s life before birth? We do not judge them. They will judge themselves when they return to the ether, or perhaps even while they are still in this incarnation. The person who acts irresponsibly will reap some very intense karma because to end the life of a child with whom you have made a spiritual contract does not come without consequences. The person who acts with love will be forgiven. In the case of abortion the why is so very important.
A soul that has had its body aborted will return safe and intact to the ether. There it will decide whether it should try again or wait for another opportunity or other parents.
Is abortion a sin? Sin implies being judged by someone else, some kind of religious standard. Truthfully, though, you will judge yourself and your conscience will be your jury.
Is abortion murder? In the case of the woman who uses abortion as birth control, I would say yes and I would warn any such woman that she will be suffering the consequences of her actions in a pretty serious way. In the case of a woman who was raped and wants an abortion, then no. In the case of the couple who has to selectively abort a fetus so that another can live, I would say no.
But instead of arguing about whether a woman should have a choice or whether abortion is murder, what we really need to be focusing on in our society is prevention of unwanted pregnancies so the question of pro-choice and pro-life does not need addressing. That means educating young men and women about fertility so they can avoid unplanned pregnancies. It means removing the concept of rape from our society. It means coming up with fertility treatments that don’t result in the need for selective abortions. It means assisting young mothers who cannot take care of their babies so they don’t feel that abortion is their only option.
The bottom line here is that abortion is an act of free will on the part of the incarnated person. It is allowed, but it comes with serious consequences and should never ever be decided upon lightly. Breaking a spiritual contract with another soul has serious repercussions. Think very carefully before you do it or encourage someone else to do it. Just as I wrote in my article, The Spiritual Consequences of Suicide, choosing to prematurely end the life of another makes you partially responsible for everything that soul was going to accomplish in this life. It’s a heavy price to pay, and a huge burden to carry. Be sure you’re willing to accept the consequences before you act.
