How may different religions broach the ethical issue of abortion?

While it may be suggested that there is a wide range of views different religions take on the ethical issue of abortion, there too may be much scope within one type or denomination of any given faith. Take Christianity for example; the 6th commandment states 'do not kill' yet today the church generally sees abortion as the lesser of two evils in cases where a mothers life may be at risk for example. Bertrand Hoose proposes what he terms 'proportionalism' which suggests that the natural moral law is not an uncompromising set of moral rules but instead guidelines by which we should consider the best way to act. Other Christian's (perhaps Evangelicals) may suggest that Jesus' teachings on Agape or love may too permit abortion in cases where the termination may be the most loving thing to do -for example if the mother would not be able to afford to care for the child or if there was an ectopic pregnancy. These views may be considered utilitarian in that they are consequentialist, weighing up the outcomes of the action rather than the action itself. Specifically we may call this a 'strong-rule utilitarianism' as it may see that allowing abortions on demand until birth may cause more pain than pleasure yet in cases such as rape the termination would appear to produce more pleasure than pain. In contrast then, Catholicism still holds a strong anti-abortion stance. In 1965 the Second Vatican Council stated that ' abortion and infanticide are abominable crimes' due to the fact that the killing of the young goes against the Natural Law dictated and instilled within us by God. Natural Law Theory (proposed by Thomas Aquinas) states that there are 'Primary Precepts' or laws given by God to humans which can be understood by the universal human nature. One of these is to preserve life - something which that act of abortion goes against and thus to break this primary precept is to go against the will of God and the sanctity of life. It can be seen then that there are many ways a religious believer may address the ethical issue of abortion, while this answer has only covered Christian beliefs it has shown that there is a vast range of stances on the issue and that even within smaller denominations there can be friction on the issue.