The danger of abortion to the mother's health

Fatwa no. 20532 All praise be to Allah Alone, and peace and blessings be upon the final Prophet.The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta' has reviewed the letter addressed to the Grand Mufty from the manager of the Armed Forces Hospital in Riyadh and Al-Kharj, The head of the Hospital attached a medical report of a married woman to be reviewed. The report shows that she is in her fifth month of pregnancy, that the fetus is deformed and that pregnancy endangers her life. The report states:This woman is in her fifth month of pregnancy, and she is now 140 days pregnant. The sonar examination has showed that the fetus suffers from deformations. It had no skull and no (Part No. 21; Page No. 452) brain tissue (which denotes that the skull and brain are missing). Please clarify the Islamic ruling on having an abortion, since it seems impossible for the fetus to survive after delivery. There is no operation that can save its life. Bear in mind that if the woman reaches her ninth month of pregnancy, the delivery may be very hard and doctors may surgically interfere to deliver the fetus, which may endanger the woman's life.

After the Committee reviewed the Fatwa request, it gave the following answer: If the case is as you mentioned that this pregnancy may endanger the woman's life, there is no harm in aborting the fetus to protect the mother and save her from harm. However, if abortion is due to the fetus's deformation, it is not permissible.May Allah grant us success. May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and Companions.