I guess I'm wading into the waters a bit late but I will give my view anyway.

You could classify me as a religious person. There are a few people on the forum with whom I have discussed these issues already so they would already know that. To be more specific I am a Muslim.

As far as I understand Islam's position on abortion, it is the following. If a woman is to have an abortion or not depends on the circumstances. We all know that once an egg is fertilized it wil start to grow into a human. Since killing a human, no matter how old simply for existing is not allowed, the question is when exactly can we term this lump of cells to be alive? The time at which they zygote is said to have life is said to be either 40 or 42 days after fertilization (the number difference lies in the process of deriving Islamic laws, and you have to pick one number based upon what you think is the strongest derivation process). After this point, you cannot carry out an abortion. I am not sure but I think exceptions do exist, such as if the health (be it mental or physical) of the mother is seriously under threat (not one of those oh no I'm pregnant now what scenarios). There may be other exceptions but I am not sure. As for parents wanting to end the life of the unborn child due to fears of poverty, this is not allowed because there is a concept in Islam which states that your worldy provision or rizq in arabic is provided by Allah and that you would not die until you have received all of your rizq.

Before the 40 or 42 day period abortions are allowed in Islam and are considered to actually be a form of contraception, since you are not killing a live being.