Latin America accounts for one third of world's homicides, life expectancy dropping

Latin America accounts for one third of world's homicides, life expectancy dropping in some countries: study. (Full title).

The rising number of people being murdered across Latin America and the Caribbean is so high that the life expectancy in some of those countries is dropping, a new study claims.

Unlike the rest of the world where homicide rates have generally dropped, statistics in some countries show that the murder rate has skyrocketed in recent years. So much so, that Latin America now accounts for about a third of the world’s homicides.

more than 2 million people aged 15-19 in Latin American and the Caribbean (LAC) between 2005 and 2015 – with young men accounting for most of those deaths. The two most populated countries – Mexico and Brazil – account for the highest number of homicides in absolute numbers, however in El Salvador and Honduras in 2015 had a staggering rate of 109 and 64 homicides per 100,000 people, respectively.

“In relative terms, the LAC region has been ranked as the most dangerous in the world

Honduran males are the hardest hit, losing six years of life expectancy due to homicides when compared to developed countries.

Yeah, unlike allegedly most of “us”, the slamics regard abortion as wrong.

That’s why I was curious about “countries’” (plural possessive) life expectancies were including abortions.

***

Muslims regard abortion as wrong and haram (forbidden), but many accept that it may be permitted in certain cases.

All schools of Muslim law accept that abortion is permitted if continuing the pregnancy would put the mother’s life in real danger. This is the only reason accepted for abortion after 120 days of the pregnancy.

Different schools of Muslim law hold different views on whether any other reasons for abortion are permitted, and at what stage of pregnancy if so.

Some schools of Muslim law permit abortion in the first 16 weeks of pregnancy, while others only permit it in the first 7 weeks.

However, even those scholars who would permit early abortion in certain cases still regard abortion as wrong, but do not regard it as a punishable wrong. The more advanced the pregnancy, the greater the wrong.

The Qur’an does not explicitly refer to abortion but offers guidance on related matters. Scholars accept that this guidance can properly be applied to abortion.

Sanctity of life
The Islamic view is based on the very high priority the faith gives to the sanctity of life. The Qur’an states:

Whosoever has spared the life of a soul, it is as though he has spared the life of all people. Whosoever has killed a soul, it is as though he has murdered all of mankind.

Qur’an 5:32

Most Muslim scholars would say that a foetus in the womb is recognised and protected by Islam as a human life.

Protection of the mother’s life
Islam allows abortion to save the life of the mother because it sees this as the ‘lesser of two evils’ and there is a general principle in Sharia (Muslim law) of choosing the lesser of two evils.

Abortion is regarded as a lesser evil in this case because:

the mother is the ‘originator’ of the foetus
the mother’s life is well-established
the mother has with duties and responsibilities
the mother is part of a family
allowing the mother to die would also kill the foetus in most cases
Providing for the child
The Qur’an makes it clear that a foetus must not be aborted because the family fear that they will not be able to provide for it - they should trust Allah to look after things:

Etc.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/islamethics/abortion_1.shtml

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.