Some ‘random’ advice that came to mind to dissuade someone from having an abortion –
1. She shouldn’t kill as it’s her ‘mistake’ to conceive the child ‘accidentally’.
2. Why punish one’s own innocent child for one’s mistake?
3. All beings have been our parents in the past. How can we kill our own kindly mother or father?
4. There will certainly be much later guilt if the child is aborted. Might as well start to love the child now.
You can show her the Metta Sutta for inspiration, for nurturing loving-kindness,
(See www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/snp/snp.1.08.than.html) highlighting these verses:
1. ‘Do not do the slightest thing that the wise would later censure.’
2. ‘Whatever beings there may be, weak [e.g. her baby] or strong, without exception [e.g. including her baby], long, large, middling, short [e.g. her baby], subtle, blatant, seen & unseen [e.g. her baby], near [e.g. her baby] & far, born & seeking birth [e.g. her baby]: May all beings be happy at heart.’
3. Metta in the verse above is for herself too.
4. ‘Let no one deceive another or despise anyone anywhere [e.g. her baby], or through anger or irritation wish for another to suffer [e.g. her baby].’
5. ‘As a mother would risk her life to protect her child, her only child, even so should one cultivate a limitless heart with regard to all beings.’
You can also share with her that motherly love is the best example (other than the Buddha’s), for representing True Love. This can be read in the chapter Four Immeasurables at www.tinyurl.com/bealamp You can also let her know this if it’s appropriate, from ‘The Dharani Sutra of the Buddha on Longevity, the Extinction of Offences, and the Protection of Young Children’:
‘There are five kinds of evil karma which are difficult to extinguish, even if one were to repent of them. What are the five kinds of offences? The first one is killing the father, the second one is killing the mother, the third one is abortion, the fourth one is to injure The Buddha, the fifth one is to create disharmony among the Sangha assemblies [i.e. create division and schism]. These five types of evil and sinful karma are difficult to extinguish.”
If one is not ready to be a mother, one should still give birth if pregnant, and consider giving the child for adoption.