The karma of a sentient being exists in this intermediate state until, as a result of karmic affinity with its future parents, it enters the womb of the mother. According to the Sutra of the Womb, this affinity is expressed by the sentient being being drawn to a light from far away. Because of the pull of its karmic affinity with the parents, the sentient being is drawn to the mother's womb, without being aware of it. At the moment the egg is fertilized by a sperm cell, the light disappears, the sentient being enters the womb and the new life begins.

At this moment the sentient being carries the full karmic burden of its previous lives. So, though life appears to begin haphazardly, a child is born to a particular set of parents because of its karmic affinity with them. Because of this karmic bond, the mother has a responsibility to nourish and bring the sentient being to birth. Thus, regardless of the circumstances of conception, or whether or not the baby is wanted, the mother is karmically connected and related to the new being. When understood in this light, it is clear that a mother should bring her baby into the world and care for it.

There are unfortunate, even tragic circumstances surrounding many conceptions, such as rape and incest; but even here, mother and child are karmically linked. Society should respond with sympathy and compassion for mother and child, and help care for babies under these conditions.

From these principles alone, it should be clear that a correct view for Buddhists is that abortion at any time means killing a sentient being, because life is already present.