Are non-Jews permitted to have abortions? (Consider the gemara in Sanhedrin 57b where "a baraita brings in the name of Rabbi Yishmael that a Ben Noach gets capital punishment if he intentionally causes an abortion, which he derives from a pasuk. Rashi takes the simple understanding of the gemara that this prohibition applies only to a non-Jew, whereas for a Jew the prohibition of murder only applies to a baby once he/she is born.")
Edited in response to msh210's comment: I'd be interested in knowing both whether non-Jews may have abortions and, perhaps more interestingly, whether they may perform them (see the source above). Would there be any special considerations for a non-Jew performing an abortion on a Jew?
Answer
Are non-Jews permitted to have abortions? According to Sefer Sheva Mitzvot Hashem only if a noahide woman is in risk of dying in childbirth (due to her fetus). The base for this is Rambam in Rotseach u'Shmirat Nefesh, Perek alef Halacha 9 which reads:
לפיכך הורו חכמים שהעוברה שהיא מקשה לילד--מותר לחתוך העובר במעיה, בין בסם בין ביד: מפני שהוא כרודף אחריה להורגה. ואם משהוציא ראשו, אין נוגעין בו, שאין דוחין נפש מפני נפש, וזה הוא טבעו של עולם.
Regarding if they are permited to perform abortions, again, only if the main intention is to save the mother (because it is as if the fetus is persuing her to kill her).
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