My daughter and her husband have four children and are busy operating an orthodontic clinic in Florida, USA. They have just found out, to their distress, that my daughter is pregnant(by accident). They are considering an abortion. Please comment on moral and halachic grounds.

It is forbidden to have an abortion for economic or social reasons even early on in the pregnancy. The fetus, although not considered a fully living human being, is the beginning of a new life and is protected by the halacha (even were he considered just a limb of the mother, she would be forbidden to amputate an arm or a leg for social considerations). In Israel there are Jewish organizations that counsel parents and assist them so as to prevent abortions for other than medical reasons. I suggest you contact www.jewsforlife.org They might be able to refer you to counselors in the USA.