383 ABORTION

YOUCAT Lesson 383, May 30, 2015

YOUCAT the catechism for Catholic youth

383  Why is abortion unacceptable at any phase in the development of an embryo?

God-given human life is God’s own property; it is sacred from the first moment of its existence and not under the control of any human being.  “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you” (Jeremiah 1:5).  [2270-2274, 2322]

Hawaiian ”Mother and Child”, by Charles W Bartlett, painted about 1920. ….. 383

God alone is Lord over life and death.  Not even “my” life belongs to me.  Every child, from the moment of conception on, has a right to life.  From his earliest beginnings an unborn human being is a separate person, and no one can infringe upon his rights, not the State, not the doctor, and not even the mother.  The Church’s clarity about this is not a lack of compassion; she means, rather, to point out the irreparable harm that is inflicted on the child who is killed in abortion and on his parents and on society as a whole.  Protecting innocent human life is one of the noblest tasks of the State.  If a State evades this responsibility, it undermines the foundations of a rule of law.  323

“God, give us the courage to protect every unborn life.  For the child is God’s greatest gift for the family, for a nation, and for the world.”  Bl. Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997), upon receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979

“If a human being is no longer safe in his mother’s womb, where in the world can he be safe?”  Phil Bosmans (b. 1922, Belgian priest and writer)

[2270-2274, 2322]

Abortion

2270 Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person - among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life. (Compare Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Donum vitae I,1.)⁷² --Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

 Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you. (Jeremiah 1:5; compare Job 10:8-12; Psalm 22:10-11.)⁷³ --CCC

 My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately wrought in the depths of the earth. (Psalm 139:15.)⁷⁴ --CCC

2271 Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law: --CCC

You shall not kill the embryo by abortion and shall not cause the newborn to perish. (Didache 2,2:SCh 248,148; cf. Ep. Barnabae 19,5:PG 2 777; Ad Diognetum 5,6:PG 2,1173; Tertullian, Apol. 9:PL 1,319-320.)⁷⁵ –CCC

God, the Lord of life, has entrusted to men the noble mission of safeguarding life, and men must carry it out in a manner worthy of themselves. Life must be protected with the utmost care from the moment of conception: abortion and infanticide are abominable crimes. (Gaudium et Spes 51 § 3.)⁷⁶ –CCC

2272 Formal cooperation in an abortion constitutes a grave offense. The Church attaches the canonical penalty of excommunication to this crime against human life. "A person who procures a completed abortion incurs excommunication latae sententiae," (Codex Iuris Canonici, can. 1398.)⁷⁷ "by the very commission of the offense," (Codex Iuris Canonici, can. 1314.)⁷⁸ and subject to the conditions provided by Canon Law. (Compare Codex Iuris Canonici, cann. 1323-1324.)⁷⁹ The Church does not thereby intend to restrict the scope of mercy. Rather, she makes clear the gravity of the crime committed, the irreparable harm done to the innocent who is put to death, as well as to the parents and the whole of society. –CCC

2273 The inalienable right to life of every innocent human individual is a constitutive element of a civil society and its legislation: --CCC

"The inalienable rights of the person must be recognized and respected by civil society and the political authority. These human rights depend neither on single individuals nor on parents; nor do they represent a concession made by society and the state; they belong to human nature and are inherent in the person by virtue of the creative act from which the person took his origin. Among such fundamental rights one should mention in this regard every human being's right to life and physical integrity from the moment of conception until death." (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith,  Donum vitae III.)⁸⁰ –CCC

"The moment a positive law deprives a category of human beings of the protection which civil legislation ought to accord them, the state is denying the equality of all before the law. When the state does not place its power at the service of the rights of each citizen, and in particular of the more vulnerable, the very foundations of a state based on law are undermined. . . . As a consequence of the respect and protection which must be ensured for the unborn child from the moment of conception, the law must provide appropriate penal sanctions for every deliberate violation of the child's rights." (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Donum vitae III.)⁸¹ –CCC

2274 Since it must be treated from conception as a person, the embryo must be defended in its integrity, cared for, and healed, as far as possible, like any other human being. –CCC

Prenatal diagnosis is morally licit, "if it respects the life and integrity of the embryo and the human fetus and is directed toward its safe guarding or healing as an individual. . . . It is gravely opposed to the moral law when this is done with the thought of possibly inducing an abortion, depending upon the results: a diagnosis must not be the equivalent of a death sentence." (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Donum vitae 1, 2.)⁸² –CCC

  

IN BRIEF

 2322 From its conception, the child has the right to life. Direct abortion, that is, abortion willed as an end or as a means, is a "criminal" practice (Gaudium et Spes 27 § 3), gravely contrary to the moral law. The Church imposes the canonical penalty of excommunication for this crime against human life. --CCC