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.72
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.73
My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately wrought in the depths of the earth.74
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:
You shall not kill the embryo by abortion and shall not cause the newborn to perish.75
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.76
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 late sentential,"77 "by the very commission of the offense,"78 and subject to the conditions provided by Canon Law.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.
2273 The inalienable right to life of every innocent human individual is a constitutive element of a civil society and its legislation:
"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."80
"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."81
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.
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."82
2275 "One must hold as licit procedures carried out on the human embryo which respect the life and integrity of the embryo and do not involve disproportionate risks for it, but are directed toward its healing the improvement of its condition of health, or its individual survival."83
"It is immoral to produce human embryos intended for exploitation as disposable biological material."84
"Certain attempts to influence chromosome or genetic inheritance are not therapeutic but are aimed at producing human beings selected according to sex or other predetermined qualities. Such manipulations are contrary to the personal dignity of the human being and his integrity and identity"85 which are unique and unrepeatable.
The Catholic Church has always condemned abortion as a grave evil. Christian writers from the first-century author of the Didache to Pope John Paul II in his encyclical Evangelium Vitae ("The Gospel of Life") have maintained that the Bible forbids abortion, just as it forbids murder.
Mother Teresa argued, simply, "If abortion is not wrong, nothing is wrong."
The scientific premise is that the life of the individual member of every animal species begins at conception. In other words, all humans are human, whether embryonic, fetal, infantile, young, mature, old, or dying. - Peter Kreeft
I AM AGAINST ABORTION!
LET US SAVE THE BABY HUMANS!
We believe life starts at conception. Even when you look at a very young fetus you can see it is a human - it has hands and feet and a heart beat. Life should be respected from conception to natural death.
John Paul II on the right to life.
"The common outcry, which is justly made on behalf of human rights--for example, the right to health, to home, to work, to family, to culture--is false and illusory if the right to life, the most basic and fundamental right and the condition for all other personal rights, is not defended with maximum determination."
The church is 100% against it. The reasoning, in a nutshell, is that the baby is considered a human being from the moment it is conceived. My logic is this; if the pregnancy goes through to completion, the only possible outcome is that a human being will be born. If a pregnancy's only possible outcome is for a human being to be born from it, then it's always been a human being and has a right to live (yes, I'm catholic but I believe that this would be my rationale even if I wasn't).
As far as the church's position on birth control goes, the only method acceptable is the rhythm (meaning abstinence during the time of the month that a woman can conceive) because you haven't interrupted the process of the sperm reaching it's inevitable goal once deposited (IE: condoms, etc).
The pill (I'm not a doctor but I read this a long time ago) hardens the walls of the uterus. This means that the sperm reaches the egg and you have conception but the product can't attach itself to the uterus and will die off (I believe the church views this to be equal to an abortion).
I realize that all you asked was for the church's position but I figured you were probably asking for a reason and wanted you to have some information.
If you're asking because the act has already been commit ed and you regret it, there are support groups that you can talk to. Because I am of faith, I'm letting you know that you are forgiven.
Catholics believe that from the moment of conception until natural death, each human being is endowed by God with dignity and rights.
You shall not kill. (Ex 20:13; cf. Deut 5:17)
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you. (Jer 1:5; cf. Job 10:8-12; Ps 22:10-11)
My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately wrought in the depths of the earth. (Ps 139:15)
Early Church writings: 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)
they are firmly against it. all who have an abortion, or assist someone in any way in getting one, will likely be excommunicated. politicians who support abortion rights are commonly denied communion.
what does the roman catholic church think about abortion?
