discipled living

Abortion and The Catholic Church

Abortion and the debate surrounding it is fresh on the lips and minds of many Americans as President Obama delivers the commencement address at Notre Dame University. The issue of abortion stirs soulful passion on both sides of the debate.

On the one side, the issue of a woman’s right to control her body and what happens to it, and that as a right, it should be protected by law.

On the other side, is the personal and moral conviction that abortion is murder and should be legislated against as immoral and criminal.

There are many shades of gray that stand between the two divergent convictions about abortion. The varying shades are what make the issue so complex and difficult to clarify. At the heart of the debate is the issue of rights. Rights are precious in the United States, if only in principle.

The rights of the mother and the rights of the unborn are at odds in this epic battle. 

The issue is explosive and divisive cutting across cultural, political and religious lines of association.

Framing the issue from the Pro-life world view, specifically the Faith Community led by the Roman Catholic Church and the Evangelical Right is not difficult.

According to the Catholic Church the issue has been addressed thoroughly from as early as the first century and is clearly and emphatically stated in the Gospel of Life (Evangelium Vitae) a papal encyclical issued by Pope John Paul II.

In 1995 Pope John Paul II declared that the Church’s teaching on abortion "is unchanged and unchangeable. Therefore, by the authority which Christ conferred upon Peter and his successors . . . I declare that direct abortion, that is, abortion willed as an end or as a means, always constitutes a grave moral disorder, since it is the deliberate killing of an innocent human being. This doctrine is based upon the natural law and upon the written word of God, is transmitted by the Church’s tradition and taught by the ordinary and universal magisterium. No circumstance, no purpose, no law whatsoever can ever make licit an act which is intrinsically illicit, since it is contrary to the law of God which is written in every human heart, knowable by reason itself, and proclaimed by the Church" (Evangelium Vitae 62).

For the Catholic Church the issue of abortion revolves primarily around the 6th commandment of the 10 Commandments found in Exodus 20:13. The issue of “killing innocents” which is murder suggests and as others say demands that to remain faithful to the Bible and obedient to God Believers must oppose abortion.

Next Week: The Evangelical Case Against Abortion