abortion

(Latin: aboriri, to miscarry)

In its widest sense, the ejection (by natural

cause) or extraction (by artificial means) of a
human fetus from the womb of the mother
before it has come to its full development.

New Catholic Dictionary

Direct vs.
Indirect
Abortion
 Abortion

What is the
primary
purpose?

To remove To save the

the child mother’s life
(DIRECT ABORTION) (INDIRECT ABORTION)
Direct Abortion
 Immediate intrinsic purpose: To remove/kill the
conceptus
 Whether it is a means or an end, it is always
viewed as moral evil
 The essential sinfulness of direct abortion
consists in the homicidal intent to kill innocent
life. This factor places the controverted question
as to precisely when human life begins.
When does life begin?
 “A human organism, a member of the
human species, comes into existence
when a human ovum is fertilized by a
human spermatozoa and a one-celled
zygote is produced.”
 Theories:
 “Delayed Hominization”
 Human personhood does not begin until some
time after conception
 Redefining conception
 Life occurs only after implantation
 Contradicts biological principles
 Definition of a person should rely on
structure and function
 Not only as conscious, intelligent, free
adult, but must include entire life story as
well
 At any stage in the life cycle, a person has
the active potential to develop different
structures and different functions
 The Roman Catholic Church today firmly
holds that "the first right of the human
person is his life" and that life is assumed
to begin at fertilization.
 The equality of all human life is
fundamental and complete; any
discrimination is evil.
 The Catholic Church has always condemned
direct abortion as a crime of the most heinous
character. Pope Sixtus V in his Constitution
"Effrenatam" (29 October 1588) says that
anyone guilty of abortion should be punished as
an ordinary murderer.
 Refers to those who have committed voluntary
homicide or have secured the abortion of a
human fetus, and all who cooperated thereto
"But I feel that the greatest
destroyer of peace today is
abortion, because it is a war against
the child - a direct killing of the
innocent child - murder by the
mother herself. And if we
accept that a mother can kill
even her own child, how can
we tell other people not to
kill one another? How do we
persuade a woman not to have an
10 week
abortion? As always, we must aborted
persuade her with love, and we
remind ourselves that love means
fetus
to be willing to give until it hurts.
Jesus gave even his life to love us.
So the mother who is thinking of abortion, should be helped to love - that is, to give until it hurts
her plans, or her free time, to respect the life of her child. The father of that child, whoever he is,
must also give until it hurts. By abortion, the mother does not learn to love, but kills even her own
child to solve her problems. And by abortion, the father is told that he does not have to take any
responsibility at all for the child he has brought into the world. That father is likely to put other
women into the same trouble. So abortion just leads to more abortion. Any country that
accepts abortion is not teaching the people to love, but to use any violence to
get what they want. That is why the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion.
--Mother Teresa
Indirect Abortion
 Immediate intrinsic purpose: To save the
life of the pregnant woman
 “Last resort”
 All other reasons - quality of life,
convenience, peace of mind, scandal or
humiliation, financial burden, etc. - must
be ruled out.
Nothing is perfect
 One of those inevitable consequences of living
in an imperfect world where in order to save a
life physicians must take that of another.
 Occurs when treatment used to save the life of
the mother has the secondary side effect of
killing the unborn child
 Examples
 Ectopic pregnancy
 Hysterectomy (e.g. uterine cancer)
 These types of situation very rarely arise
thereby making the majority of abortion
procedures a grave sin in the eyes of the
Church.
 The Roman Catholic Church only
recognizes very rare cases where indirect
abortion is permissible and views the vast
majority abortive procedures to be the
result of procuring a direct abortion.
 Indirect abortion is sometimes permitted,
provided that there be sufficient and grave
reason, such as the saving of the mother's
life, and that every precaution be taken to
save the life of the child and, in case the
child's life be in danger, that it receive
timely baptism.
 In 1992, Ireland’s foremost obstetricians stated:

"As obstetricians and gynecologists, we affirm that

there are no medical circumstances
justifying direct abortion, that is, no
circumstances in which the life of the mother
may only be saved by directly terminating the life
of her unborn child."