Why Is Natural Law Wrong

Natural law would view abortion as wrong because it interferes with the fetus 's "quest" toward its divine destiny of completed potentiality as a human being. "Thomas Aquinas, On the Truth of the Catholic Faith, book II, ch. 89, reflected the influence of Aristotle 's views on human development: "The vegetative soul, which comes first, when the embryo lives the life of a plant, is corrupted, and is succeeded by a more perfect soul, which is both nutritive and sensitive, and then the embryo lives an animal life; and when this is corrupted, it is succeeded by the rational soul introduced from without [i.e., by God]." This "delayed humanization" view was confirmed as Catholic dogma by the Council of Vienna in 1312, and has never been officially
The logical basis for natural law states that a human is able to reason and in doing so recognize one 's own nature. The principles or reason are intuitive. There are human inclinations that reason is able to recognize: preservation of existence, perpetuation of life, tendency to do good, propensity to know truth and to live in society. Natural law is promulgated by one 's ability to carry out practical reason in order to achieve the final end. Moral precepts are deduced from primary precepts through practical reason. Voluntary abortion would not allow a fetus to attain its full potential. Aquinas says, "The emission of semen ought to be so ordered that it will result in both the production of the proper offspring and in the upbringing of this offspring." According to Aquinas, the sole legitimate use of sex is procreation, and all uses of sex that do not intend to generate children are immoral, so any use of birth control is wrong. Aquinas says, "It is evident from this that every emission of semen, in such a way that generation cannot follow, is contrary to the good of man. And if this be done deliberately, it must be a sin." St Thomas Aquinas opposed abortion because he believed it was a form of contraception and a sin against
Augustine believed that procreation was the only non-sinful end of the sex act. He taught that if a couple has sexual relations for pleasure, then it was venially sinful. As long as there is no intent to hurt anyone by the will and sex is conducted in a loving manner then Augustine would view sex as permissible. Following on from this, he condemned family planning methods such as periodic abstinence when it was used to avoid conception. In regard to abortion, St Augustine condemned it on the grounds that it broke the connection between sex and procreation, not because he saw it as the killing of an innocent life. Abortion was a sin only if it was intended to conceal fornication and adultery. Importantly, he and other theologians of his era did not believe that human life began at the moment of conception - the church 's current belief. He then went on to say that the primary end of marriage is the procreation and the education of children. Parents should raise their children justly and lovingly, promoting their growth to physical, intellectual, social, moral and spiritual maturity according to Christian principles and centered on the love of God. St. Augustine believed that marriage is the free commitment of a woman and a man to unite as wife and husband exclusively and for life for the sake of their mutual fulfillment, for family life, for the building up the