human dignity
From the Catechism of the Catholic Church
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 latae sententiae,"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 chromosomic 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.
Christian attitudes to abortion - Roman Catholic teaching
Introduction Christians believe that life is special and sacred. For instance, all major Christian denominations (or groups) teach that we have a soul (a part of us that lives on after death), and that we have an opportunity to have a relationship with God. The Bible also says that humans have been created in God's image (Genesis 1:27), which means that humans have certain qualities and characteristics that God has (E.g. They can make things, they have the ability to reason, they were created good etc.). Christians also believe that God values human life greatly, and that God has shown this by sending Jesus to die for us:
'But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.' (Romans 5:8)
Many Christians also believe that as God has given us life, so only God has the right to take it away: Such teaching would also lead to query over capital punishment.
'The Lord brings death and makes alive; he brings down to the grave and raises up.' (1 Samuel 2:6)
Other passages in the Bible seem to imply that God has in mind the life someone will live, before they are born:
'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.' (Jeremiah 1:5)
All these things suggest that each individual person is to be treated with respect and dignity. However, although Christians seek to follow and apply the teachings of the Bible in their daily life, in practice this is not an easy thing to do. For instance, it is often unclear whether all the commandments in the Bible are still applicable today (E.g. 'If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son... all the men of his town shall stone him to death' - (Deuteronomy 21:18-21)). There is also no specific instruction given about the matter of abortion in the Bible, so what Christians believe about it must be based on interpreting passages which appear to speak about the sanctity of life. Naturally, this has lead to a variety of viewpoints concerning the rightness or wrongness of abortion.
Generally the Church condemns abortion, with most Christians believing it violates the sixth command - 'You shall not murder' (Exodus 20:13). Where there are differences of opinion amongst Christians about the matter of abortion, these tend to focus on the value of the mother's life verses that of any unborn child, and when exactly an embryo/foetus can be said to be fully human.
The Roman Catholic Church
The Roman Catholic Church is totally and utterly opposed to abortion. In fact, anyone found to have had an abortion, or aiding someone to do so, will be excommunicated from the Church (made to leave it). Direct involvement in abortions is also considered to be a mortal sin. Unlike venial sins, these are sins committed in the full knowledge that they are wrong, and unless forgiveness is sought, will result in eternal separation from God.
'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.' (Catechism of the Catholic Church: The fifth commandment)
One of the main reasons why the Church is so against abortion, is because it believes that life begins at conception. The Church also believes that abortions can have serious physical and emotional side-effects, for women who have them.
Central to Roman Catholic ethics is the idea of Natural Law. This is the belief that God has set the world up in a certain way, and that it is wrong for humans to interfere with this. In the case of abortion, this is considered to be morally wrong because it interferes (and ultimately stops) the natural process of bringing new life into the world. When nothing prevents it, the sexual act should naturally lead to pregnancy. If this act is interfered with in any way, then the chances of becoming pregnant are lessened (or will not happen). This would be deemed to be stopping the natural cycle of events, God intended to occur.
On the basis of Natural Law, The Roman Catholic Church also prohibits the use of artificial forms of contraception (such as condoms, the pill etc.). Instead, the Church teaches that there are times in a woman's monthly cycle when she is naturally infertile, so any tampering with this upsets the natural order of things.
Although the Church does not allow abortions for any reason, it does accept that there are times when an abortion may occur. For example, if a woman becomes sick and requires an operation, but in the process of operating on her she loses her baby, this is not something she or the doctors intended. Although the act is still morally wrong, it was not done intentionally.
The idea of someone doing something to achieve one effect, but not being blamed for the second effect occurring, is known as the Doctrine of Double Effect
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 latae sententiae,"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 chromosomic 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.
Christian attitudes to abortion - Roman Catholic teaching
Introduction Christians believe that life is special and sacred. For instance, all major Christian denominations (or groups) teach that we have a soul (a part of us that lives on after death), and that we have an opportunity to have a relationship with God. The Bible also says that humans have been created in God's image (Genesis 1:27), which means that humans have certain qualities and characteristics that God has (E.g. They can make things, they have the ability to reason, they were created good etc.). Christians also believe that God values human life greatly, and that God has shown this by sending Jesus to die for us:
'But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.' (Romans 5:8)
Many Christians also believe that as God has given us life, so only God has the right to take it away: Such teaching would also lead to query over capital punishment.
'The Lord brings death and makes alive; he brings down to the grave and raises up.' (1 Samuel 2:6)
Other passages in the Bible seem to imply that God has in mind the life someone will live, before they are born:
'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.' (Jeremiah 1:5)
All these things suggest that each individual person is to be treated with respect and dignity. However, although Christians seek to follow and apply the teachings of the Bible in their daily life, in practice this is not an easy thing to do. For instance, it is often unclear whether all the commandments in the Bible are still applicable today (E.g. 'If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son... all the men of his town shall stone him to death' - (Deuteronomy 21:18-21)). There is also no specific instruction given about the matter of abortion in the Bible, so what Christians believe about it must be based on interpreting passages which appear to speak about the sanctity of life. Naturally, this has lead to a variety of viewpoints concerning the rightness or wrongness of abortion.
Generally the Church condemns abortion, with most Christians believing it violates the sixth command - 'You shall not murder' (Exodus 20:13). Where there are differences of opinion amongst Christians about the matter of abortion, these tend to focus on the value of the mother's life verses that of any unborn child, and when exactly an embryo/foetus can be said to be fully human.
The Roman Catholic Church
The Roman Catholic Church is totally and utterly opposed to abortion. In fact, anyone found to have had an abortion, or aiding someone to do so, will be excommunicated from the Church (made to leave it). Direct involvement in abortions is also considered to be a mortal sin. Unlike venial sins, these are sins committed in the full knowledge that they are wrong, and unless forgiveness is sought, will result in eternal separation from God.
'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.' (Catechism of the Catholic Church: The fifth commandment)
One of the main reasons why the Church is so against abortion, is because it believes that life begins at conception. The Church also believes that abortions can have serious physical and emotional side-effects, for women who have them.
Central to Roman Catholic ethics is the idea of Natural Law. This is the belief that God has set the world up in a certain way, and that it is wrong for humans to interfere with this. In the case of abortion, this is considered to be morally wrong because it interferes (and ultimately stops) the natural process of bringing new life into the world. When nothing prevents it, the sexual act should naturally lead to pregnancy. If this act is interfered with in any way, then the chances of becoming pregnant are lessened (or will not happen). This would be deemed to be stopping the natural cycle of events, God intended to occur.
On the basis of Natural Law, The Roman Catholic Church also prohibits the use of artificial forms of contraception (such as condoms, the pill etc.). Instead, the Church teaches that there are times in a woman's monthly cycle when she is naturally infertile, so any tampering with this upsets the natural order of things.
Although the Church does not allow abortions for any reason, it does accept that there are times when an abortion may occur. For example, if a woman becomes sick and requires an operation, but in the process of operating on her she loses her baby, this is not something she or the doctors intended. Although the act is still morally wrong, it was not done intentionally.
The idea of someone doing something to achieve one effect, but not being blamed for the second effect occurring, is known as the Doctrine of Double Effect