Catholicism and abortion
Encyclopedia
The Roman Catholic Church
opposes all forms of abortion
procedures whose direct purpose is to destroy an embryo, blastocyst, zygote or fetus, since it holds that "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." It admits certain acts which indirectly result in the death of the fetus, as when the direct purpose is removal of a cancerous womb. Canon 1398
of the Code of Canon Law imposes automatic excommunication on Latin Rite Catholics who procure a completed abortion, if they fulfil the conditions for being subject to such a sanction. Eastern Catholics are not subject to automatic excommunication, but they are to be excommunicated by decree if found guilty of the same action, and they may be absolved of the sin only by the eparchial bishop
. In addition to saying that abortion is immoral, the Catholic Church also makes statements and takes actions in opposition to its classification as legal.
Many, or in some countries most, Catholics disagree with the official position promulgated by the Church; the views of these people range from allowing exceptions in a generally pro-life position, to complete acceptance of abortion.
's rejection of abortion is witnessed to by its earliest widely used doctrinal documents outside the New Testament
, the Didache
and the Letter of Barnabas and by the 2nd-century writers Tertullian
and Athenagoras of Athens
.
(1033-1109), who said that "no human intellect accepts the view that an infant has the rational soul from the moment of conception." In that view, early abortion was not homicide, the killing of a human being. A few decades after the death of Anselm, this became part of Catholic canon law
in the Decretum Gratiani
, which stated that "he is not a murderer who brings about abortion before the soul is in the body." While not classified as homicide, early abortion was considered gravely wrong: Thomas Aquinas
, who accepted Aristotle
's theory that a human soul was infused only after 40 days for a male fetus, 60 days for a female, saw abortion of an unsouled fetus as a sin against marriage. He wrote: "This sin, although grave and to be reckoned among misdeeds and against nature … is something less than homicide... nor is such to be judged irregular unless one procures the abortion of an already formed fetus."
s imposed equal penances for abortion whether early-term or late-term, but others distinguished between the two. Later penitentials normally distinguished, imposing heavier penances for late-term abortions.
Although the Decretum Gratiani, which remained the basis of Catholic canon law until replaced by the 1917 Code of Canon Law, distinguished between early-term and late-term abortions, that canonical distinction was abolished for a brief period of three years by the bull of Pope Sixtus V
Effraenatam of 28 October 1588. This decreed various penalties against perpetrators of all forms of abortion without distinction. Without calling abortion murder, it decreed that those who procured the abortion of a fetus, whether animated or unanimated, formed or unformed (tam animati, quam etiam inanimati, formati, vel informis) should suffer the same punishments as "true murderers and assassins who have actually and really committed murder" (veros homicidas, qui homicidium voluntarium actu, & re ipsa patraverint). As well as decreeing those punishments for subjects of the Papal States
, whose civil ruler he was, Pope Sixtus also inflicted on perpetrators the spiritual punishment of automatic excommunication (section 7). Sixtus's successor, Pope Gregory XIV
, recognizing that the law was not producing the hoped-for effects, withdrew it a mere three years later, limiting the punishments to abortion of a "formed" fetus.
With his 1869 bull Apostolicae Sedis moderationi, Pope Pius IX
rescinded Gregory XIV's not-yet-animated fetus exception with regard to the spiritual penalty of excommunication, declaring that those who procured an effective abortion incurred excommunication reserved to bishops or ordinaries
. From then on this penalty is incurred automatically through abortion at any stage of pregnancy, which even before was never seen as a merely venial sin
.
In another respect Catholic canon law continued even after 1869 to maintain a distinction between abortion of a formed and of an unformed fetus. As indicated above in a quotation from Thomas Aquinas, one who procured the abortion of a quickened fetus was considered "irregular", meaning that he was disqualified from receiving or exercising Holy Orders
. Pope Sixtus V extended this penalty even to early-term abortion (section 2 of his bull Effraenatam), but Gregory XIV restricted it again. Pius IX made no ruling in its regard, with the result that the penalty of irregularity was still limited to late-term abortion at the time of the article "Abortion" in the 1907 Catholic Encyclopedia
. The 1917 Code of Canon Law finally did away with the distinction.
accepted it, Antoninus de Corbuba made the distinction that from then on became generally accepted among Catholic theologians, namely that direct killing of the fetus was unacceptable, but that treatment to cure the mother should be given even if it would indirectly result in the death of the fetus.
When, in the 17th century, Francis Torreblanca approved abortions aimed merely at saving a woman's good name, the Holy Office (what is now called the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
), at that time headed by Pope Innocent XI
, condemned the proposition that "it is lawful to procure abortion before ensoulment of the fetus lest a girl, detected as pregnant, be killed or defamed".
Although it is sometimes said that 18th-century Alphonsus Liguori
argued that, because of uncertainty about when the soul entered the fetus, abortion, while in general morally wrong, was acceptable in circumstances such as when the mother's life was in danger, he clearly stated that it is never right to take a medicine that of itself is directed to killing a fetus, although it is lawful (at least according to general theological opinion) to give a mother in extreme illness a medicine whose direct result is to save her life, even when it indirectly results in expulsion of the fetus. While Liguori mentioned the distinction then made between animate and inanimate fetuses, he explained that there was no agreement about when the soul is infused, with many holding that it happens at the moment of conception, and said that the Church kindly followed the 40-day opinion when applying the penalties of irregularity and excommunication only on those who knowingly procured abortion of an animate fetus.
A disapproving letter published in the New York Medical Record in 1895 spoke of the Jesuit Augustine Lehmkuhl as considering craniotomy
lawful when used to save the mother's life. The origin of the report was an article in a German medical journal denounced as false in the American Ecclesiastical Review of the same year, which said that, while Lehmkuhl had at an earlier stage of discussion admitted doubts and advanced tentative ideas, he had later adopted a view in full accord with the negative decision pronounced in 1884 and 1889 by the Sacred Penitentiary
, which in 1869 had refrained from making a pronouncement. According to Mackler, Lehmkuhl had accepted as a defensible theory the licitness of removing even an animated fetus from the womb as not necessarily killing it, but had rejected direct attacks on the fetus such as craniotomy.
Craniotomy was thus prohibited in 1884 and again in 1889. In 1895 the Holy See excluded the inducing of non-viable premature birth and in 1889 established the principle that any direct killing of either fetus or mother is wrong; in 1902 it ruled out the direct removal of an ectopic embryo to save the mother's life, but did not forbid the removal of the infected fallopian tube, thus causing an indirect abortion.(see below).
In 1930 Pope Pius XI ruled out what he called "the direct murder of the innocent" as a means of saving the mother. And the Second Vatican Council declared: "Life must be protected with the utmost care from the moment of conception: abortion and infanticide are abominable crimes."
There has been controversy in the United States on whether politicians who promote legalization of abortion should be refused communion
. In April 2004, Archbishop Raymond Burke
forbade Senator John Kerry
, a Catholic, to take communion
because of his stance on abortion and possibly stem cell research. In November 2009, Bishop Thomas Tobin
barred Representative Patrick Kennedy
from communion for the same reason. Burke also said that he would deny communion to Rudy Giuliani
, and that Giuliani should not seek communion. Archbishop Donald Wuerl
of Pittsburgh said that, because of "national ramifications", individual bishops should not make such statements. Earlier, in 1984, Cardinal John Joseph O'Connor, then Archbishop of New York , had contemplated excommunicating the then Governor of New York Mario Cuomo
.
In May 2007, Pope Benedict XVI
expressed support for the Mexican bishops in the face of that country's first legalization of abortions
(in Mexico City). Responding to a journalist's question, "Do you agree with the excommunications given to legislators in Mexico City on the question?" the Pope said: "Yes. The excommunication was not something arbitrary. It is part of the (canon law) code. It is based simply on the principle that the killing of an innocent human child is incompatible with going in Communion with the body of Christ. Thus, they (the bishops) didn't do anything new or anything surprising. Or arbitrary." According to Der Spiegel
, many journalists were wondering if this support could be interpreted as a wish to excommunicate such politicians, and Time magazine reported that it was in fact such a declaration. However, church officials said that it was not a declaration but appeared to be a misunderstanding. Federico Lombardi
, director of the Holy See Press Office
, clarified that the Pope was not excommunicating anyone, since the Mexican bishops had not in fact declared an excommunication, and that he did not mean to depart from a recent declaration that placed the decision to leave the Church in the hands of individual politicians. However, Lombardi stated that politicians who vote in favor of abortion could not receive communion, because their action is "incompatible with participation in the Eucharist."
In March 2009, Archbishop Jose Cardoso Sobrinho
said that, by securing the abortion of a nine-year-old girl who had been raped by her stepfather, her mother and the doctors involved were excommunicated. This statement of the Archbishop drew criticism not only from women's rights groups, but also from Archbishop Rino Fisichella
, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life
, who said it was unjust, and from a French bishop, who questioned the applicability, in this case, of canon 1398 to the girl's mother. In view of the interpretations that were placed upon Archbishop Fisichella's article, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a clarification reiterating that "the Church's teaching on procured abortion has not changed, nor can it change".
In November 2009, when Sister Margaret McBride
, as a member of the ethics board of a Catholic hospital, allowed doctors to perform an abortion to save the life of a mother of four suffering from pulmonary hypertension
, Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted
excommunicated her on the grounds that, while efforts should be made to save a pregnant woman's life, what he called the direct killing of an unborn child cannot be used as a means to that end.
Since the first century, the Church has affirmed that every procured abortion is a moral evil, a teaching that the Catechism of the Catholic Church declares "has not changed and remains unchangeable".
The Church teaches that the inalienable right to life of every innocent human individual is a constitutive element of a civil society and its legislation. In other words, it is beholden upon society to legally protect the life of the unborn.
Catholic theologians trace Catholic thought on abortion to early Christian teachings such as the Didache
, Barnabas
and the Apocalypse of Peter
.
cancer
and ectopic pregnancy
). In these cases, the intended effect is to save the woman's life, not to terminate the pregnancy, and the death of the embryo or fetus is foreseen as a side effect, not intended even as a means to another end, an evil means to a good end. Thus chemotherapy or removal of a cancerous organ does not abort the fetus in order to cure the cancer, but instead it cures the cancer while also having the foreseen indirect result of aborting the embryo or fetus.
is one of the only cases where the foreseeable death of an embryo is allowed, since it is categorized as an indirect abortion. In Humanae Vitae, Paul VI writes that "the Church does not consider at all illicit the use of those therapeutic means necessary to cure bodily diseases, even if a foreseeable impediment to procreation should result there from—provided such impediment is not directly intended for any motive whatsoever". This view was also advocated by Pius XII in a 1953 address to the Italian Association of Urology.
Using the Thomistic Principle of Totality (removal of a pathological part to preserve the life of the person) and the Doctrine of Double Effect, the only moral action in an ectopic pregnancy where a woman's life is directly threatened is the removal of the tube containing the human embryo (salpingectomy
). The death of the human embryo is unintended although foreseen.
In Catholic theology, it is never permissible to evacuate the fetus using methotrexate
or to incise the Fallopian tube to extract the fetus (salpingostomy), as these procedures are considered to be direct abortions.
states that "We are obliged once more to declare that the direct interruption of the generative process already begun and, above all, all direct abortion, even for therapeutic reasons, are to be absolutely excluded as lawful means of regulating the number of children."
excommunication
under Canon law
(automatic excommunication, literally by that very fact the sentence is incurred), provided that the person knows of the penalty at the time the abortion occurs.
According to a memorandum written by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger
, Catholic politicians who campaign and vote for permissive abortion laws should be warned by their priest to refrain from receiving communion or risk being denied the Eucharist
until they change their political views. This position is based on Canon 915
and is also supported by Archbishop Raymond Leo Burke
, Prefect
of the Apostolic Signatura
, the highest judicial authority in the Catholic Church besides the Pope
himself.
In 2004, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger
, then Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
, declared: "A Catholic would be guilty of formal cooperation in evil, and so unworthy to present himself for holy Communion, if he were to deliberately vote for a candidate precisely because of the candidate's permissive stand on abortion and/or euthanasia. When a Catholic does not share a candidate's stand in favor of abortion and/or euthanasia, but votes for that candidate for other reasons, it is considered remote material cooperation, which can be permitted in the presence of proportionate reasons."
In the United States, 29% of Catholic voters choose their candidate based solely on the candidate's position on abortion; most of these vote for anti-abortion candidates. 44% believe a "good Catholic" cannot vote for a pro-choice politician, while 53% believe one can. 68% of American Catholics believe that one can be a "good Catholic" while disagreeing with the church's position on abortion, approximately as many as members of other religious groups.
On this long-standing phenomenon of Catholics not accepting the Catholic Church's clear teaching on moral questions such as induced abortion Pope John Paul II
commented: "It is sometimes reported that a large number of Catholics today do not adhere to the teaching of the Church on a number of questions, notably sexual and conjugal morality, divorce and remarriage. Some are reported as not accepting the Church’s clear position on abortion. It has also been noted that there is a tendency on the part of some Catholics to be selective in their adherence to the Church’s moral teachings. It is sometimes claimed that dissent from the Magisterium is totally compatible with being a "good Catholic" and poses no obstacle to the reception of the sacraments. This is a grave error ... We must also constantly recall that the teaching of Christ’s Church - like Christ himself - is a "sign of contradiction". It has never been easy to accept the Gospel teaching in its entirety, and it never will be. The Church is committed, both in faith and morals, to make her teaching as clear and understandable as possible, presenting it in all the attractiveness of divine truth. And yet the challenge of the Gospel remains inherent in the Christian message transmitted to each generation."
In his 2004 response to the United States Catholic of Catholic Bishops, the then Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
stated that a Catholic may vote for a candidate who takes a permissive stand on abortion, if the voter chooses the candidate for other proportionate reasons. In a paper prepared at the same time, Archbishop William Levada
, who later himself became Prefect of the same department of the Roman Curia
, pointed out the complexity of forming judgments in this connection on questions of cooperation in evil actions".
Outside of the United States there is not the same controversy on this matter. While the Church maintains rigorous principles, it adopts flexible pastoral customs and has never raised questions about withholding communion from Catholic politicians who vote for legalizing abortion. When King Baudoin of Belgium temporarily abdicated so as not to be responsible for signing into law legislation that permitted induced abortion, he did so on his own initiative, not because of being told to do so by the Church hierarchy.In January 2001, Pope John Paul II gave Communion to Mayor of Rome Francesco Rutelli, one of those who take the stance of being personally opposed to abortion but unwilling to impose their view by law. Similar cases are found among parliamentarians in Austria, Belgium and Germany. Asked why only in the United States are demands made for church sanctions against politicians who hold such views, Cardinal
Francis George's explanation was that the United States is the only country where abortion is considered to be a right enshrined in the national constitution and not a mere matter of legislation, and that in the United States culture and laws are changed by political crusades, which politicize questions of pastoral practice within the Church.
Both inside and outside the United States, "I am personally opposed to abortion, but I think the Church is concentrating its energies too much on abortion rather than on social action", or "I do not wish to impose my views on others", are used as grounds for dissenting.
wrote, with Richard Deltete, A Brief, Liberal, Catholic Defense of Abortion, which analyzed Church theological history to argue that Catholic values supported a pro-choice position.
An independent organization called Catholics for Choice was founded in 1973 to support the availability of abortion, stating that this position is compatible with Catholic teachings, particularly the primacy of conscience and the importance of the laity in shaping church law. This organization was founded "to serve as a voice for Catholics" who believe that contraception and abortion are moral. Catholics for Choice believe:
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has stated that "[CFC] is not a Catholic organization, does not speak for the Catholic Church, and in fact promotes positions contrary to the teaching of the Church as articulated by the Holy See
and the USCCB." Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz
excommunicated all members of this organization in his jurisdiction in 1996.
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
opposes all forms of abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
procedures whose direct purpose is to destroy an embryo, blastocyst, zygote or fetus, since it holds that "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." It admits certain acts which indirectly result in the death of the fetus, as when the direct purpose is removal of a cancerous womb. Canon 1398
Canon 1398
Canon 1398 is a rule of canon law which declares that a person who procures a completed abortion incurs a latae sententiae excommunication.-Historical roots:...
of the Code of Canon Law imposes automatic excommunication on Latin Rite Catholics who procure a completed abortion, if they fulfil the conditions for being subject to such a sanction. Eastern Catholics are not subject to automatic excommunication, but they are to be excommunicated by decree if found guilty of the same action, and they may be absolved of the sin only by the eparchial bishop
Diocesan bishop
A diocesan bishop — in general — is a bishop in charge of a diocese. These are to be distinguished from suffragan bishops, assistant bishops, coadjutor bishops, auxiliary bishops, metropolitans, and primates....
. In addition to saying that abortion is immoral, the Catholic Church also makes statements and takes actions in opposition to its classification as legal.
Many, or in some countries most, Catholics disagree with the official position promulgated by the Church; the views of these people range from allowing exceptions in a generally pro-life position, to complete acceptance of abortion.
History
The Catholic Church claims that it has condemned procured abortion as immoral ever since the first century. Early ChristianityEarly Christianity
Early Christianity is generally considered as Christianity before 325. The New Testament's Book of Acts and Epistle to the Galatians records that the first Christian community was centered in Jerusalem and its leaders included James, Peter and John....
's rejection of abortion is witnessed to by its earliest widely used doctrinal documents outside the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
, the Didache
Didache
The Didache or The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles is a brief early Christian treatise, dated by most scholars to the late first or early 2nd century...
and the Letter of Barnabas and by the 2nd-century writers Tertullian
Tertullian
Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus, anglicised as Tertullian , was a prolific early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He is the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of Latin Christian literature. He also was a notable early Christian apologist and...
and Athenagoras of Athens
Athenagoras of Athens
Athenagoras was a Father of the Church, a Proto-orthodox Christian apologist who lived during the second half of the 2nd century of whom little is known for certain, besides that he was Athenian , a philosopher, and a convert to Christianity. In his writings he styles himself as "Athenagoras, the...
.
Belief in delayed animation
It was commonly held, even by Christians, that a human being did not come into existence as such immediately on conception, but only some weeks later. This view was strongly expressed by Saint Anselm of CanterburyAnselm of Canterbury
Anselm of Canterbury , also called of Aosta for his birthplace, and of Bec for his home monastery, was a Benedictine monk, a philosopher, and a prelate of the church who held the office of Archbishop of Canterbury from 1093 to 1109...
(1033-1109), who said that "no human intellect accepts the view that an infant has the rational soul from the moment of conception." In that view, early abortion was not homicide, the killing of a human being. A few decades after the death of Anselm, this became part of Catholic canon law
Canon law (Catholic Church)
The canon law of the Catholic Church, is a fully developed legal system, with all the necessary elements: courts, lawyers, judges, a fully articulated legal code and principles of legal interpretation. It lacks the necessary binding force present in most modern day legal systems. The academic...
in the Decretum Gratiani
Decretum Gratiani
The Decretum Gratiani or Concordia discordantium canonum is a collection of Canon law compiled and written in the 12th century as a legal textbook by the jurist known as Gratian. It forms the first part of the collection of six legal texts, which together became known as the Corpus Juris Canonici...
, which stated that "he is not a murderer who brings about abortion before the soul is in the body." While not classified as homicide, early abortion was considered gravely wrong: Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas, O.P. , also Thomas of Aquin or Aquino, was an Italian Dominican priest of the Catholic Church, and an immensely influential philosopher and theologian in the tradition of scholasticism, known as Doctor Angelicus, Doctor Communis, or Doctor Universalis...
, who accepted Aristotle
Aristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
's theory that a human soul was infused only after 40 days for a male fetus, 60 days for a female, saw abortion of an unsouled fetus as a sin against marriage. He wrote: "This sin, although grave and to be reckoned among misdeeds and against nature … is something less than homicide... nor is such to be judged irregular unless one procures the abortion of an already formed fetus."
Juridical consequences
Most early penitentialPenitential
A penitential is a book or set of church rules concerning the Christian sacrament of penance, a "new manner of reconciliation with God" that was first developed by Celtic monks in Ireland in the sixth century AD.-Origin:...
s imposed equal penances for abortion whether early-term or late-term, but others distinguished between the two. Later penitentials normally distinguished, imposing heavier penances for late-term abortions.
Although the Decretum Gratiani, which remained the basis of Catholic canon law until replaced by the 1917 Code of Canon Law, distinguished between early-term and late-term abortions, that canonical distinction was abolished for a brief period of three years by the bull of Pope Sixtus V
Pope Sixtus V
Pope Sixtus V , born Felice Peretti di Montalto, was Pope from 1585 to 1590.-Early life:The chronicler Andrija Zmajević states that Felice's family originated from modern-day Montenegro...
Effraenatam of 28 October 1588. This decreed various penalties against perpetrators of all forms of abortion without distinction. Without calling abortion murder, it decreed that those who procured the abortion of a fetus, whether animated or unanimated, formed or unformed (tam animati, quam etiam inanimati, formati, vel informis) should suffer the same punishments as "true murderers and assassins who have actually and really committed murder" (veros homicidas, qui homicidium voluntarium actu, & re ipsa patraverint). As well as decreeing those punishments for subjects of the Papal States
Papal States
The Papal State, State of the Church, or Pontifical States were among the major historical states of Italy from roughly the 6th century until the Italian peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia .The Papal States comprised territories under...
, whose civil ruler he was, Pope Sixtus also inflicted on perpetrators the spiritual punishment of automatic excommunication (section 7). Sixtus's successor, Pope Gregory XIV
Pope Gregory XIV
Pope Gregory XIV , born Niccolò Sfondrati, was Pope from 5 December 1590 until his death in 1591.- Early career :...
, recognizing that the law was not producing the hoped-for effects, withdrew it a mere three years later, limiting the punishments to abortion of a "formed" fetus.
With his 1869 bull Apostolicae Sedis moderationi, Pope Pius IX
Pope Pius IX
Blessed Pope Pius IX , born Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, was the longest-reigning elected Pope in the history of the Catholic Church, serving from 16 June 1846 until his death, a period of nearly 32 years. During his pontificate, he convened the First Vatican Council in 1869, which decreed papal...
rescinded Gregory XIV's not-yet-animated fetus exception with regard to the spiritual penalty of excommunication, declaring that those who procured an effective abortion incurred excommunication reserved to bishops or ordinaries
Ordinary
In those hierarchically organised churches of Western Christianity which have an ecclesiastical law system, an ordinary is an officer of the church who by reason of office has ordinary power to execute the church's laws...
. From then on this penalty is incurred automatically through abortion at any stage of pregnancy, which even before was never seen as a merely venial sin
Venial sin
According to Roman Catholicism, a venial sin is a lesser sin that does not result in a complete separation from God and eternal damnation in Hell...
.
In another respect Catholic canon law continued even after 1869 to maintain a distinction between abortion of a formed and of an unformed fetus. As indicated above in a quotation from Thomas Aquinas, one who procured the abortion of a quickened fetus was considered "irregular", meaning that he was disqualified from receiving or exercising Holy Orders
Holy Orders
The term Holy Orders is used by many Christian churches to refer to ordination or to those individuals ordained for a special role or ministry....
. Pope Sixtus V extended this penalty even to early-term abortion (section 2 of his bull Effraenatam), but Gregory XIV restricted it again. Pius IX made no ruling in its regard, with the result that the penalty of irregularity was still limited to late-term abortion at the time of the article "Abortion" in the 1907 Catholic Encyclopedia
Catholic Encyclopedia
The Catholic Encyclopedia, also referred to as the Old Catholic Encyclopedia and the Original Catholic Encyclopedia, is an English-language encyclopedia published in the United States. The first volume appeared in March 1907 and the last three volumes appeared in 1912, followed by a master index...
. The 1917 Code of Canon Law finally did away with the distinction.
Discussions about possible justifying circumstances
In the Middle Ages, the Church condemned all abortions, and the 14th-century Dominican John of Naples is reported to have been the first to make an influential explicit statement that, if the purpose was to save the mother's life, abortion was actually permitted, provided that ensoulment had not been attained. This view met both support and rejection from other theologians. In the 16th century, while Thomas SanchezThomas Sanchez
Tomás Sánchez was a 16th century Spanish Jesuit and famous casuist.- Life :In 1567 he entered the Society of Jesus. He was at first refused admittance on account of an impediment in his speech; however, after imploring delivery from this impediment before a picture of Mary at Córdoba, Spain, his...
accepted it, Antoninus de Corbuba made the distinction that from then on became generally accepted among Catholic theologians, namely that direct killing of the fetus was unacceptable, but that treatment to cure the mother should be given even if it would indirectly result in the death of the fetus.
When, in the 17th century, Francis Torreblanca approved abortions aimed merely at saving a woman's good name, the Holy Office (what is now called the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith , previously known as the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition , and after 1904 called the Supreme...
), at that time headed by Pope Innocent XI
Pope Innocent XI
Blessed Pope Innocent XI , born Benedetto Odescalchi, was Pope from 1676 to 1689.-Early life:Benedetto Odescalchi was born at Como in 1611 , the son of a Como nobleman, Livio Odescalchi, and Paola Castelli Giovanelli from Gandino...
, condemned the proposition that "it is lawful to procure abortion before ensoulment of the fetus lest a girl, detected as pregnant, be killed or defamed".
Although it is sometimes said that 18th-century Alphonsus Liguori
Alphonsus Liguori
Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori was an Italian Catholic bishop, spiritual writer, scholastic philosopher and theologian, and founder of the Redemptorists, an influential religious congregation...
argued that, because of uncertainty about when the soul entered the fetus, abortion, while in general morally wrong, was acceptable in circumstances such as when the mother's life was in danger, he clearly stated that it is never right to take a medicine that of itself is directed to killing a fetus, although it is lawful (at least according to general theological opinion) to give a mother in extreme illness a medicine whose direct result is to save her life, even when it indirectly results in expulsion of the fetus. While Liguori mentioned the distinction then made between animate and inanimate fetuses, he explained that there was no agreement about when the soul is infused, with many holding that it happens at the moment of conception, and said that the Church kindly followed the 40-day opinion when applying the penalties of irregularity and excommunication only on those who knowingly procured abortion of an animate fetus.
A disapproving letter published in the New York Medical Record in 1895 spoke of the Jesuit Augustine Lehmkuhl as considering craniotomy
Craniotomy
A craniotomy is a surgical operation in which a bone flap is temporarily removed from the skull to access the brain. Craniotomies are often a critical operation performed on patients recording, brain imaging, and for neurological manipulations such as electrical stimulation and chemical...
lawful when used to save the mother's life. The origin of the report was an article in a German medical journal denounced as false in the American Ecclesiastical Review of the same year, which said that, while Lehmkuhl had at an earlier stage of discussion admitted doubts and advanced tentative ideas, he had later adopted a view in full accord with the negative decision pronounced in 1884 and 1889 by the Sacred Penitentiary
Apostolic Penitentiary
The Apostolic Penitentiary, formerly called the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Penitentiary, is one of the three tribunals of the Roman Curia. The Apostolic Penitentiary is chiefly a tribunal of mercy, responsible for issues relating to the forgiveness of sins in the Catholic Church.The...
, which in 1869 had refrained from making a pronouncement. According to Mackler, Lehmkuhl had accepted as a defensible theory the licitness of removing even an animated fetus from the womb as not necessarily killing it, but had rejected direct attacks on the fetus such as craniotomy.
Craniotomy was thus prohibited in 1884 and again in 1889. In 1895 the Holy See excluded the inducing of non-viable premature birth and in 1889 established the principle that any direct killing of either fetus or mother is wrong; in 1902 it ruled out the direct removal of an ectopic embryo to save the mother's life, but did not forbid the removal of the infected fallopian tube, thus causing an indirect abortion.(see below).
In 1930 Pope Pius XI ruled out what he called "the direct murder of the innocent" as a means of saving the mother. And the Second Vatican Council declared: "Life must be protected with the utmost care from the moment of conception: abortion and infanticide are abominable crimes."
United States
In the United States the Catholic Church were leaders in denouncing "criminal abortion" in the latter half of the 19th century. The Michigan State Medical Society journal reported in 1870 that, while most churches were "neglecting" the subject of abortion, Catholic priests were teaching that "destruction of the embryo at any period from the first instant of conception is a crime equal in guilt to that of murder," and "that to admit its practice is to open the way for the most unbridled licentiousness, and to take away the responsibility of maternity is to destroy one of the strongest bulwarks of female virtue." In 1881 the same journal reported that Catholic anti-abortion efforts had been much more successful than Protestant ones.Recent events
The Roman Catholic Church's position on abortion has been the subject of controversy. In October 1984, Catholics for Choice (then Catholics for a Free Choice) placed an advertisement, signed by over one hundred prominent Catholics, including nuns, in the New York Times. The advertisement stated that "direct abortion...can sometimes be a moral choice" and that "responsible moral decisions can only be made in an atmosphere of freedom from fear of coercion." The Vatican took disciplinary measures against some of the nuns who signed the statement, sparking controversy among American Catholics, and intra-Catholic conflict on the abortion issue remained news for at least two years in the United States.There has been controversy in the United States on whether politicians who promote legalization of abortion should be refused communion
Eucharist
The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...
. In April 2004, Archbishop Raymond Burke
Raymond Leo Burke
Raymond Leo Burke is an American Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church. He is the current Cardinal Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, having previously served as Archbishop of St...
forbade Senator John Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
, a Catholic, to take communion
Eucharist
The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...
because of his stance on abortion and possibly stem cell research. In November 2009, Bishop Thomas Tobin
Thomas Tobin
Sir Thomas Tobin was a British merchant. He moved to Ballincollig in 1863 to become managing director of Ballincollig Royal Gunpowder Mills...
barred Representative Patrick Kennedy
Patrick J. Kennedy
Patrick Joseph Kennedy II is the former U.S. Representative for , serving from 1995 until 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district includes all of Bristol County and Newport County, and parts of Providence County. Kennedy did not seek re-election in 2010.A member of the Kennedy...
from communion for the same reason. Burke also said that he would deny communion to Rudy Giuliani
Rudy Giuliani
Rudolph William Louis "Rudy" Giuliani KBE is an American lawyer, businessman, and politician from New York. He served as Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001....
, and that Giuliani should not seek communion. Archbishop Donald Wuerl
Donald Wuerl
Donald William Wuerl is an American cardinal of the Catholic Church. He is the sixth and current Archbishop of Washington, serving since 2006. He previously served as Auxiliary Bishop of Seattle and Bishop of Pittsburgh...
of Pittsburgh said that, because of "national ramifications", individual bishops should not make such statements. Earlier, in 1984, Cardinal John Joseph O'Connor, then Archbishop of New York , had contemplated excommunicating the then Governor of New York Mario Cuomo
Mario Cuomo
Mario Matthew Cuomo served as the 52nd Governor of New York from 1983 to 1994, and is the father of Andrew Cuomo, the current governor of New York.-Early life:...
.
In May 2007, Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
expressed support for the Mexican bishops in the face of that country's first legalization of abortions
Abortion in Mexico
Abortion is a controversial issue in Mexico, where it is offered on request to any woman up to twelve weeks into a pregnancy in Mexico City, but forbidden in 18 out of 31 Mexican state constitutions...
(in Mexico City). Responding to a journalist's question, "Do you agree with the excommunications given to legislators in Mexico City on the question?" the Pope said: "Yes. The excommunication was not something arbitrary. It is part of the (canon law) code. It is based simply on the principle that the killing of an innocent human child is incompatible with going in Communion with the body of Christ. Thus, they (the bishops) didn't do anything new or anything surprising. Or arbitrary." According to Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. It is one of Europe's largest publications of its kind, with a weekly circulation of more than one million.-Overview:...
, many journalists were wondering if this support could be interpreted as a wish to excommunicate such politicians, and Time magazine reported that it was in fact such a declaration. However, church officials said that it was not a declaration but appeared to be a misunderstanding. Federico Lombardi
Federico Lombardi
Federico Lombardi, SJ is an Italian Roman Catholic priest and the current director of the Holy See Press Office.-Early life and ordination:...
, director of the Holy See Press Office
Holy See Press Office
The Holy See Press Office publishes the official news of the activities of the Pope and of the various departments of the Roman Curia. All speeches, messages, documents, as well as the statements issued by the Director, are published in their entirety....
, clarified that the Pope was not excommunicating anyone, since the Mexican bishops had not in fact declared an excommunication, and that he did not mean to depart from a recent declaration that placed the decision to leave the Church in the hands of individual politicians. However, Lombardi stated that politicians who vote in favor of abortion could not receive communion, because their action is "incompatible with participation in the Eucharist."
In March 2009, Archbishop Jose Cardoso Sobrinho
José Cardoso Sobrinho
José Cardoso Sobrinho is the Archbishop Emeritus of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of the cities of Olinda and Recife in the Brazilian state of Pernambuco....
said that, by securing the abortion of a nine-year-old girl who had been raped by her stepfather, her mother and the doctors involved were excommunicated. This statement of the Archbishop drew criticism not only from women's rights groups, but also from Archbishop Rino Fisichella
Rino Fisichella
Salvatore Rino Fisichella is an Italian titular archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church. He is the current and first President of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelisation...
, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life
Pontifical Academy for Life
The Pontifical Academy for Life or Pontificia Accademia Pro Vita is a Pontifical Academy of the Roman Catholic Church dedicated to promoting the Church's consistent life ethic...
, who said it was unjust, and from a French bishop, who questioned the applicability, in this case, of canon 1398 to the girl's mother. In view of the interpretations that were placed upon Archbishop Fisichella's article, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a clarification reiterating that "the Church's teaching on procured abortion has not changed, nor can it change".
In November 2009, when Sister Margaret McBride
Excommunication of Margaret McBride
The excommunication of Margaret McBride occurred following the sanctioning by the Religious Sister in November 2009 of an abortion at a Roman Catholic hospital in Phoenix, Arizona. Her decision and her subsequent excommunication aroused controversy in the areas of medical ethics and Catholic...
, as a member of the ethics board of a Catholic hospital, allowed doctors to perform an abortion to save the life of a mother of four suffering from pulmonary hypertension
Pulmonary hypertension
In medicine, pulmonary hypertension is an increase in blood pressure in the pulmonary artery, pulmonary vein, or pulmonary capillaries, together known as the lung vasculature, leading to shortness of breath, dizziness, fainting, and other symptoms, all of which are exacerbated by exertion...
, Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted
Thomas J. Olmsted
Thomas Olmsted is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He is the fourth and current Bishop of Phoenix, having previously served as Bishop of Wichita from 2001 to 2003.-Early life:...
excommunicated her on the grounds that, while efforts should be made to save a pregnant woman's life, what he called the direct killing of an unborn child cannot be used as a means to that end.
Recent statements of the Church's position
The Church teaches that "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."Since the first century, the Church has affirmed that every procured abortion is a moral evil, a teaching that the Catechism of the Catholic Church declares "has not changed and remains unchangeable".
The Church teaches that the inalienable right to life of every innocent human individual is a constitutive element of a civil society and its legislation. In other words, it is beholden upon society to legally protect the life of the unborn.
Catholic theologians trace Catholic thought on abortion to early Christian teachings such as the Didache
Didache
The Didache or The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles is a brief early Christian treatise, dated by most scholars to the late first or early 2nd century...
, Barnabas
Barnabas
Barnabas , born Joseph, was an Early Christian, one of the earliest Christian disciples in Jerusalem. In terms of culture and background, he was a Hellenised Jew, specifically a Levite. Named an apostle in , he and Saint Paul undertook missionary journeys together and defended Gentile converts...
and the Apocalypse of Peter
Apocalypse of Peter
The recovered Apocalypse of Peter or Revelation of Peter is an example of a simple, popular early Christian text of the 2nd century; it is an example of Apocalyptic literature with Hellenistic overtones. The text is extant in two incomplete versions of a lost Greek original, one Koine Greek, and an...
.
Unintentional abortion
The principle of double effect is frequently cited in relation to abortion. A doctor who believes abortion is always morally wrong may nevertheless remove the uterus or fallopian tubes of a pregnant woman, knowing the procedure will cause the death of the embryo or fetus, in cases in which the woman is certain to die without the procedure (examples cited include aggressive uterineUterus
The uterus or womb is a major female hormone-responsive reproductive sex organ of most mammals including humans. One end, the cervix, opens into the vagina, while the other is connected to one or both fallopian tubes, depending on the species...
cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
and ectopic pregnancy
Ectopic pregnancy
An ectopic pregnancy, or eccysis , is a complication of pregnancy in which the embryo implants outside the uterine cavity. With rare exceptions, ectopic pregnancies are not viable. Furthermore, they are dangerous for the parent, since internal haemorrhage is a life threatening complication...
). In these cases, the intended effect is to save the woman's life, not to terminate the pregnancy, and the death of the embryo or fetus is foreseen as a side effect, not intended even as a means to another end, an evil means to a good end. Thus chemotherapy or removal of a cancerous organ does not abort the fetus in order to cure the cancer, but instead it cures the cancer while also having the foreseen indirect result of aborting the embryo or fetus.
Ectopic pregnancy
An ectopic pregnancyEctopic pregnancy
An ectopic pregnancy, or eccysis , is a complication of pregnancy in which the embryo implants outside the uterine cavity. With rare exceptions, ectopic pregnancies are not viable. Furthermore, they are dangerous for the parent, since internal haemorrhage is a life threatening complication...
is one of the only cases where the foreseeable death of an embryo is allowed, since it is categorized as an indirect abortion. In Humanae Vitae, Paul VI writes that "the Church does not consider at all illicit the use of those therapeutic means necessary to cure bodily diseases, even if a foreseeable impediment to procreation should result there from—provided such impediment is not directly intended for any motive whatsoever". This view was also advocated by Pius XII in a 1953 address to the Italian Association of Urology.
Using the Thomistic Principle of Totality (removal of a pathological part to preserve the life of the person) and the Doctrine of Double Effect, the only moral action in an ectopic pregnancy where a woman's life is directly threatened is the removal of the tube containing the human embryo (salpingectomy
Salpingectomy
Salpingectomy refers to the surgical removal of a Fallopian tube.-Indications:The procedure was first performed by Lawson Tait in patients with a bleeding ectopic pregnancy; this procedure has since saved the lives of countless women...
). The death of the human embryo is unintended although foreseen.
In Catholic theology, it is never permissible to evacuate the fetus using methotrexate
Methotrexate
Methotrexate , abbreviated MTX and formerly known as amethopterin, is an antimetabolite and antifolate drug. It is used in treatment of cancer, autoimmune diseases, ectopic pregnancy, and for the induction of medical abortions. It acts by inhibiting the metabolism of folic acid. Methotrexate...
or to incise the Fallopian tube to extract the fetus (salpingostomy), as these procedures are considered to be direct abortions.
Embryos
The Church considers the destruction of any embryo to be equivalent to abortion. The Papal Encyclical Humanae VitaeHumanae Vitae
Humanae Vitae is an encyclical written by Pope Paul VI and issued on 25 July 1968. Subtitled On the Regulation of Birth, it re-affirms the traditional teaching of the Catholic Church regarding married love, responsible parenthood, and the continuing proscription of most forms of birth...
states that "We are obliged once more to declare that the direct interruption of the generative process already begun and, above all, all direct abortion, even for therapeutic reasons, are to be absolutely excluded as lawful means of regulating the number of children."
Sanctions
Catholics who procure or participate in an abortion are subject to ipso facto latae sententiaeLatae sententiae
Latæ sententiæ is a Latin term used in the canon law of the Catholic Church meaning literally "given sentence".Officially, a latae sententiae penalty follows automatically, by force of the law itself, when the law is contravened....
excommunication
Excommunication
Excommunication is a religious censure used to deprive, suspend or limit membership in a religious community. The word means putting [someone] out of communion. In some religions, excommunication includes spiritual condemnation of the member or group...
under Canon law
Canon law (Catholic Church)
The canon law of the Catholic Church, is a fully developed legal system, with all the necessary elements: courts, lawyers, judges, a fully articulated legal code and principles of legal interpretation. It lacks the necessary binding force present in most modern day legal systems. The academic...
(automatic excommunication, literally by that very fact the sentence is incurred), provided that the person knows of the penalty at the time the abortion occurs.
According to a memorandum written by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger
Pope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
, Catholic politicians who campaign and vote for permissive abortion laws should be warned by their priest to refrain from receiving communion or risk being denied the Eucharist
Eucharist (Catholic Church)
"At the Last Supper, on the night he was betrayed, our Savior instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of his Body and Blood."...
until they change their political views. This position is based on Canon 915
Canon 915
Canon 915, one of the canons of the current 1983 Code of Canon Law, forbids the administration of Holy Communion to those upon whom the penalty of excommunication or interdict has been imposed or declared or who persist in manifest grave sin...
and is also supported by Archbishop Raymond Leo Burke
Raymond Leo Burke
Raymond Leo Burke is an American Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church. He is the current Cardinal Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, having previously served as Archbishop of St...
, Prefect
Prefect
Prefect is a magisterial title of varying definition....
of the Apostolic Signatura
Apostolic Signatura
The Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura is the highest judicial authority in the Catholic Church...
, the highest judicial authority in the Catholic Church besides the Pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
himself.
Legality of abortion
Since the Catholic Church views procured abortion as gravely wrong, it considers it a duty to reduce its acceptance by the public and in civil legislation. While it considers that Catholics should not favour direct abortion in any field, it recognizes that Catholics may accept compromises that, while permitting direct abortions, lessen their incidence by, for instance, restricting some forms or enacting remedies against the conditions that give rise to them. It is accepted that support may be given to a political platform that contains a clause in favour of abortion but also elements that will actually reduce the number of abortions, rather than to an anti-abortion platform that will lead to their increase.In 2004, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger
Pope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
, then Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith , previously known as the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition , and after 1904 called the Supreme...
, declared: "A Catholic would be guilty of formal cooperation in evil, and so unworthy to present himself for holy Communion, if he were to deliberately vote for a candidate precisely because of the candidate's permissive stand on abortion and/or euthanasia. When a Catholic does not share a candidate's stand in favor of abortion and/or euthanasia, but votes for that candidate for other reasons, it is considered remote material cooperation, which can be permitted in the presence of proportionate reasons."
Catholic opinion
Although the church hierarchy actively campaigns against abortion and its legalization in all circumstances, even in threats to the woman's life or health and pregnancy from rape, many Catholics disagree with this position, according to a number of surveys of Catholic views. Between 16% and 22% of American Catholic voters share the view that abortion should never be permitted by law, while one in fourteen British Catholics believe the same. When posed a binary question of whether abortion was acceptable or unacceptable, rather than a question of whether it should be allowed or not allowed in all or most cases, 40% of American Catholics said it was acceptable, approximately the same percentage as non-Catholics; 58% of American Catholics said it was morally wrong. The percentage of American Catholics that believe it should be legal in "all or most cases" is approximately half, with 47-54% giving this as their position. Latinos and those who attend church weekly are more likely to oppose abortion.In the United States, 29% of Catholic voters choose their candidate based solely on the candidate's position on abortion; most of these vote for anti-abortion candidates. 44% believe a "good Catholic" cannot vote for a pro-choice politician, while 53% believe one can. 68% of American Catholics believe that one can be a "good Catholic" while disagreeing with the church's position on abortion, approximately as many as members of other religious groups.
On this long-standing phenomenon of Catholics not accepting the Catholic Church's clear teaching on moral questions such as induced abortion Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
commented: "It is sometimes reported that a large number of Catholics today do not adhere to the teaching of the Church on a number of questions, notably sexual and conjugal morality, divorce and remarriage. Some are reported as not accepting the Church’s clear position on abortion. It has also been noted that there is a tendency on the part of some Catholics to be selective in their adherence to the Church’s moral teachings. It is sometimes claimed that dissent from the Magisterium is totally compatible with being a "good Catholic" and poses no obstacle to the reception of the sacraments. This is a grave error ... We must also constantly recall that the teaching of Christ’s Church - like Christ himself - is a "sign of contradiction". It has never been easy to accept the Gospel teaching in its entirety, and it never will be. The Church is committed, both in faith and morals, to make her teaching as clear and understandable as possible, presenting it in all the attractiveness of divine truth. And yet the challenge of the Gospel remains inherent in the Christian message transmitted to each generation."
In his 2004 response to the United States Catholic of Catholic Bishops, the then Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith , previously known as the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition , and after 1904 called the Supreme...
stated that a Catholic may vote for a candidate who takes a permissive stand on abortion, if the voter chooses the candidate for other proportionate reasons. In a paper prepared at the same time, Archbishop William Levada
William Levada
William Joseph Levada is an American Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. Since 2005, he has served as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, making him the highest ranking American in the Roman Curia. He was previously the Archbishop of Portland from 1986 to 1995 and...
, who later himself became Prefect of the same department of the Roman Curia
Roman Curia
The Roman Curia is the administrative apparatus of the Holy See and the central governing body of the entire Catholic Church, together with the Pope...
, pointed out the complexity of forming judgments in this connection on questions of cooperation in evil actions".
Outside of the United States there is not the same controversy on this matter. While the Church maintains rigorous principles, it adopts flexible pastoral customs and has never raised questions about withholding communion from Catholic politicians who vote for legalizing abortion. When King Baudoin of Belgium temporarily abdicated so as not to be responsible for signing into law legislation that permitted induced abortion, he did so on his own initiative, not because of being told to do so by the Church hierarchy.In January 2001, Pope John Paul II gave Communion to Mayor of Rome Francesco Rutelli, one of those who take the stance of being personally opposed to abortion but unwilling to impose their view by law. Similar cases are found among parliamentarians in Austria, Belgium and Germany. Asked why only in the United States are demands made for church sanctions against politicians who hold such views, Cardinal
Cardinal (Catholicism)
A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...
Francis George's explanation was that the United States is the only country where abortion is considered to be a right enshrined in the national constitution and not a mere matter of legislation, and that in the United States culture and laws are changed by political crusades, which politicize questions of pastoral practice within the Church.
Both inside and outside the United States, "I am personally opposed to abortion, but I think the Church is concentrating its energies too much on abortion rather than on social action", or "I do not wish to impose my views on others", are used as grounds for dissenting.
Dissenting individuals and groups
Philosopher Daniel DombrowskiDaniel Dombrowski
Daniel A. Dombrowski is Professor of Philosophy at Seattle University. He is the author of seventeen books and over a hundred articles in scholarly journals in philosophy, theology, classics, and literature...
wrote, with Richard Deltete, A Brief, Liberal, Catholic Defense of Abortion, which analyzed Church theological history to argue that Catholic values supported a pro-choice position.
An independent organization called Catholics for Choice was founded in 1973 to support the availability of abortion, stating that this position is compatible with Catholic teachings, particularly the primacy of conscience and the importance of the laity in shaping church law. This organization was founded "to serve as a voice for Catholics" who believe that contraception and abortion are moral. Catholics for Choice believe:
Church teachings, tradition and core Catholic tenets—including the primacy of conscience, the role of the faithful in defining legitimate laws and norms, and support for the separation of church and state—leave room for supporting a more liberal position on abortion. ... Catholics can, in good conscience, support access to abortion and affirm that abortion can be a moral choice. Indeed, many of us do.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has stated that "[CFC] is not a Catholic organization, does not speak for the Catholic Church, and in fact promotes positions contrary to the teaching of the Church as articulated by the Holy See
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
and the USCCB." Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz
Fabian Bruskewitz
Fabian Wendelin Bruskewitz is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He is the eighth and current Bishop of Lincoln, Nebraska.-Early life and ministry:...
excommunicated all members of this organization in his jurisdiction in 1996.
See also
- Religion and abortionReligion and abortionMany religious traditions have taken a stance on abortion, and these stances span a broad spectrum as highlighted below.-Buddhism:There is no single Buddhist view concerning abortion. Traditional sources, such as the Buddhist monastic code, hold that life begins at conception and that abortion,...
- Christianity and abortionChristianity and abortionThe intersection of Christianity and abortion has a long and complex history though there is no mention of abortion in the Christian Bible. While some writers say that early Christians held different beliefs at different times about abortion, others say that, in spite of the silence of the New...
- Catholic moral theologyCatholic moral theologyCatholic moral theology is a major category of doctrine in the Roman Catholic church, equivalent to a religious ethics. Moral theology encompasses Roman Catholic social teaching, Catholic medical ethics, sexual ethics, and various doctrines on individual moral virtue and moral theory...
- Culture warCulture warThe culture war in American usage is a metaphor used to claim that political conflict is based on sets of conflicting cultural values. The term frequently implies a conflict between those values considered traditionalist or conservative and those considered progressive or liberal...
- Pro-lifePro-lifeOpposition to the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-life, or anti-abortion, movement, a social and political movement opposing elective abortion on moral grounds and supporting its legal prohibition or restriction...
- Right to lifeRight to lifeRight to life is a phrase that describes the belief that a human being has an essential right to live, particularly that a human being has the right not to be killed by another human being...
- Sanctity of life
- Culture of lifeCulture of lifeThe phrase "culture of life" is a term used in discussion of moral theology, especially of the Catholic Church. Its proponents describe it as a way of life based upon the theological truth that human life at all stages from conception through natural death is sacred...
External Links
- M. Pangallo. The Philosophy of Saint Thomas on the Human Embryo. XII General Assembly International Congress "The Human Embryo Before Implantation"