Monday, May 16, 2011

The Catholic Church’s teachings on Abortion

             The Catholic Church is very clear on its view on abortion as the Church is anti-abortion, and does not believe in abortion at all for several reasons. As mentioned above, many groups of people and religions have different perceptions and beliefs about when life begins. However, the Catholic Church is very clear and concise about when life begins and why abortion should be forbidden. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states “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 (CCC#2270).” This shows that the Church is anti-abortion as it believes that life begins at the moment of conception and at that point, a unique life that is created sacred by God begins and deserves the same value, rights, and protection that are granted to an infant, child, or adult. So, due to this, the Church does not believe in abortion as the life of the baby begins at conception and the religion states that all humans are sacred from the point of conception, and should therefore be protected and respected, not aborted/killed. The fact that life begins at the moment of conception, according to the Catholic Church beliefs, means that when a women decides to get an abortion, she is really killing a baby, not getting rid of an unwanted pregnancy. Also, the Church is anti-abortion because aborting a child would cause the woman to sin as they would be killing another person (the unborn baby), as the baby becomes human at the moment of conception.  
           
             This is forbidden in Catholicism due to the fact that it is clearly written in the Fifth Commandment, “You shall not kill.” So, this shows that abortion is not an option for Catholics as the woman would be breaking the fifth commandment which would result in her sinning and killing another living human. The Catechism of the Catholic Church clearly states “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 (CCC#2274).” This means that a woman has no right to get an abortion and kill their baby as the baby whether it is born or not, is a human and has to be protected and defended, not killed. By getting an abortion, a woman is not only breaking the Fifth Commandment and killing/murdering another human being (their unborn baby), but they are also going against the Catechism of the Catholic Church and are not trying their best to care for their embryo and to protect it. A woman aborting a child would also be disrespecting God as he made all humans special and sacred and because his spirit lives in them, no matter how small that human is. This is because we as Catholics are temples of the Holy Spirit which means we are the bodies of God. So when we do something to harm ourselves, we are also harming God who lives inside of us. This is the same when a woman harms a baby through abortion as they are harming the baby and God, whose spirit lives inside the aborted baby. Furthermore, abortion goes against what the Church teaches and the Church is against it as humans are sacred and special from the moment of conception. They are special and sacred as they were created by God uniquely. So by a woman getting an abortion and killing her baby, she is mocking God’s work and basically saying that the unborn baby is not sacred. This is not true as it was created by God and is sacred, but through an abortion, an unborn human loses their sacredness as they die, which mocks God’s work and goes against Catholicism. This is seen in the Bible where it is stated that, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.” More evidence that abortion is immoral, but most of all murder is seen in the Catechism of the Catholic Church which states “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 (CCC#2272).”  
            The last three reasons as to why abortion is not permitted by the Catholic Church is because we are to love our neighbor as we love ourselves, we are to apply the “Golden Rule” (do onto others as you would to yourselves) in our lives daily, and because we are called to apply the preferential of the poor in our lives. This means that we are to love all others including unborn babies as much as we love ourselves, and we should not harm them through abortion for example. We should apply the “Golden Rule” in our lives daily and treat others as we want to be treated. This shows just how immoral and wrong abortion is as I’m sure no one wants to be put to death. Lastly, as Catholics, we should put others before ourselves and be advocates of the preferential option for the poor. This includes us loving the poor (unborn babies) just as Jesus loved everyone, putting the needs of the poor (unborn babies) ahead of our own and not murdering them through abortion, and helping or defending those who cannot help or defend themselves (unborn babies). Finally, the only time in which abortion is allowed in Catholicism is in extreme cases. Abortion is only allowed by the Catholic Church in cases in which the pregnancy threatens the life of the mother and abortion is the only way to save the mother’s life. To sum it up, the Catholic Church is anti-abortion because humans are sacred from the moment of conception and are to be respected and protected from that point on. Aborting an unborn baby, however, results in killing/murdering it which goes against the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Fifth Commandment, the Beatitudes, the “Golden Rule,” God, the preferential option for the poor, and basically Catholicism. This is what the Catholic Church teaches about abortion and is why they do not believe in abortion and are anti-abortion.






        





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