CATHOLIC VIEWS ON ABORTION

1 The Catholic Church opposes and condemns any and all direct abortions. Even pregnancies that result from rape, incest, and present a danger to the life of the mother aren't’ reasons for abortion. Although the Catholic position on abortion may seem extreme to some, it coincides consistently and completely with Catholic morality, which is based on natural moral law, the bible, and the other teachings of the Magisterium. The ends never justify the means. Catholics believe that willingly, knowingly and deliberately committing evil is never justifiable – no matter how good the intention and no matter how noble the cause. This is a moral absolute for Catholics, and it cant be diluted or altered one iota. The church believes that if in even one circumstance, someone is allowed to knowingly and willingly commit evil so that good may come from it, then Pandora's box is opened for anyone to claim he was merely doing a so called necessary evil for the greater good in the long run.

WHAT IS THE HIPPOCRATIC OATH? DOES IT SAY ABORTION IS WRONG? Before starting their profession, many doctors take the Hippocratic Oath as part of their graduation ceremony. They make a promise to do their best to heal and save lives. ‘And likewise I will not give a woman a destructive pessary’ This passage is often interpreted as a rejection of Abortion. However, Abortion was legal at the time and the text only mentions pessaries ( a soaked piece of wool inserted in the vagina to induce abortion) not the oral methods of abortion used in ancient Greece. As pessaries could cause lethal infections the author the oath may have had a clinical objection to the method rather than a moral objection to abortion itself.

2 The catholic church sees abortion as the termination of an innocent though unborn life, and therefore, its always wrong sinful, and immoral. The circumstances by which life was conceived are considered irrelevant to the question, ‘Is this an innocent person?’ The church teaches that human life is created and begins at the moment of conception.

PRO – LIFE ARGUMENTS

PRO – CHOICE ARGUMENTS

3 Often people say the Catholic Church opts for the child over the mother. Catholics would argue this is not the case at all. The real teaching is that each and every innocent life must be protected and intentionally ending the life of the mother or the unborn is immoral. So if a pregnant woman has a heart attack and needs emergency surgery, its considered morally permissible to put her under anaesthesia and operate, even though its likely that she will spontaneously abort the foetus on her own as a consequence. The distinction is that it is her body is doing the act of ejecting the foetus. If the baby dies naturally then the Catholic Church believes that no sin has been committed. But if the doctor or nurse directly kills the baby, that’s considered murder, the taking of an innocent life.

PETER SINGER Peter Singer is very critical of the views held by the Roman Catholic church. In his book Rethinking life and death, Singer proposes the message that not all lives are of equal value and that some lives are not worth living. In other words, if you are hampered by mental or physical illness or disability, some human lives are better cut short by abortion or euthanasia.