Being Consistent THE ORIGINS OF LIFE

Opening Prayer Mary, Mother of Jesus and Mother of us all, we turn to you today as the one who said "Yes" to Life. "You will conceive and bear a Son," the angel told you. Despite the surprise and the uncertainty about how this could be, you said yes. "Be it done unto me according to your word." Mary, we pray today for all mothers who are afraid to be mothers. We pray for those who feel threatened and overwhelmed by their pregnancy. Intercede for them, that God may give them the grace to say yes and the courage to go on. May they have the grace to reject the false solution of abortion. May they say with you, "Be it done unto me according to your word." May they experience the help of Christian people, and know the peace that comes from doing God's will. Amen.

Guess the estimated number of live annual births in United States

4,000,000

Guess the estimated number of abortions in the United States each year

1,500,000 (~1 in 4)

Life’s Greatest Miracle

Life  Even science shows us the miracle of life  We are ‘wonderfully made’ and that is immediately obvious  The whole function of cells in the fertilized egg is driven toward making a human from its first moment

Abortion The voluntary termination, or deliberate procedure that causes the termination, of an embryo or fetus before the embryo or fetus is sufficiently developed to survive on its own

Child vs. My Choice?  The Pro-Choice movement is mistaken on the position of “my body, my choice”  Did you not already make a choice in having sex? Are there really no consequences to that action?  The only ‘choice’ we have is the true choice of freewill: to do the good  “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.”

Catholic Stance  The Catholic Church is totally and utterly opposed to abortion (CCC )  The Catholic Church is against abortion because life begins at conception  Abortions can have serious physical and emotional side-effects, for women who have them

8 weeks

12 Weeks Later

Roe v. Wade  In 1973, the Supreme Court of United States rendered its decision legalizing abortion  The Supreme Court decided that the right to privacy was broad enough to include a woman's right to terminate her pregnancy  Embryos and fetuses were not persons because legal personhood cannot exist prenatally and therefore they are not covered by laws  Abortions for any reason would be allowed to be performed during the first three months of a woman's pregnancy

Closing Prayer Our Father

Backup

Abortion - Cathecism CCC 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. Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately wrought in the depths of the earth.

Abortion - Cathecism CCC 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. 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.

Abortion - Catechism CCC 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." "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."

 CCC:  Materials from Consistent Ethic of Life presentation previous

 Conception -- the moment of the fertilization of the human egg by the human sperm.  Embryo -- a human being in his earliest stage of development, from the moment of conception until the eighth week of development.  Fetus -- the name for an unborn human from the eighth week of development until birth.  Abortion -- voluntary termination, or deliberate procedure that causes the termination, of an embryo or fetus before the embryo or fetus is sufficiently developed to survive on its own.  Viability -- the ability of the fetus to survive outside of the womb. This point is generally thought to be around 24 weeks.