Is abortion against the Catholic religion?

Question

I was watching the youtube debate with my Dad today and they were talking about abortion. I'm Catholic and personally I'm pro-choice. Is that wrong?

btw im not wanting your political opinions.

im not getting an abortion. im only 14. and i dont support abortion i just think it should be the persons choice

I was reading a little bit about pro-life on wikipedia. there was something about some violent protesters committing arson, and bombing against abortion clinics. And also murders/attempted murders of staff and physicians. So what if their pro-life, why are they trying to kill other people?

Answer 1

Yes, it falls under the description of murder. But even more so, it is killing the most defenseless among us. The Church teaches it as being objectively evil. This means that it is always wrong and can never be justified, there can never be a moral justification.

If you deny this truth, then I would suggest some serious sole searching. Dig into more deeply why the Church teaches this.

Answer 2

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Yes, it is wrong. You cannot be Catholic and pro-choice at the same time.


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Lets talk about the morality of abortion then. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches:

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.

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," "by the very commission of the offense," and subject to the conditions provided by Canon Law. 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.

2322 From its conception, the child has the right to life. Direct abortion, that is, abortion willed as an end or as a means, is a "criminal" practice (GS 27 § 3), gravely contrary to the moral law. The Church imposes the canonical penalty of excommunication for this crime against human life.

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."


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You don't support abortion but you think it should be a personal choice? This is the most schitzophranic statement I've seen in a long time.


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What about the unborn human beings? Don't they have a right to life? They don't as far as you are concerned - so long as you continue to advocate support for abortion as a "personal choice".

Because these "other people" are killing unborn human beings. Granted, this coarse of action cannot be condoned because it does more harm to the pro-life movement than it helps.

Re-read those Catechism paragraphs I posted. And I reiterate, you cannot be Catholic and pro-choice at the same time.

Answer 3

Catholics believe that to say you are personally pro-choice and Catholic would be like saying you are personally pro-slavery and Catholic. It cannot stand to reason to say that you are both.

Something's gotta give.

The Catholic Church condemns slavery as a grave moral evil. No informed Catholic can sympathize with a "pro-slavery" position. Catholics categorically condemn slavery as contrary to the value and the dignity of the human person. There can be no room for compromise on this.

Abortion and infanticide are also gravely evil. No informed Catholic can call themselves "pro-choice" on abortion. Catholics have always condemned abortion and infanticide as the unjustifiable destruction of human life, also contrary to the value and the dignity of the human person, and a serious offense against God.

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About violence at abortion clinics: this is forbidden to Catholics and for the same reason as abortion and infanticide - to harm, to kill other humans is an offense against God.

Sometimes overly zealous persons go "off the deep end" and commit evil in the name of ending evil. This is very wrong and is bitterly regretted.

Did you know that many loggers have been severely injured when environmental activists have placed booby-traps in trees slated to be cut down? Environmental activists are not generally known to be violent, yet unfortunately, a few unstable nut-jobs find themselves drawn to the cause, and do harm to others.

During the 1960's, in the name of "civil rights", certain extremists such as the "Black Panthers" robbed banks and shot and killed police officers in the name of "helping the oppressed." This was very wrong, but most everyone realized that in every movement, a few bad apples do become involved. It does not mean that all civil rights activists - or even many - were in favor of violence. They most certainly were not!

There is no excuse for this sort of behavior, whether it is among environmental activists or pro-life activists. The sincere activists - who are the majority - rightly deplore violence.

Answer 4

As a catholic, you should be against abortions, as well as condoms and pre-marital sex! a previous poster stated you would be excommunicated, and that is simply untrue. Pope John Paul II commented on this very issue.

Pope John Paul II's 1995 encyclical Gospel of Life includes this passage:

"I would like to say a special word to women who have had an abortion. The Church is aware of the many factors which may have influenced your decision, and she does not doubt that in many cases it was a painful and even shattering decision. The wound in your heart may not yet have healed. Certainly what happened was and remains terribly wrong. But do not give in to discouragement and do not lose hope. Try rather to understand what happened and face it honestly.

"If you have not already done so, give yourselves over with humility and trust to repentance. The Father of mercies is ready to give you his forgiveness and his peace in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. You will come to understand that nothing is definitely lost and you will also be able to ask forgiveness from your child, who is now living in the Lord"

Answer 5

I've been Catholic my whole life and I've always been told that abortion is against the Catholic religion. Reason being is that abortion is interfering with God's plan of pro-creation (long story short :)) I personally don't think it's wrong to be pro-choice. I see why the Church believes this, but in the end, I think it comes down to what you believe and what you're okay with because it is your body. Hope this helps.

Answer 6

According to the Catholic Church, yes. According to the rest of humanity... well... it depends on who you ask. Being "pro-choice" goes against Catholic teachings; as for whether or not such a position is "wrong" is another question.

Personally, I am on the fence... not because I haven't considered enough of the evidence, but because the evidence presented - thus far - isn't convincing. Basically, each side tries to prove the other side wrong, yet neither side tries to prove their own case.

Until someone can come up with a definitive case FOR their position (rather than one against the position of their opposition) I have no reason to listen to either side.

Answer 7

Yes.

Catholics believe that from the moment of conception until natural death, each human being is endowed by God with dignity and rights.

You shall not kill. (Ex 20:13; cf. Deut 5:17)

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you. (Jer 1:5; cf. Job 10:8-12; Ps 22:10-11)

My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately wrought in the depths of the earth. (Ps 139:15)

Early Church writings: You shall not kill the embryo by abortion and shall not cause the newborn to perish. (Didache 2, 2: SCh 248, 148; cf. Ep. Barnabae 19, 5: PG 2, 777; Ad Diognetum 5, 6: PG 2, 1173; Tertullian, Apol. 9: PL 1, 319-320)

For more information, see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, sections 2270 and following: http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt3sect2chpt2art5.htm#2270

With love in Christ.

Answer 8

Yes, the catholic churchs view on abortion is that it is wrong but in certain circumstances. There are a lot of pro-choice christians, jews, muslims, other theist centered groups and atheists. The reason I am pro choice is the fact that I know in my heart of hearts that a lot of women that get them really really need them and we shouldn't advise people of what to do with their bodies but I wish some of the mother's that are rottening in prison for killing their child/ren would have had an abortion cause it would have been a lot less cruel then what was done to them.

Answer 9

Yes, it is wrong for a Catholic to hold a pro-choice view.

Part of Catholic teaching is that ALL life is sacred. That means we are not supposed to support anything that destroys life, including capital punishment, euthanasia, war and abortion. And no, we aren't supposed to bomb abortion clinics or kill abortion doctors. I know of no Catholic who has ever done these things -- the people who have are usually renegade protestants who don't even have the support of their churches in such actions. Just because one person goes nuts and does something like that doesn't mean EVERY pro-life person feels they did the right thing.

Being only 14, you might not understand WHY women get abortions. It's not because they are pro-choice. It's not because they think abortion is a good thing to do.

Women get abortions because they think they DON'T have a choice. They are trapped. They are desperate. One feminist writer said, "Women choose abortions the way an animal caught in a trap chooses to gnaw off its own leg."

Women get abortions because their boyfriends or husbands threaten to dump them otherwise. You watch -- it'll happen in your high school. Women get abortions because they believe their parents will disown them if they have a baby as a teen. Some teens get abortions because their parents force them to -- the parents take the teen's choice away. That's hardly pro-choice, is it?

Women get abortions because they fear they will lose their jobs or ruin their careers if they have a baby. Do you think it's right for a woman's career to suffer just because she's a mother? I know you're only 14, but it really happens! Every day. I'm a mom and I'm discriminated against at work all the time. I'm underpaid and if I miss one HOUR of work because of my kids, it's held against me.

Women get abortions because a test tells them their baby might be challenged in some way and our society is extremely prejudiced against handicapped people. You sound like a nice person -- you're not prejudiced against handicapped people are you? So would you want them killed just because they MIGHT have a handicap?

Women get abortions because they've been raped and people recoil from them in horror if they turn out to be pregnant. Do you think it's right to treat a rape victim that way? Do you think it's right to kill a child just because one of his/her parents is a criminal, even though the other one is a perfectly innocent and wonderful human being?

Abortion abuses women. It abuses them mentally and socially and intellectually and spiritually. It is potentially dangerous for their very lives, too -- legal abortion STILL kills women, through perforated wombs that leads to blood loss and death or through staph infections or through suicide (women who have abortions are much more likely to kill themselves than those who do not). Legal abortion leaves some women permanently infertile because of the scar tissue that develops. And women are rarely told of these potential consequences before they agree to the procedure.

You haven't been through it because you're only 14, but I hope you never do. If you were to sit in on a post-abortion support group -- which are not at ALL available at Planned Parenthood or any other abortion clinic because they only want your money...they don't care about your mind -- you'd see the devastating effects of abortion and maybe you wouldn't think abortion is such a great thing any more. You'd become like me and start working to help women have the babies they really want to have, but think they can't for some reason.

No woman CHOOSES abortion. Women get abortions because they don't have any other choice.

Answer 10

So you think that the baby is choosing to be killed?

I understand that you are placing the desires of the mother against the life of the baby because she is easier to see and relate to, and a tiny baby seems unreal.

But that baby has a right to live. By saying that one person is more worthy of living because it has "more value," you open the door to other kinds of killing for convenience sake. The young, the sick, the outcast, the darker skinned, the female.....all of these have been targets because they were thought to have "less value."

The baby is complete from the time it is concieved; it changes only in terms of its growth, just as you have grown through your life.

I hope and pray that you will reconsider your thoughts on this.