Does the Catholic Church consider abortion to be murder?
Upvote:2
In the eyes of natural moral law and the church direct abortion is tantamount to murder (whether the legislature agrees or not). Direct abortion is when one chooses to intentionally abort a fertilized egg. However, indirect abortion is not tantamount to murder. Indirect abortion is when one does something that is not intended to harm the child, but the outcome is that the pregnancy is terminated (i.e. a woman with cancer has exhausted all treatment options that will not harm her baby and opts for a treatment which results in the death of her child). This is not a light decision for a mother, but is not seen as morally abhorrent and the choice would be left to the woman (although I think it should be highly prescribed in cases where if not treated both the woman and child would be lost). If any of this is confusing, here is an article which discusses the topic I have presented in more thorough detail. cf. International Symposium on Maternal Health: Direct Abortion “Never Medically Necessary” | Catholic Moral Theology.
Upvote:4
Context for the answer
Has Sacred Scripture and the Church referred to the human embryo as a child? And the answer is YES! [cf. RSVCE returned search results for 'with child' and the Didache, 2].
My position as well is that the human embryo is an unborn child.
Proceeding to the question
I read two questions here
1. Does the Catholic Church consider abortion to be murder? And
2. Is abortion exactly the same as murder, under the natural moral law
and in the eyes of the Catholic Church?
Not all unlawful or unjust killings are murder
First Does the Catholic Church consider abortion to be murder?
Are both unlawful killings? And the answer is yes. If by murder is meant the unjust killing of an innocent person, I have yet come across any official Church literature or declaration that makes that equation.
In Catechism of the Catholic Church 2271, the Church interprets the Didache portion on abortion as follows:
You shall not kill the embryo by abortion and shall not cause the newborn to perish1
1. Distinguishing abortion from infanticide.
Thus at least from this, the gravely moral evil of killing an embryo by abortion is not equivalent to the unjust killing of an innocent person.
Second Is abortion exactly the same as murder, under the natural moral law and in the eyes of the Catholic Church?
The Church portion has been answered as above. For natural law, we go to what the fifth commandment, and it says You shall not kill. All the killings prohibited by this commandment for example intentional homicide, abortion, euthanasia, and suicide are listed here in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Therefore, whilst the Church considers direct abortion to be the very grave moral evil of killing an embryo, contrary to natural law, it does not equate it to murder/intentional homicide = unjust/unlawful killing of an innocent person.
Please note CCC 2323 Because it should be treated as a person from conception, the embryo must be defended in its integrity, cared for, and healed like every other human being.
it should implying that universally it isn't treated as such.
Further reading
He illogically assumes that if the Church, at certain times and in certain circumstances, regarded abortion as less than homicide it probably "tolerated" or even "sanctioned" abortion. This is roughly equivalent to arguing that it must be all right to kill a privately owned racehorse because such an act does not constitute homicide. - c. 23rd paragraph.
Early Christian writers consistently classified abortion as a grave evil even though they did not uniformly agree that all abortion (particularly of the unformed fetus) is equivalent to homicide. - c. 19th paragraph.
Upvote:13
Yes, in the eyes of the Catholic Church, under the guidance of the Pontifical Council for the Family abortion has been likened to murder.
The moral gravity of procured abortion is apparent in all its truth if we recognize that we are dealing with murder and, in particular, when we consider the specific elements involved. The one eliminated is a human being at the very beginning of life. No one more absolutely innocent could be imagined. In no way could this human being ever be considered an aggressor, much less an unjust aggressor!
And the notion goes even deeper and predates Christian ethics, as tied to the Hippocratic Oath.
the evident synthesis of Hippocratic ethics and Christian morality cannot be contested -both Hippocratic ethics and Christian morality regard all forms of direct abortion or direct (whether active or passive) euthanasia as illegitimate because one is dealing with an act which destroys a prenatal life and with an act of murder which nobody can justify.
The Charter for Health Care Workers: A Synthesis of Hippocratic Ethics and Christian Morality
So, I think in the eyes of the Church, abortion is a form of murder. In fact it is the worst possible kind of murder because it destroys the life of a completely innocent human being.
More post
- 📝 When did Jesus assume human nature?
- 📝 What is the role of the Holy Spirit in the Thomistic understanding of vocation?
- 📝 Is there any biblical basis for the Church to depict Jesus as a European or some other ethnic race?
- 📝 What did Brigham Young teach regarding Blood Atonement, and is that doctrine still held today in the LDS/Mormon Church?
- 📝 Why are many Protestant Churches not practicing Confession?
- 📝 Do Christians have "secret" (handshakes for example) ways of knowing who other Christians were?
- 📝 Why did the mid-early church consider the Gospel of Matthew to be reliable?
- 📝 Why don't Catholics divide the blood of Christ into individual cups?
- 📝 If our body is the church, why should we go to a place called church?
- 📝 When did female missionaries appear after the Reformation?
- 📝 What denominations consider Apocrypha to be heretical?
- 📝 Are there instances in scripture of technical or scientific expressions pre-dating their discovery by other sources?
- 📝 Does the Bible refer to Christian gentiles or the Church as "New Israelites", "New Israel" or "Spiritual Israel"?
- 📝 Does God need our praise and glory?
- 📝 Why is all the family tree from David to Joseph mentioned in Bible?
- 📝 Are there any conditions at all that allow a married Catholic couple to use contraceptives?
- 📝 Theology question: why hasn't God stopped Satan and his demons?
- 📝 "I will lift Your Name"
- 📝 Hades or straight to heaven?
- 📝 What is the significance of Jesus saying "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending"?
- 📝 Why does the Authorized Version use the name "Jehovah" only in four verses?
- 📝 Why were early Mormon leaders so critical of traditional Christianity?
- 📝 Was Onan really struck dead by God for masturbating?
- 📝 Can Orthodox Church members be extraordinary ministers in the Roman Catholic rite?
- 📝 Does Christianity allow Christians to celebrate other holidays?
- 📝 How did Reformed Theologians view works-based "Heavenly Rewards"?
- 📝 When are lay men and women permitted to proclaim the Gospel in a Catholic church?
- 📝 According to the Bible, do animals have souls?
- 📝 Which sacraments can an intersex individual receive in the Catholic Church?
- 📝 What is the earliest name ascribed to the book of Revelation?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Does the Catholic Church consider abortion to be murder?
- 📝 Why does the Roman Catholic Church consider beatification of the pope?
- 📝 Does the Roman Catholic church consider HIPAA to be an unjust law?
- 📝 Does the Catholic Church consider it sinful for couples who aren't able to conceive to have sex?
- 📝 Does the Catholic church consider Mark 16:9-20 to be biblical canon?
- 📝 Why does the Catholic Church consider protestant baptisms valid sacraments, but not protestant marriages?
- 📝 Does the Catholic Church consider not administering a feeding tube passive euthanasia?
- 📝 Does the Catholic Church consider the 40 year trek in the wilderness an allegory?
- 📝 Under what basis does the Catholic Church consider animals, in particular great apes, not to be persons?
- 📝 Does the Catholic Church consider Constantine's vision of "by this symbol conquer" to be from God?
- 📝 Does the Roman Catholic Church consider other religions evil, demonic, and satanic?
- 📝 Does the Catholic Church officially recognize Protestants as Christians?
- 📝 How does the Catholic church explain Matthew 19:9, which seems to allow divorce in case of sexual misconduct?
- 📝 What does the Catholic church teach about fate of non-Catholic christians?
- 📝 What does the Roman Catholic church teach about those who die having never heard of Christ?
- 📝 Does the Catholic Church oppose universalism?
- 📝 How does the Catholic Church reconcile evolution with original sin?
- 📝 Does the Catholic Church teach there is only one person?
- 📝 Why does the Roman Catholic Church not hold to the perspicuity of Scripture?
- 📝 Where does the Catholic church procure most of its Bibles?
- 📝 How does the Catholic Church understand the priesthood of all believers?
- 📝 What does Catholic Church say about the post-resurrection wound marks of Jesus?
- 📝 Does the Roman Catholic church recognize marriages outside of the church?
- 📝 What does the Catholic Church mean when it calls humans co-creators with God?
- 📝 How does the Catholic church view Freemasons?
- 📝 Does the Catholic Church teach that it has the authority to change what is morally right and wrong?
- 📝 On what basis does the Catholic Church teach that women cannot be ordained?
- 📝 According to the Catholic Church, does abortion need to be confessed, and is it a mortal or venial sin?
- 📝 Does the Catholic Church allow a professor in a Catholic university to support an idea which is seemingly contrary to Catholic teaching?
- 📝 Under what basis does the Catholic Church condemn the use of drugs while permitting alcohol?