Why Is Abortion Wrong?

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Why Is Abortion Wrong? Isn’t It The Woman’s Right To Choose What She Wants?

As Catholics and as Christians, we stand on the Word of God. We believe the Word of God to be true and the Word of God clearly tells us that human life begins at conception. Let’s take a look at what the bible has to say about that:-

Psalm 139:13-16 “You created my inmost self, knit me together in my mother’s womb. For so many marvels I thank you; a wonder am I, and all your works are wonders. You knew me through and through, my being held no secrets from you, when I was being formed in secret, textured in the depths of the earth. Your eyes could see my embryo. In your book all my days were inscribed, every one that was fixed is there.”

This passage from Psalm 139 tells us that it is God who created us and carefully put us together in our mother’s womb. A close look at this passage will tell us that from the very earliest point of pregnancy, God is there forming (creating) the person even before it is know that there is a pregnancy! He is the One who numbers our days. So to abort a child (note I said a “child”, a human being and not a blob of tissue) at any stage during a pregnancy, for what ever the reason is literally snatching life out of God’s hands, and is therefore wrong and is a very serious sin. So while yes all of us do have the free will to choose – including woman – God’s desire is that we choose life and not death.

Never Been Born – Fr. Stan Fortuna

The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us :-

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.

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.
(Ref 2270 – 2271)

The Catechism continues:-

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.

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.”
(Ref. 2272 – 2273)

In conclusion, the Catechism of the Catholic Church says:-

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.”

“One must hold as licit procedures carried out on the human embryo which respect the life and integrity of the embryo and do not involve disproportionate risks for it, but are directed toward its healing the improvement of its condition of health, or its individual survival.” “It is immoral to produce human embryos intended for exploitation as disposable biological material.” “Certain attempts to influence chromosomic or genetic inheritance are not therapeutic but are aimed at producing human beings selected according to sex or other predetermined qualities. Such manipulations are contrary to the personal dignity of the human being and his integrity and identity”[84] which are unique and unrepeatable.
(Ref 2274 – 2275)

Conclusion

From the moment of conception, a human person is being formed, a human person with a soul and a spirit and made in the likeness of God the Creator. To destroy, to kill that human person at any point of pregnancy is murder and therefore a very serious sin. Even though many “developed” countries have passed laws legalizing abortion, it does not make it right. To sanction abortion and to pass laws legalizing it amounts to also saying that Adolf Hitler was right to kill millions of Jews.

God has given us all free will, but He expects us and has already given us the grace to choose good and not evil; to choose life and not death.

Any woman who has ever had an abortion will attest to the fact that post-abortion life was filled with guilt and emotional trauma.

There are many Pro-Life institutions throughout the world that can assist any woman in need of assistance during and after pregnancy. Information on these organizations can be obtained from Catholic Church nearest you.

Other Scriptural References

Job 31:15 “Did he not create them in the womb like me, the same God forming us in the womb?“
Psalm 22:9-10 “It was you who drew me from the womb and soothed me on my mother’s breast. On you was I cast from my birth, from the womb I have belonged to you.”
Isaiah 44:2, “Thus says Yahweh who made you, who formed you in the womb; he will help you. Do not be afraid, Jacob my servant, Jeshurun whom I have chosen.“
Isaiah 49:5; “And now Yahweh has spoken, who formed me in the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him and to re-unite Israel to him;-I shall be honoured in Yahweh’s eyes, and my God has been my strength.“
Isaiah 46:3-4 “Listen to me, House of Jacob, all who remain of the House of Israel, whom I have carried since the womb, whom I have supported since you were conceived. Until your old age I shall be the same, until your hair is grey I shall carry you. As I have done, so I shall support you, I myself shall carry and shall save you.”
Jeremiah 1:4-5 “before you were born I set you apart”
Like 1:41 “the baby leapt in her womb”
All of the above scripture passages tell us of that intimate relationship with God the Creator from the time we were conceived.