Adrianna Giangregorio
Mr. Guarnieri
Catholic Morality
14 May 2013
Abortion
Abortion is defined in the dictionary as, "The expulsion of a fetus (naturally or by medical induction) from the womb before it is able to survive independently (around 28 weeks)." This simply means that the fetus is removed by either a natural or medical procedure before the time of the natural birth would have occurred, before the fetus could support its own life.
The Roman Catholic Church opposes all forms of abortion procedures whose direct purpose is to destroy an embryo since the Church believes that "human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his/her existence, a human being must be recognized as having the right of a person - among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2270)
The bible is used by the Catholic Church to prove that their view is the view that God takes, because the Bible is the word of God. Because the Church believes that life begins at the moment of conception, their proof that abortion is wrong are quotes from the Bible that state life begins at conception, people are formed in the image of God, and murder is wrong.
The Roman Catholic Church states that God created each and every human, that each person was intended, their life planned, mapped out and built in the womb of the mother, before the child is delivered. "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother s womb". "My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place." (Psalm 139) "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you." (Jeremiah 1:5) These Bible quotes say that God knows the soul of every fetus, and therefore proves that the fertilized egg is a human life.
The Catholic Church uses their belief that God’s spirit lives in every person, even in an unborn child, to support the idea that by killing that child you are killing a part of God s family. The quotes from the Bible they use to support the claim are: "Don’t you realize that all of you together are in the house of God, and that the spirit of God lives among you in his house?" (1 Corinthian 3:16) "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." (Genesis 1:27-28) These quotes prove that each human is a part of God. These teachings are all about the Sanctity of Life, which Christians believe in, this means that life is a gift from God and each life is precious, therefore should be treated with the greatest care and its value should not be jeopardized or questioned in anyway. The other meaning of the Sanctity of Life is the next biblical teaching that some Christians would use to oppose abortion, the teaching that only God has the right to decide when a life should be taken away, as He is the one who gave that gift in the first instance and, as life begins at conception, abortion is perceived to be the taking of a human life. “I came naked from my mother’s womb he said and I shall have nothing when I die. The Lord gave me everything I had, and they were his to take away." (Job 1:21) The ultimate teaching from the Bible is "Thou shall not kill" (Ten Commandments Exodus 20:13) This is the fifth of the Ten Commandments, the Church considering abortion to be the murder of a human life, uses this to prove that God does not tolerate murder, therefore would not tolerate abortion, it is a sin.
The topic of abortion is one of the most argued morality topics in this current time period. As abortion can be looked at from many different aspects and upon different circumstances, I personally believe that abortion is completely, absolutely wrong in any of its aspects. The simplest explanation for the action of abortion is the intentional murder of an innocent life. Not only because of my faith, but also because I am a moral person I see abortion as a grave sin. The baby in the mother’s womb is as much a