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Abortion

June 5, 2009

by George Vogt

McKinney, TX (MetroCatholic) – Those who know me are familiar with my tendency to rant.  I’ll do my best to keep this one short and to the point.

There are an ever-increasing amount of websites, groups, organizations, etc. that claim Catholic teaching allows for abortion or some other nonsensical thinking to that end.  Many mislead others by using the name “Catholic” such as “Catholics For Choice”.

I want our readers to be clear on a few things.  MetroCatholic is not an official website of the Catholic Church.  However, we are comprised of Catholics with intentions of adhering to the teachings of the Church.  We hope to keep others informed of news and events from a Catholic perspective.  We believe that all Christians have a mandate from Jesus Christ to spread the Good News, proclaiming Truth.

Sometimes, the Truth is not something people like to hear.  This means that it is not just possible, but likely that there will be those who do not want to hear it.  There are those who think the Truth should be sugar-coated or watered down to make it more pleasant-sounding to others who are not willing to accept the Truth.

Certainly, all persons deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.  We do not advocate violence, hatred, or ill-will of any kind to persons who do not receive the Truth.  However, that does not change the mandate.

So, what is the Good News?  We have a God who loves us so much that He became one of us, brought our sins to the cross, died in our place, and rose from the dead, ascending to Heaven so that we might be with Him for eternity.  For one to recognize this as “Good News”, there must of course be the recognition of personal sin and the need for redemption.  When we sugar-coat sin, we diminish the recognition of the need for redemption, hindering or obstructing the Truth.  After all, “the Truth shall set you free.”

So below is Catholic Church teaching, straight from the Catechism.

Abortion

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.

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:

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,”77 “by the very commission of the offense,”78 and subject to the conditions provided by Canon Law.79 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. 

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.”80

“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.”81

 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.

References are not included here, but may be found by visiting this link.

Posted by George Vogt · Filed Under DFW Spotlight, Pro-Life 

Comments

2 Responses to “Abortion”

  1. Chad Simpson on June 5th, 2009 8:54 am

    Nice work George!

  2. Persuasion : DFW Catholic.org on June 7th, 2009 8:36 am

    [...] a recent post on abortion, George wrote: There are those who think the Truth should be sugar-coated or watered down to make it more [...]

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