Should Abortion be Illegal in All Cases?

The Church’s moral doctrine teaches that abortion is an intrinsic evil (CCC 2270-2274). Vatican II defined abortion as “an unspeakable crime” (Gaudium et Spes, 51). This means that the act of intentionally and voluntarily killing an innocent unborn child is always morally illicit.

By Deacon Frederick Bartels
22 August 2023

Unfortunately, a majority of Americans continue to support legalized abortion. This is reflected in a Pew Research survey titled America’s Abortion Quandary. The survey found that 61% of Americans think abortion should be legal in all or most cases, whereas only 8% of Americans think abortion should be illegal in all cases.

Among Catholics, it is reported that 69% think abortion should be legal if there is a threat to the mother’s health. If abortion is the result of rape, 66% of Catholics think it should be legal, with a small minority of 17% reporting that it should be illegal.

Granted, many of the Catholics surveyed are likely not practicing their faith. Other studies indicate that only a small percent (often less than 30%) of people who identify as Catholic attend Mass every Sunday and otherwise actively practice the Christian faith transmitted by the Church. Nevertheless, it’s been my experience that even among Catholics who attend daily Mass, there are some who are permissive of abortion to varying degrees.

This is often the result of absorbing pagan ideologies promoted by secular humanists in the media, entertainment industries, as well as public school and college classrooms.

Church Teaching on Abortion

The Church’s moral doctrine teaches that abortion is an intrinsic evil (CCC 2270-2274). Vatican II defined abortion as “an unspeakable crime” (Gaudium et Spes, 51). This means that the act of intentionally and voluntarily killing an innocent unborn child is always morally illicit. It’s always wrong. The act of abortion is itself opposed to God’s goodness and displays a disorder in the will. As such, it can never be permitted or condoned.

While someone may claim to have good intentions in procuring an abortion, such as furthering a career or alleviating fears revolving around an inability to care for a child, these goals can never render the act of abortion into an act that is objectively good. In other words, abortion is always evil, regardless of circumstances or a person’s intentions.

The Church’s doctrine prohibiting abortion is infallible and irreformable. Pope St. John Paul II used his authority as supreme pastor of the Church to reaffirm this teaching in Evangelium Vitae:

Therefore, by the authority which Christ conferred upon Peter and his Successors, and in communion with the Bishops of the Catholic Church, I confirm that the direct and voluntary killing of an innocent human being is always gravely immoral. This doctrine, based upon that unwritten law which man, in the light of reason, finds in his own heart (cf. Rom 2:14-15), is reaffirmed by Sacred Scripture, transmitted by the Tradition of the Church and taught by the ordinary and universal Magisterium.

EV, 57 § 4

In Cases of Rape

Abortion can never be permitted. It’s never the answer. To illustrate this, let’s look at rape. As the above Pew survey indicates, only about 17% of Catholics think abortion should be illegal when pregnancy is the result of rape. Said another way, as the same survey indicated, 66% of Catholics think abortion should be permitted in cases of rape. This thinking is often based on the intention of alleviating the suffering of women who have been victimized by rape. However, as we saw earlier, good intentions can never render the evil of abortion into an act that is good. The first principle of the moral law is to avoid evil and do the good. One must never do evil in an attempt to bring about some perceived or desired good.

It’s also the case that many Catholic and other Christian politicians claim to be pro-life yet nevertheless support legalized abortion when pregnancy is the result of rape. Obviously, this permissive stance is gravely contrary to the Church’s moral doctrine.

Without doubt, rape is a terrible crime. People often insist that a woman who conceived a child through rape should never be forced to carry it to birth. As the logic goes, the child was forced on her against her will; therefore, she should have recourse to legal abortion. Let’s explore some of the consequences of this thinking.

First, the unborn child is a human person who possesses the rights of a person and therefore the right to life. The voluntary and intentional destruction of this person is murder. While it is true that the child was conceived through an act of violence, it nevertheless is a living human person, created in God’s image and likeness. It must never be intentionally killed by an act of abortion.

Second, abortion is never a solution because, far from helping to heal a rape victim, it heaps the terrible guilt of the sin of murder on her soul (as well as anyone else who helps her to procure an abortion). Through rape and a subsequent abortion, the woman becomes not only the victim of a crime but the perpetrator of another which is even more grave. This adds to the woman’s suffering.

Third, the child conceived through rape and then aborted is punished with a death sentence for the crime of its father. The innocent is killed for the sin of its father. Anyone in possession of reason should be able to see how unjust and wrong this is.

Cooperation in Evil

Catholics who are permissive of abortion cooperate in evil and scandalize others. As a result, they place their soul in peril. Here our Lord’s warning is especially relevant:

Temptations to sin are sure to come; but woe to him by whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung round his neck and he were cast into the sea, than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin. (Luke 17:1-2)

Receiving the Eucharist

It’s often the case that Catholics who are permissive of abortion in some way, such as in cases of rape, think they may still receive the Eucharist. Is this true? No. The Church teaches that Christians who are conscious of having committed grave sin must not receive the Eucharist until they have first received absolution in the sacrament of Penance (CCC 1385). A permissive stance toward abortion in any way is gravely sinful and thus excludes one from worthy reception of the body and blood of Christ.

Hope for the Future

The reversal of Roe v. Wade was an important step in helping to eliminate the unspeakable crime of abortion. Nevertheless, there is much work to be done politically at the state level. Furthermore, there is much work to be done in changing minds and hearts in the battle against abortion and defending the lives of innocent, unborn children. We must not only inform people that abortion is always wrong, but explain to them why it is always wrong.

This is an important aspect of the New Evangelization. As John Paul II noted, the New Evangelization “involves the proclamation and presentation of morality. Jesus himself, even as he preached the Kingdom of God and its saving love, called people to faith and conversion (cf. Mk 1:15). And when Peter, with the other Apostles, proclaimed the Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth from the dead, he held out a new life to be lived, a ‘way’ to be followed, for those who would be disciples of the Risen One” (Veritatis Splendor, 107; cf. Acts 2:37-41; 3:17-20).

This new life to be lived is a moral life in Christ, walking in fellowship with him in obedience to his commandments and the life of the gospel. It is the way to eternal life, for our Lord said, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die” (John 11:25-26).