Question:
I am addressing you in the most respectful manner to ask your opinion on a delicate topic. The question would be: In what way would the Church accept the act of abortion without considering it a violation of God’s law? Thanking you in advance for your response and at the same time congratulating you for this space which truly helps us young people to have another resource to reach a better judgment on the problems that concern our world.
Answer:
Dear Sir/Madam,
The natural moral law (and consequently the doctrine of the Magisterium of the Church) never accepts the voluntary and direct act of abortion. There could be a case of a particular person who performs it with inculpable and invincible ignorance of its malice; in such a case, they would not sin because of their ignorance, but not because the action itself becomes good (it remains to be seen whether such a case of ignorance can actually occur or not). Different is the case of an act that is not abortive in itself, but which has an abortive effect as a consequence; this is what is called indirect abortion. Let us analyze the two cases, which are essentially different from the moral point of view.
1. Direct Abortion.
In the Encyclical Evangelium vitae, Pope John Paul II has declared in very clear words: Pope John Paul II affirms in Evangelium vitae: “Therefore, by the authority which Christ conferred upon Peter and his Successors, in communion with the Bishops-who on various occasions have condemned abortion and who in the aforementioned consultation, albeit dispersed throughout the world, have shown unanimous agreement concerning this doctrine-I declare that direct abortion, that is, abortion willed as an end or as a means, always constitutes a grave moral disorder, since it is the deliberate killing of an innocent human being. This doctrine is based upon the natural law and upon the written Word of God, is transmitted by the Church’s Tradition and taught by the ordinary and universal Magisterium. No circumstance, no purpose, no law whatsoever can ever make licit an act which is intrinsically illicit, since it is contrary to the Law of God which is written in every human heart, knowable by reason itself, and proclaimed by the Church.” (Evangelium vitae, n. 62).
2. Indirect Abortion.
Different from the above is the so-called indirect abortion. It is, in reality, an application of the principles of double effect and the indirect voluntary or in causa. Understanding it from this point of view, it is clearly seen that the term ‘indirect abortion’ is not a happy one, because in reality it is not an action in which abortion is a means to achieve something (the patient’s health or birth regulation), but rather an action in which abortion is a “tolerated and not willed effect.”
The question posed here is the following: is it licit to perform a therapeutic action (cause) from which, apart from the intention of the one performing it, besides the health of the patient following (good effect), abortion also follows (bad effect)? In reality, the conditions required for a correct application of the principle of double effect are met only in very few cases in which the “non-viable” fetus (which cannot live outside the mother’s womb) is already dead or irremediably condemned to die by nature itself; there the action does not directly aim at the removal of the fetus, but this follows with considerable probability, and the fact that there is almost certainty of its imminent and inevitable death provides the “proportionate cause.” Concerning this type of actions, the Letter to Health Care Workers states: “When abortion is the foreseen but not intended nor desired consequence, simply tolerated, of an unavoidable therapeutic act for the health of the mother, it is morally legitimate. The abortion is an indirect consequence of an act that is in itself not abortive” (Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers, Letter to Health Care Workers, n. 142).
The cases in which this principle is sometimes applied are the following:
- Abruptio placentae, or partial or total detachment of the placenta from the uterine cavity.
- Polyhydramnios, or an abnormal excess (or malformation) of the amniotic fluid.
- The use of certain drugs (such as oxytocin) to curb potential hemorrhages.
- Ectopic pregnancies: regarding ectopic pregnancy, or out-of-place pregnancy, several possibilities exist: attempting to transfer the ectopic fetus to the normal site, or armed expectation (to intervene as soon as the rupture of the fetal sac occurs), or laparotomy if the fetus is already viable (in this case, it would be a simple acceleration of delivery).
Fr. Miguel A. Fuentes, IVE
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