Abortion When A Mother’s Life Is In Danger

Dear Catholic Exchange:

Thanks,

Erik Moyer

Dear Mr. Moyer,

Peace in Christ! The Catholic Church has repeatedly declared abortion to be a great evil in all circumstances. The Church is not unaware of the difficulties involved in the decision to have an abortion, particularly when the life of the mother is in danger, but those difficulties cannot change the truths of divine and natural law. This issue has been addressed by both the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith and Pope John Paul II.

In its 1974 Declaration on Procured Abortion, The Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith states:

Divine law and natural reason, therefore, exclude all right to the direct killing of an innocent man. However, if the reasons given to justify an abortion were always manifestly evil and valueless the problem would not be so dramatic. The gravity of the problem comes from the fact that in certain cases, perhaps in quite a considerable number of cases, by denying abortion one endangers important values to which it is normal to attach great value, and which may sometimes even seem to have priority. We do not deny these very great difficulties. It may be a serious question of health, sometimes of life or death, for the mother; it may be the burden represented by an additional child, especially if there are good reasons to fear that the child will be abnormal or retarded; it may be the importance attributed in different classes of society to considerations of honor or dishonor, of loss of social standing, and so forth. We proclaim only that none of these reasons can ever objectively confer the right to dispose of another’s life, even when that life is only beginning. . . . Life is too fundamental a value to be weighed against even very serious disadvantages (no. 14).

Pope John Paul II adds the following in his 1995 encyclical Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life):

It is true that the decision to have an abortion is often tragic and painful for the mother, insofar as the decision to rid herself of the fruit of conception is not made for purely selfish reasons or out of convenience, but out of a desire to protect certain important values such as her own health or a decent standard of living for the other members of the family. Sometimes it is feared that the child to be born would live in such conditions that it would be better if the birth did not take place. Nevertheless, these reasons and others like them, however serious and tragic, can never justify the deliberate killing of an innocent human being (no. 58, original emphasis).

This, however, does not preclude treatments directed toward some serious ailment even if the treatment could injure or kill the unborn child. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a statement in 2001 entitled Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services, Fourth Edition. In this they state:

Operations, treatments, and medications that have as their direct purpose the cure of a proportionately serious pathological condition of a pregnant woman are permitted when they cannot be safely postponed until the unborn child is viable, even if they will result in the death of the unborn child (no. 47).

I hope this answers your question. If you have further questions on this or would like more information about Catholics United for the Faith, please contact us at 1-800-MY-FAITH (693-2484). Please keep us in your prayers as we endeavor to “support, defend, and advance the efforts of the teaching Church.”

United in the Faith,

Amy Barragree

Information Specialist

Catholics United for the Faith

827 North Fourth Street

Steubenville, OH 43952

800-MY-FAITH (800-693-2484)