Abortion is a Grave Sin

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Abortion is a Grave Sin

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Abortion is a grave sin that has been condemned since the earliest days of the Church:

"The woman who destroys voluntarily a fetus incurs the pain of murder." (St. Basil the Great, Doctor of the Church)

"Those who give drugs causing abortions are murderers themselves, as well as those who receive the poison which kills the fetus." (St. Basil the Great, Doctor of the Church, circa 369 A.D.)

"Women also who administer drugs to cause abortion, as well as those who take poisons to destroy unborn children, are murderesses." (St. Basil the Great, Doctor of the Church)

"Some go so far as to take potions, that they may insure barrenness, and thus murder human beings almost before their conception. Some, when they find themselves with child through their sin, use drugs to procure abortion, and when (as often happens) they die with their offspring, they enter the lower world laden with the guilt not only of adultery against Christ but also of suicide and child murder." (St. Jerome, Doctor of the Church)

"Why sow where the ground makes it its care to destroy the fruit? where there are many efforts at abortion? where there is murder before the birth? for even the harlot thou dost not let continue a mere harlot, but makest her a murderess also. You see how drunkenness leads to whoredom, whoredom to adultery, adultery to murder; or rather to a something even worse than murder. For I have no name to give it, since it does not take off the thing born, but prevent its being born. Why then dost thou abuse the gift of God, and fight with His laws, and follow after what is a curse as if a blessing, and make the chamber of procreation a chamber for murder, and arm the woman that was given for childbearing unto slaughter?" (St. John Chrysostom, Doctor of the Church)

"Nay, as it is forbidden in Genesis to take human life, because God created man to his own image and likeness, he who makes away with God's image offers great injury to God, and almost seems to lay violent hands on God Himself!" (Catechism of the Council of Trent)

"Therefore from the moment of its conception life must be guarded with the greatest care, while abortion and infanticide are unspeakable crimes." (Second Vatican Council)

"Can. 1398 A person who procures a completed abortion incurs a latae sententiae excommunication." (1983 Code of Canon Law)

"[T]o kill a human being, in whom the image of God is present, is a particularly serious sin. Only God is the master of life!" (Pope John Paul II)

"Among all the crimes which can be committed against life, procured abortion has characteristics making it particularly serious and deplorable." (Pope John Paul II)

"Christian Tradition - as the Declaration issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith points out so well - is clear and unanimous, from the beginning up to our own day, in describing abortion as a particularly grave moral disorder. From its first contacts with the Greco-Roman world, where abortion and infanticide were widely practiced, the first Christian community, by its teaching and practice, radically opposed the customs rampant in that society, as is clearly shown by the Didache...Among the Greek ecclesiastical writers, Athenagoras records that Christians consider as murderesses women who have recourse to abortifacient medicines, because children, even if they are still in their mother's womb, 'are already under the protection of Divine Providence'. Among the Latin authors, Tertullian affirms: 'It is anticipated murder to prevent someone from being born; it makes little difference whether one kills a soul already born or puts it to death at birth. He who will one day be a man is a man already'. Throughout Christianity's two thousand year history, this same doctrine has been constantly taught by the Fathers of the Church and by her Pastors and Doctors. Even scientific and philosophical discussions about the precise moment of the infusion of the spiritual soul have never given rise to any hesitation about the moral condemnation of abortion." (Pope John Paul II)

"The Church's canonical discipline, from the earliest centuries, has inflicted penal sanctions on those guilty of abortion. This practice, with more or less severe penalties, has been confirmed in various periods of history. The 1917 Code of Canon Law punished abortion with excommunication. The revised canonical legislation continues this tradition when it decrees that 'a person who actually procures an abortion incurs automatic (latae sententiae) excommunication'. The excommunication affects all those who commit this crime with knowledge of the penalty attached, and thus includes those accomplices without whose help the crime would not have been committed. By this reiterated sanction, the Church makes clear that abortion is a most serious and dangerous crime, thereby encouraging those who commit it to seek without delay the path of conversion." (Pope John Paul II)

This constant teaching of the Church against the killing of the innocent can be traced back also to various passages in the Old Testament (e.g. Ex. 20:13 "Thou shalt shall not kill.", Ex. 23:7: "The innocent and just person thou shalt not put to death", etc.), as Tertullian indicates: "The law of Moses, indeed, punishes with due penalties the man who shall cause abortion".

Note: Be advised that some "Catholic" theologians and even religious have tried to imply that abortion may be tolerable. This is untrue. The Catholic Church condemns abortion no matter what anyone says, regardless of how 'Catholic' they seem to be. Should you come across such falsities, you may counter with St. Thomas Aquinas' remark: "it is in no way lawful to slay the innocent" or the bumper sticker retort - "you can't be Catholic and 'pro-choice'". In no case should you be taken in by such false teachings. Keep in mind the admonition of our first pope, St. Peter: "Be sober and vigilant. Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for (someone) to devour." (1 Pt. 5:8). Don't be fooled: Abortion and promiscuity are serious sins that risk one's eternal soul.

"[The one who sat on the throne] said to me, "They are accomplished. I (am) the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give a gift from the spring of life-giving water. The victor will inherit these gifts, and I shall be his God, and he will be my son. But as for cowards, the unfaithful, the depraved, murderers, the unchaste, sorcerers, idol-worshipers, and deceivers of every sort, their lot is in the burning pool of fire and sulfur, which is the second death." (Rv. 21:6-8, emphasis added)

"Do you not know that the unjust will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor boy prostitutes nor practicing homosexuals nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor robbers will inherit the kingdom of God." (1 Cor. 6:9-10, emphasis added)

Note: The above apply to those who are unrepentant. Those who have had an abortion are encouraged to seek forgiveness through the Church.

His Holiness Pope John Paul II:

"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. The deliberate decision to deprive an innocent human being of his life is always morally evil and can never be licit either as an end in itself or as a means to a good end. It is in fact a grave act of disobedience to the moral law, and indeed to God himself, the author and guarantor of that law; it contradicts the fundamental virtues of justice and charity. 'Nothing and no one can in any way permit the killing of an innocent human being, whether a fetus or an embryo, an infant or an adult, an old person, or one suffering from an incurable disease, or a person who is dying. Furthermore, no one is permitted to ask for this act of killing, either for himself or herself or for another person entrusted to his or her care, nor can he or she consent to it, either explicitly or implicitly. Nor can any authority legitimately recommend or permit such an action'."

"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."

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