"Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you were born, I consecrated you." Jer 1:5
Why are Catholics pro-life?
Catholics have a rich history of faith as taught and handed down from its very beginnings two thousand years ago. Through scripture, tradition, the magisterium of the Church, our catechism, and ethical and religious directives, we learn the truths that define our beliefs. I draw on these resources in affirming my faith.
The Catholic Church has been pro-life since its inception in the first century. It has taught that life in the womb is sacred and has been explicit and unchanging in this belief. Even when, in early centuries, the understanding of the biology of this life was unclear, our Church fathers have spoken out about the dignity of life in the womb. Contrary to the pagan culture of society in the first century AD, Christians considered life to be sacred because we believe humans are made in the image of God. Abortion was known and practiced in those pagan societies, but Christians stood apart in acknowledging the preborn life in the womb as deserving of respect and protection.
The Church protects all life from the moment of conception. This extends “to its teachings on war, the use of capital punishment, euthanasia, health care, poverty and immigration,” as stated by the USCCB. To be Catholic is to be pro-life and to be pro-life is to understand that teaching.
How should Catholic women view abortion?
Science affirms that the baby in the womb is alive. There is scientific consensus on this point. In addition to meeting the criteria for life, we see the living baby in MRIs and Ultrasounds. We hear this life with recordings of the heartbeat. Babies are very much alive in the womb, growing, stretching, sucking thumbs, and playing. Humans are hard-wired to love our children and this is evident in the bond between the mother and her preborn baby. The USCCB notes in its statement on Respect For Unborn Life: The Church’s Constant Teaching, “Given the scientific fact that a human life begins at conception, the only moral norm needed to understand the Church's opposition to abortion is the principle that each and every human life has inherent dignity (my emphasis), and thus must be treated with the respect due to a human person.” They go on to state, “to claim that some live human beings do not deserve respect or should not be treated as ‘persons’ (based on changeable factors such as age, condition, location, or lack of mental or physical abilities) is to deny the very idea of inherent human rights. Such a claim undermines respect for the lives of many vulnerable people before and after birth.” The “right to abortion” suggests a legal right. To quote Abraham Lincoln, “some things that are legally right are not morally right.” The catechism of the Catholic Church No.2272, states that “an abortion constitutes a grave offense.” Thus, we see that Catholic women may not obtain an abortion if they are to remain faithful to the Church’s teaching.
In the 1970s, prior to having ultrasounds in the prenatal clinics, many young women were uncertain about the life growing within them and could be convinced that it was “just a blob of tissue.” But with the advent of ultrasounds, it became very obvious that what women had known deep down within themselves to be a live baby was not just a blob of tissue; it was a living human being.
Unfortunately, in our country today after several generations of legalized abortion, society has largely come to accept the presence of abortion and to believe that it is somehow not the killing of a new life despite all evidence to the contrary, and despite Church teaching. Society has found it to be even a so-called easy solution to a difficult situation. And when an expectant mother encounters material or financial difficulties, or is coerced or convinced to get rid of the baby, or worries that this will change her life’s course, then these issues become the justification for an abortion. Fear plays a very prominent role in the decision to abort and fear feeds the deception.
Women with high-risk pregnancies, congenital abnormalities of the baby
Abortion is not health care; it is not reproductive health; it is not bodily autonomy; it is the intentional killing of another human, a living human, who is in the mother’s womb. Studies have shown that 95% of abortions are performed on healthy moms and healthy babies. Of the 60 million aborted babies over these past 50 years, less than 5% will have a congenital abnormality. Women are rightly concerned about prenatal diagnoses of babies with a disability, sometimes terminal, sometimes not life-threatening but something that will be a chronic issue to manage throughout that baby’s life. Many doctors now are quick to recommend an abortion. After all, why should the baby have to live with a disability, or why should the mother suffer with the death of a newborn? But wait a minute, who are we to decide which baby is more deserving of life than another? This baby in the womb is a separate, unique life. These are sad and difficult circumstances to face, but I think the baby needs the mother (and father) to be there for him or her, holding and loving him as he dies or loving him as he lives life. An aborted baby dies in a gruesome, heinous manner, unloved and alone.
Women who have their own medical issues are managed by an obstetrician who specializes in high-risk pregnancies. Some of these pregnancies may require the baby to be delivered early to save the mother’s life. But it is never necessary to intentionally kill the baby to save the mother. The baby can be delivered, and both mother and baby receive the care needed for their health and survival. Sometimes that baby dies in its removal from the womb but that is not an abortion because the health of the mother is given priority and the intent to kill the baby is not there. The Catholic Church teaches that surgical treatment of a tubal pregnancy is not an abortion, but rather a necessary procedure to save the life of the pregnant woman.
Often women express their concerns that without the right to abortion, they will not be treated for miscarriages, or if an ectopic pregnancy occurs, doctors will not treat the affected woman. But this simply isn’t true. Doctors of course can treat any medical condition of the expectant mother that arises during pregnancy, and laws in every state protect the woman whose life is at risk. A miscarriage is not an abortion!
Rape and Incest
Women also worry about having access to abortion following a rape or incest or with the diagnosis of a genetic malformation of the baby. 60 million abortions have occurred in the USA over the past 50 years. Reasons of rape, incest, and genetic malformation of the baby in the uterus comprise very few of the overwhelming number of abortions. Having said that, any case of sexual assault is traumatizing in its violence upon a woman or girl. Abortion does not heal the pain and trauma of the assault. As a matter of fact, some women opt to keep the baby that was conceived through rape because abortion in itself is also a violent act upon the woman. A rape does not cancel the humanity of the baby conceived nor does it diminish the respect for that baby’s dignity. The baby conceived in rape is as innocent as the victim of rape.
Our Church serves mothers of young children
The Catholic Church has a long history of reaching out to the poor and marginalized, vulnerable pregnant women, and families in need. In our Diocese of Tucson, we have brought the nationally-based Walking with Moms in Need USCCB program to our parishes. One of our tasks has been to compile an extensive list of resources available to expectant and parenting moms. And different faith-based organizations work together to find help for these women. In instances of women experiencing difficulties during pregnancy, we are blessed to have caring pregnancy centers, not only in Arizona, but throughout the United States. There are material, financial, and educational resources for mothers parenting young children through a myriad number of volunteer organizations.
Prop 139 and Church Leaders
Bishop Weisenburger is opposed to prop 139 because it is incompatible with Church Teaching on the sanctity of human life. He strongly urges us to vote NO on this dangerous proposition that expands abortion access beyond what even abortion proponents might accept. It is extreme! It promotes unrestricted abortion, even late-term abortions! It puts women’s and girls’ health at risk by removing current safeguards and regulations. In union with the other bishops of the Arizona Catholic Conference, Bishop Weisenburger has denounced proposition 139 as being contrary to our faith, harmful to women, and a grave moral evil.
As Catholics prepare to vote NO on Prop.139, we should consider Psalm 139:13-17 and find the truth in this sublime psalm that praises God in His creation.