Pro-life and Religious Views of Abortion

Pro-life and Religious Views of AbortionThere have been many different views of abortion over the centuries in the various religious beliefs. As early as 380 AD, Christian leaders have condemned abortion. Abortion was only allowed when performed in the early stages of pregnancy. Abortion was damned however if the fetus had taken on the shape of human form and considered to have a spirit. In 1869 Pope Pius IX created a distinction between what was called “fetus animatus” and “fetus inanimatus”. In 1917 to 1983 Can law was changed to refer to the embryo as “the fetus”. The church to this day has a consequence for abortion during any phase of pregnancy which is excommunication. The current Roman Catholic Church considers the 5th commandment (Thou shall not kill) as the rule governing the existence of the fetus when it is unnaturally and openly terminated. The ovum, embryo and fetus are all determined to be human being by the church.

Pope Pius IX

A 3D ultrasound taken of a fetus at 20 weeks.

fetus 10weeks

Therefore, they have equal rights to life as the mother. The church will only consider abortion to be morally acceptable only if “negative effects are not sought and all reasonable efforts are made to avoid them, and if the direct effect is positive” (Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 1). An example of this would be in the case of an ectopic pregnancy (pregnancy in the fallopian tube). An abortion in this case is acceptable for the reason that the woman’s being was saved due to the elimination of the oviduct; it was not from killing the fetus.

With the new methods of in-vitro fertilization and stimulation of the ovary the chance of an increase of multiple fetuses sharing the one womb has become very unpredictable. Many times all the fetuses are not able to grow to full term or they may be so...