We all agree that no one has the right to choose murder; yet this is what thousands of people do each year when they ‘choose’ abortion at an abortion clinic. While the Catholic Church appreciates that these people aren’t evil – the act itself is evil. And no Catholic politician or lay person has the right to dissent from this authoritative teaching on abortion in Church doctrine.

Catholic teaching is unequivocally against abortion in its defense of innocent life. Abortion, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church explains, is criminal:

2322 “From its conception, the child has the right to life. Direct abortion, that is, abortion willed as an end or as a means, is a ‘criminal’ practice (GS 27 § 3), gravely contrary to the moral law. The Church imposes the canonical penalty of excommunication for this crime against human life.”

Pope Paul VI in his 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae, articulated the Church’s long-standing opposition to birth control. He understood that abortion and birth control were intrinsically related; separating the natural relationship between sex and procreation would have disastrous effects on the dignity of women and eventually opens the door to legalized abortion. Looking back, we now see the Church was right.

Contraception gives men and women the false notion that sex is simply a recreational option – like sharing a bottle of wine together – which has nothing to do with procreating. And when contraception fails – as it does 10% of the time with condoms – the news of pregnancy is often received as a curse. And who wouldn’t eliminate a curse with means that are legal, socially acceptable and described as 'reproductive health?' The Catholic people must be anti abortion witnesses in the fight against this truly demonic practice.

Children Are a Gift

We must remember that children are a gift from heaven - not something we have a right to demand - but simply a free gift from God. In this light we see glimpse how horrendous the crime of abortion is: God gives to us freely despite our sins, and oftentimes He is repaid with the crime of abortion. Catholics must help their fellow citizens realize that the killing of the unborn is the great human rights struggle of our times.

Find out why Pope John Paul II preached the Culture of Life.