Abortion

Abortion is a form of murder because it takes the life of an innocent human being.

The Facts of Life

At conception, we become ourselves both by the action of biology and by God's sovereign action in giving the soul (the form of the body) spiritual powers: intelligence, free will, and immortality.

The human person is not just a byproduct of complex forms of matter; the human person is created directly and personally by God at the moment of our conception.

The zygote possesses its own DNA distinct from both parents. It has its own bodily identity and life. If it was not alive, it would not develop into a morula (sixteen cells) and then a blastocyst, which consists of the cells that will become the placenta and the cells that will become the embryo.

If the embryo does not have its own life, it would not continue developing within the mother's womb. It would be a miscarriage and no abortion would be needed.

The new being is alive.

The new living being is unquestionably human. It is not a dog, a giraffe, an elephant, or a platypus.

The new human being has its own genetic identity from the first cell (the zygote) to the last nucleated cell developed by its body before death.

The placenta is created by the blastocyst and embryo; it is not part of the mother's body--no part of the baby's body is part of the mother's body. The mother's body is identifiable by her own genetic signature and the baby's body is identifiable by its own genetic signature.

All of this is basic biology. It is a matter of fact. One need not turn to revelation to discover that the child is a unique, living, human being who possesses the same rights as all other human beings: "the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

Statistics

2006

The dangerous abortion drug RU 486 ... has killed at least 13 women worldwide and injured 1,100 women in the U.S. alone as of 2006, according to the FDA."[1]

January 2011

"A new statistic released by the New York City health department is shocking pro-life advocates across the country today as it shows 41 percent of pregnancies end in abortion.

"That compares with the figure of about 20 percent of pregnancies nationwide ending in abortions, as the abortion rate has been reduced over the last two decades from one in three to one in five pregnancies resulting in an abortion and the destruction of human life."[2]

Janury 2011

"The Guttmacher report shows '54 percent of women who have abortions had used a contraceptive method, usually a condom or the pill) during the month they became pregnant.' These figures are similar to those of a report in Spain showing abortions doubling despite increased family planning promotion."[3]

Papal vigil

• USCCB information on 2010 "Vigil for All Nascent Human Life."