Scientific and Secular Reasons Why Abortion is Wrong
A Prohibition Both Ancient and Secular
by CAPP-USA
Why Abortion is Wrong: The Argument from Reason
“Sometimes we hear people say, ‘You Catholics do not accept abortion; it’s a problem with your faith’. No, the problem is pre-religious. Faith has nothing to do with it.” (Pope Francis)
The pro-life side of the abortion debate does not argue exclusively from a Biblical standpoint, and the Catholic Church does not consider abortion to be just a religious matter.
The reasons against abortion are ancient, scientific, and secular.
The argument against abortion goes back millennia. “I will not give to a woman an abortive remedy.” (Hippocratic Oath, CA fifth /third centuries BC)
“[I]t should be made clear that the argument against abortion is based not only on the data of faith but also on reasons of the natural order… The right to life does not depend on a particular religious conviction. It is a primary, natural, inalienable right that springs from the very dignity of every human being.” (Pope St. John Paul II, 4)
Reasons Against Abortion
One need not be religious to understand that taking an innocent life is wrong.
“Respect for human life is not just a Christian obligation. Human reason is sufficient to impose it on the basis of the analysis of what a human person is and should be.” (Declaration on Procured Abortion, 8)
“From the time that the ovum is fertilized, a new life is begun…It would never be made human if it were not human already.” (Declaration on Procured Abortion, 12)
“[E]very person sincerely open to truth and goodness can, by the light of reason…come to recognize in the natural law written in the heart the sacred value of human life from its very beginning”. (Evangelium Vitae, 2)
“Scientifically it’s a human life. The textbooks teach us that.” (Pope Francis)
Why Abortion is Wrong: The Argument from Science
Support for abortion does not align with scientific fact: from the moment of conception, the zygote is a human person.
“[T]he conclusions of science regarding the human embryo provide a valuable indication for discerning by the use of reason a personal presence at the moment of this first appearance of a human life: how could a human individual not be a human person?” (Instruction on Respect for Human Life, I, 1)
Pope Francis reminds us how clear this is: “Scientifically it’s a human life. The textbooks teach us that.” (Pope Francis)
Scientific Evidence
“To this perpetual evidence modern genetic science brings valuable confirmation. It has demonstrated that, from the first instant, the program is fixed as to what this living being will be: a man, this individual-man with his characteristic aspects already well determined. Right from fertilization is begun the adventure of a human life”. (Declaration on Procured Abortion, 13)
“This teaching remains valid and is further confirmed, if confirmation were needed, by recent findings of human biological science which recognize that in the zygote resulting from fertilization the biological identity of a new human individual is already constituted”. (Instruction on Respect for Human Life, I, 1)
