The Roman Catholic View on Abortion Abortion is the ending of pregnancy before the birth and the Roman Catholic Church would say that this is morally wrong. An Abortion results in the death of an embryo or fetus. Abortion, the Church says destroys the lives of helpless, innocent children. By aborting these unborn infants, humans are hurting themselves; they are not allowing themselves to meet these new identities and unique personalities. The Church teaches the human life begins at the moment of conception. During the past quarter century, abortion has joined race and war as one of the most debatable subjects of controversy in the United States. It discusses human interaction where ethics, emotions and law come together. Abortion poses a moral, social and medical dilemma that faces many individuals, which can create an intensely emotional and sometimes even violent atmosphere. The Roman Catholic Church would hold that from the moment of conception, the embryo or fetus is alive. This life imposes a moral obligation on its parents to preserve it. Abortion is seen by the Church as being tantamount to murder. In the United States, about 1.6 million pregnancies end in abortion. Woman with incomes under eleven thousand are over three times more likely to abort than those with incomes above twenty-five thousand. Unmarried women are four to five times more likely to abort than married women are, and the abortion rate has doubled for eighteen and nineteen year olds. Recently the U.S. rate dropped six percent overall but the rate of abortions among girls younger than fifteen jumped eighteen percent. About forty percent of Americans believe that abortion should remain legal and forty percent believe that it should be banned except when the pregnancy threatens the life of the mother or is the result of rape or incest. In addition, fifteen percent believe that it should be illegal in all cases. However, abortion is considered murder by half of all...
