The Relationship Between Abortion And The Catholic Church

Introduction
Abortion is defined by Merriam-Webster as “A medical procedure used to end a pregnancy and cause the death of the fetus”. Abortion has been the center of various debates throughout the United States, mainly in politics and the Catholic religion. Abortion doesn’t only exist throughout the Catholic religion but in various religions as well. The Jewish faith also recognizes abortion and has created various guidelines when dealing with abortion that stems from the teachings of their sacred texts. The Catholic church also recognizes abortion and also looks for guidance through their sacred texts as well as philosophers and theologians. This paper will analyze abortion as perceived by the Catholic Church and the Jewish faith providing the definitions of the beginning of life, the status of the fetus and its relationship with the mother, and special exceptions that prove an ethical abortion may exist.
The Roman Catholic ethical position

In earlier centuries, Catholic teaching did not center on the notion of the fetus being a human being right at conception but, this notion was later adopted by Catholic theologians. “…from the middle of the seventeenth to the middle of the twentieth century it became and continued to be the prevailing opinion” (Connery, 318). Since this idea was adopted, Catholic teaching supplements it by stating that every human being bears a human soul. This idea has sparked debate between many Catholic theologians because it isn’t positive as to when the fetus is infused with a human soul. Some have been influenced by the works of St. Thomas Aquinas and his theory about the infusion of the human soul while others have been insistent on the teachings of the Catholic