Abortion and
Catholic Canon Law

In something I had written, I mentioned that, according to Catholic Canon Law, procuring a successful abortion was considered a 'mortal' sin and results in a latae sentencia, or automatic excommunication. I added that, under very restrictive conditions, it was possible that an abortion might be effected yet neither the mother nor attending medical personal would be guilty of 'mortal' sin.

A Catholic reader challenged that statement and sent me copies of every paragraph in the 1983 Code of Canon Law dealing with abortion and killing, along with the following question:

The Challenge: Actually, I have read "my own canon law," and have both a hard copy and an electronic copy at my disposal continually. Here are all the passages in the 1983 Code of Canon Law which even mention the word "abortion." Please tell us which of these in any way "allows abortion in certain circumstances." [Passages clipped, but may be read in the Code of Canon Law ]

The Response: I doubt I would have said that the RCC "allows abortion" in certain situations. Perhaps it would have been better to phrase that statement something like; "The Catholic Church grants interpretive exceptions to her strict laws concerning abortion in rare instances when abortion is the unintended consequence of a lawful procedure." I believe this comes under the principle of "double effect."

An example that comes quickly to mind is the mother afflicted with metastatic cervical cancer or an ectopic pregnancy, both of which are medical conditions that assuredly will have fatal consequences for both mother and fetus without prompt surgical intervention. In both situations, radical surgery to remove the afflicted organs is the most probable procedure, with chemotherapy an adjunct treatment in the case of the cancer. Both procedures will result in the death of the developing child -- unless in the cancer situation the baby is sufficiently developed to survive outside the womb -- though the mother may be saved. As I understand it, if the medical intention is to save the life of the mother, then the "double effect" of aborting the developing child is an unfortunate but not unlawful (canon law) consequence.

As you may recall from your reading of the Canon Law, there are a number of conditions to be met before a person might be considered culpable of an external violation of a law or precept under the 1983 Code. In a sense, I suppose, a loose interpretation of the word "permits" might include the exemption from culpability under the provisions of Canon 1321ff. Each case would be, I believe, subject to individual interpretation by a canon tribunal.

According to Redemptorist Fr. Brian Johnstone, a bioethics expert at Rome's prestigious Alphonsian Academy, the lone situation in which the removal of a fetus may be tolerated by official Catholic teaching is if the mother urgently requires a life-or-death procedure with the unwanted consequence of ending her pregnancy. A pregnant woman with advanced cervical cancer, for example, could have an operation to remove the cancer, which would also mean removing the fetus. In Catholic moral theology, this is understood as the principle of “double effect.” The positive effect, saving the life of the mother, is what is intended, while the negative effect, the death of the fetus, is merely foreseen. -- John L. Allen, Under Vatican ruling, abortion triggers automatic excommunication, National Catholic Reporter, January 17, 2003

As is also the case with some nnon-Catholic professing Christians, it appears that there have been, and likely still are, Catholics who believe that they know what God really meant when He commanded "Thou shalt not kill."

There are recent cases in Italy, Johnstone said, in which women in similar circumstances have chosen to continue with their pregnancies. In some of these cases, he said, the child was born healthy while the mother died. The church admires such sacrifice, Johnstone said, but it does not oblige anyone to make this choice. -- Ibid.

I believe that piety is the duty of every Christian. However, I believe that the excessive piety of people in life-threatening situations such as referred to above, is tantamount to choosing suicide as a manifestation of one's religious conviction.