Abortion

            
             Abortion has been an issue of heated debate in the United States for numerous years. There are two stances that may be taken in this issue; pro-life or pro-choice. Pro-choice advocates do not consider abortions to be murder. On the other hand, pro-life persons view abortion as intentional murder of a human being. All in all, abortion may seem like a quick solution to an urgent problem. However, it is immoral, and is a decision with many repercussions.
             Let us look at the definition of abortion. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, abortion is "the termination of a pregnancy after, accompanied by, resulting in, or closely followed by the death of the embryo or fetus" or "induced expulsion of a human fetus" ( ). With this in mind, how can anyone say that abortion is not murder? Pro-life advocates like myself, as well as The Roman Catholic Church view abortion as wrong and unjust. The pro-life view of abortion is that which considers it to be a deliberate killing. Thus, in 1995 Pope John Paul II declared that the Church's teaching on abortion "is unchanged and unchangeable. Therefore, by the authority, which Christ conferred upon Peter and his successors I declare that direct abortion, that is, abortion willed as an end or as a means, always constitutes a grave moral disorder, since it is the deliberate killing of an innocent human being. This doctrine is based upon the natural law and upon the written word of God, is transmitted by the Church's Tradition and taught by the ordinary and universal Magisterium. No circumstance, no purpose, no law whatsoever can ever make licit an act which is intrinsically illicit, since it is contrary to the law of God which is written in every human heart, knowable by reason itself, and proclaimed by the Church" (Evangelium Vitae 62). I agree with the teachings of the Church. I am pro-life, and believe that abortion is an immoral act that kills an innocent child.