Throughout history till the present day abortion has developed into a worldwide issue. Today's society has been placed into specific categories: "pro-choice- or "pro-life."" It has been known for various pro-choice individual's to take vigorous stands against those whom participate in the actual procedure of abortion, seeing abortion an act of murder. And there are those who take the pro-choice stand on abortion, basically more timid compared to the pro-lifer's. Many individuals who have strong Catholic surroundings find abortion confusing when faced with the choice. Within the Roman Catholic denomination abortion is disapproved among women in the Catholic faith. But in the United States, "64% of Catholics disapprove of the statement that abortion is morally wrong in every case-(1). Catholicism has taken many stands against abortion and formed numerous questions in order to form some sort of defense. This issue of abortion gives raise to such questions as: When does life begin? To what right does the women have to an abortion? Who decides whether abortion is morally wrong? I will explain the historical and systematic viewpoints of the Roman Catholic Church on their ongoing debate regarding abortion.
In the early years of Christianity, moving away from paganism, debated over abortion existed then as it did now. Theologians throughout time debated whether abortion was morally correct by Christian standards. St. Augustine, one of the most important key theologians in Catholic history began the debate over abortion during his time. St. Augustine (354-430 AD.) began his position on abortion explaining those who have intercourse only (sola) for the wish to have children do not sin, whereas those who mix pleasure with sex, even if sex with one's spouse, commits a sin. What he found worse than pleasure in sex was the prevention of pregnancy. He was careful to distinguish between a conceived seed (conceptus fetus) that has not yet received vitality (prius interire quam vivere) and that which has to distinguish between that which was advancing toward (human) life in the womb (aut si in untero jam vivebat) and the newborn infant.