Abortion in the Catholic World

Group 6
4G
Raffy Emata
Joven Hilario
Vittorio Panaguiton
Miggi Panlilio
Anton Recto
Vince Samorano
Jappse Taruc
Brian Viray
I. Introduction

In the event that a pregnancy has happened, once you've settled on one of two
options: staying pregnant, or ending your pregnancy, there are three more
fundamental decisions to make. Parenthood, premature birth or appropriation
are all similarly feasible, legitimate (in many areas) and substantial decisions,
any of which may be the best decision for somebody at a given time, and nobody
of those decisions is any less difficult or simpler to make than another.

-about 80% of women who abort are over 18 and unmarried

-by the age of 45 about one in every three women will have had an abortion
-the majority of women who have abortions -- about 6 in 10 are already mothers

II. Presentation of Research

A. Causes and Effects of Abortion

- Abortion is mainly caused by someone not wanting to be a parent,
reasons for that range from things such as money, responsibility, religion,
being psychologically unprepared, and as of lately: age. There are many
side affects a person can suffer after abortion both physically and
psychologically, some of these physical symptoms would be: minor
infections, bleeding, fevers, chronic abdominal pain, gastro-intestinal
disturbances, vomiting, infection, excessive bleeding, embolism, ripping
or perforation of the uterus, anesthesia complications, convulsions,
hemorrhage, cervical injury, endotoxin shock, and many more. While the
immediate complications of abortion are usually treatable, these
complications frequently lead to long-term reproductive damage of much
more serious nature such as becoming sterile. Research has shown that 3-
5% of women become sterile after abortion. Cervical damage and ripping
of the Uterine wall is also a possibility due the the forceful opening of the
cervix and Cervical lacerations. Whether microscopic or macroscopic in
 nature, the cervical damage which results during abortion frequently
results in a permanent weakening of the cervix. This weakening may
result in an "incompetent cervix" which, unable to carry the weight of a
later "wanted" pregnancy, opens prematurely, resulting in miscarriage or
premature birth. According to one study, symptoms related to cervical
incompetence were found among 75% of women who undergo forced
dilation for abortion. it is estimated that women who underwent abortion
lose 100,000 "wanted" pregnancies each year. Researchers investigating
post-abortion reactions report only one positive emotion: relief. This
emotion is understandable, especially in light of the fact that the majority
of aborting women report feeling under intense pressure to "get it over
with, other women arent so lucky. These aborted women are unable to
express or even feel their own emotions like a soldier suffering from
shell-shock.

B. Statistical Data

1. Worldwide

- The data on abortions displayed on the Worldometers counter is

based on the latest statistics on worldwide abortions published by
the World Health Organization (WHO).
 - According to WHO, every year in the world there are an estimated
40-50 million abortions. This corresponds to approximately
125,000 abortions per day.

2. National
- Abortion is a reality for Filipino women. The illegality of abortion
has not deterred Filipino women from inducing unsafe abortion. It
has only made it dangerous for them where estimates in 2012
show that 610,000 women resorted to abortion, over 100,000
women were hospitalized and 3 women die every day due to
unsafe abortion complications.
- The 2004 national survey on abortion showed that nearly 90% of
those who induce abortion are Catholic. Regardless of Church
teachings, Filipino women still resort to abortion with the poor,
rural and young women being the most vulnerable to self-induced
unsafe abortion.
C. The CST about Abortion

- God loves each human life from the instant of his or her conception and
entrusts this gift to the protection of a mother and father. Abortion ends the
life of a child and offends God. It also deeply wounds the men and women
involved.

- View of Father Thomas D. Williams, dean of the theology school at Rome's

Regina Apostolorum university:
The Church's defense of social justice embraces any number of key life
issues, and attention to one does not lessen the importance of the others.
Abortion, however, stands out among them as a unique case meriting
singular attention. To quickly enumerate the reasons for this singularity,
we must look first at the simple magnitude of the problem: some 46
million legal abortions performed every year in the world, which in and of
itself makes abortion a social problem of staggering proportions. Second,
it involves the killing of the most innocent and vulnerable members of
society. Third, it perpetrates this evil systemically and legally, thus giving
abortion a veneer of moral legitimacy. Since the law informs people's
consciences, the legality of abortion perpetuates an anti-life mentality
and separates it from other crimes against life such as terrorism, serial
killing, human trafficking, and so forth. Fourth, abortion repeats the
historical error of taking an entire class of human beings and devaluing
them to a second-class status, deprived of basic human dignity and the
rights that flow from it.

D. Conclusion on by Don Marquis

- Since almost every fetus has a Future like ours, most abortions are wrong.
Which abortions are moral? Pregnancies due to rape. The first 14 days of
 pregnancy (the fertilized egg is not definitely an individual). Cases
where continuing the pregnancy threatens the womans life. The fetus is
anencephalic (it has a brain stem but lacks the cerebral hemispheres, and
will never be conscious of its environment). Why fourteen days? He
doesnt say, but two facts are relevant about this date. Until then, you
have a blastocyst, a group of cells which will contain both what will
become the fetus, but most of which will develop in other ways to support
the fetus (by becoming, in part, the placenta). At fourteen days, the cells
begin to differentiate. And until then, there still might be a division into
twins, triplets, etc.

III. Recommendations

A. WHAT SHOULD BE DONE (ABORTION)

- As Christians, abortion is an act that takes away life, and taking away life is
basically murder. Even though the child is yet to have a mind, it is still a
human being and has the right to live. Abortion should become illegal and
should be an act that is punishable by law if done.

B. PROGRAMS AGAINST ABORTION

LOCAL:
- In the Philippines, there is a non-profit organization called Pro-Life
that fights the legalization of Abortion and promotes the safety and
importance of human life.
 USA:
- Hyde Amendment- Passed by Congress in 1976, the Hyde Amendment
excludes abortion from the comprehensive health care services
provided to low-income people by the federal government through
Medicaid. Congress has made some exceptions to the funding ban,
which have varied over the years. At present, the federal Medicaid
program mandates abortion funding in cases of rape or incest, as well
as when a pregnant woman's life is endangered by a physical
disorder, illness, or injury.

- There are actually over 340 non-profit organizations in the USA and
Canada that seek to end abortion. Some of which include Right to life
(and its branches), Americans United for Life, Lifeline UBC, and many
more.

C. OTHER SUGGESTIONS

- At the end of the day, it really depends on how the person involved actually
thinks or acts. Others may find abortion extremely wrong and some might
find it okay. But it all comes down on the perception of a parent and how they
raise their child. If the child thinks from an early age that abortion is okay,
then they will be predisposed to think that it really is fine once they grow up.

IV. Conclusion

- The group has decided to be anti-abortion. It sees that everyone deserves a

chance to be born. If the death penalty isn't allowed, abortion shouldn't be
either. Abortion is still the act of taking a life because life begins at the
moment of conception. If anything harmful happens to the baby after that, it
is considered an unjust act towards it. One cannot avoid the fact that unborn
children are still people, creations of God, and blessings from Him. What
 society must do is target the source of the problem which are the
irresponsible parents who bring innocent life into this world only to treat
them as accidents or mistakes.

V. References
- http://web.mnstate.edu/gracyk/courses/phil%20115/Marquis_abortion_o
utline.htm
- http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/abortion-and-catholic-social-teaching
- http://www.rappler.com/move-ph/ispeak/105680-reality-abortion-
philippines
- http://www.worldometers.info/abortions/