Catholic Church Always Opposed Abortion

The Dobbs decision has provided yet another opportunity for commentators deeply unfamiliar with Catholic theology to distort the church’s teaching on abortion. The church, we are told at CNN, the New Yorker, and widely read outlets, only recently condemned abortion. It’s crucial to set the record straight.

First, the Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable.” The Didache, written by Jewish Christians just decades after Jesus’s death, condemned abortion and infanticide. The communities organizing themselves around Christ shared the conviction that life is sacred at every stage of development. That conviction has remained constant over two millennia.

About the Author

Joseph E. Capizzi

Joseph E. Capizzi is ordinary professor of moral theology at the Catholic University of America.

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The Dobbs decision has provided yet another opportunity for commentators deeply unfamiliar with Catholic theology to distort the church’s teaching on abortion. The church, we are told at CNN, the New Yorker, and widely read outlets, only recently condemned abortion. It’s crucial to set the record straight.

First, the Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable.” The Didache, written by Jewish Christians just decades after Jesus’s death, condemned abortion and infanticide. The communities organizing themselves around Christ shared the conviction that life is sacred at every stage of development. That conviction has remained constant over two millennia.