There has been a serious lack of clarity with regard to the most contentious issue of our time. This is gravely unfortunate. Leftist ideology THRIVES on ambiguity. Hence, for the sake of clarity and the love of truth, the following is a synopsis of what abortion is, and isn’t.
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Abortion as a moral act is not simply a physical act. Miscarriage, for example, is often referred to as “spontaneous abortion.” That causes confusion, as do some other uses of the term.
The moral act of abortion, which is never justified, directly attacks a preborn child in his or her embryonic or fetal stage of life as its proximate end, so that the woman may become unpregnant. For the sake of clarity, all other acts relating to the death of a preborn child ought not include the word abortion.
Therefore,
What abortion is – as a moral crime against humanity: The intentional, direct killing of a preborn child
What abortion is NOT:
1) spontaneous miscarriage. The child dies of natural causes. It is not intended.
2) a medical procedure that seeks to save the mother’s life before the child is viable, with a moral certainty that both parties would otherwise die. The death of the child would be an unintended consequence.
[Explanation: This procedure is licit under the principle of double-effect, when, a) the proximate end/intent of the act is to save one life when both would die, not to kill/eliminate the child; and, b) the preborn child is not directly attacked.]
Examples of #2 include removing a cancerous uterus; removing the diseased part of a fallopian tube in an ectopic pregnancy; receiving chemotherapy while pregnant; inducing emergency delivery. None of these directly attack the child nor intentionally will his or her death. They are not abortion, but rather life-saving surgical procedures.
Examples that are NOT included in #2: when a mother’s health is threatened but can successfully be treated until the child is viable.
Further, abortion is never justified because the child is deformed, or may not live much past birth; or because the child came into being through rape or incest or any other way. Here the act would, a) directly attack the child, and b) intend the child’s death.
The underlying presumption, based in science and reason (and confirmed in faith), is that there are two human beings with inviolable dignity involved in every pregnancy, and that everything humanly possible must be done in order to maintain both lives. The moral principle that is absolute is that One can never intentionally kill an innocent human being. This defines murder. Every person with a properly formed conscience knows this.