And your “total ban” teaching on abortion is similar to the views of religious fanatics of various descriptions.
zerinus
No, not at all. Unlike religious fanatics, Catholics wish for no one to be sacrificed and consider all human life sacred. According to any medical professionals I’ve heard from, abortion is unnecessary to save womens’ lives.
The Catholic Church has neither the will nor the authority to teach anything contradictory to God’s commandments. In turn, the interpretation of any given commandment is safeguarded by the Church with the utmost care.
Take “Thou shalt not kill” for example. As Catholics, we follow this rule but, when faced with an agressor, we are allowed to defend ourselves. Warfare illustrates this point. In a war, when we effectively fight our agressor, innocent civilians will most likely die. While it is immoral to
directly intend to kill civilians, killing them
indirectly and unintentionally is sometimes the high cost of freedom and safety.
With ectopic pregnancy, the agressor is not the innocent baby, but the unhealthy tube. Catholicism teaches that it is always immoral to
directly, intentionally kill the innocent (baby or civilian). In effectively fighting an agressor (the unhealthy tube) however, we may
indirectly, unintentionally kill the innocent (baby). This is the high cost of the mother’s freedom and safety.
Of course, this teaching is hinged on The Catholic belief that human life begins at the moment of conception.