Abortion

refers to the expulsion of human

fetus before the period of viability
 Classification of the
Expulsion of Human Fetus

1. Direct Abortion
- it is intentionally or deliberately done
2. Indirect Abortion
- it is unintentional
3. Spontaneous Abortion
- it is accidental
Period of Viability

- refers to the stage of gestation when the

human fetus can survive outside the uterus
- the period when the baby has the ability to
live in the outside world with or without medical
assistance
- usually starts at the end of the 28th week of
gestation
 Different Types of Abortion
1. Complete Abortion
- all contents of the uterus such as the pre-born
child and the placenta have been expelled from
the uterus
2. Incomplete Abortion
- parts of the pre-born child and/or placenta
remain within the uterus
3. Early Abortion
- abortion within the first trimester of pregnancy
- includes embryonic stage from the moment of
conception
4. Induced Abortion
- an intentional abortion brought about by
mechanical or chemical means
- necessarily direct
5. Criminal Abortion
- (illegal) abortion committed outside the
parameters set by law promulgated by
legislative authority of the State
6. Habitual Abortion
- miscarriage occurring in 3 or more
consecutive pregnancies
7. Infected Abortion
- associated with and possibility caused by an
infection of the uterus or the genital tract
- e.g. venereal disease (sexually transmitted
infections)
8. Septic Abortion
- associated with and possibly caused by an
infection of the uterus
9. Spontaneous Abortion
- caused by disease or accident
- unintentional expulsion of a fetus
- may occur in one out of 7 or 8 pregnancies
usually during first 3 months
- some causes:
pneumonia sexual intercourse in
influenza early months of
syphilis pregnancies
10. Threatened Abortion
- type of spontaneous abortion
- includes vaginal bleeding
- prognosis is doubtful
- cure: bed rest and appropriate medications
11. Inevitable Abortion
- type of spontaneous abortion
- commonly called miscarriage
- may be brought about by pathologic
condition or accident causing definite
expulsion of the human fetus
12. Therapeutic Abortion
- not indirect abortion
- direct and deliberate performance of
expelling a human fetus to restore the
mother’s health and/or save her from death
 Different Methods of
Surgical Abortion
1. Suction Abortion
- done during first trimester up to 16 weeks
- dilate the cervix; inserts curette to cervix and
to uterus
- suction machine tears the baby apart, sucks
the pieces through the tube and deposits them
into a bag
- assemble and check body parts to ensure
complete abortion
2. Dilation & Curettage (D & C) Abortion
- employed during the first trimester of
pregnancy
- insert curette and scrape the uterine walls
- baby is out apart
- parts are removed and checked for
completeness
3. Dilation & Evacuation (D & E) Abortion
- employed during the first half of second
trimester of pregnancy
4. Saline Abortion
- “intra-amniotic injection”; “saline solution
method”
- withdrawal of about 200 milliliters of amniotic
fluid from the amniotic sac
- replace it with saline or urea solution
- the baby breathes in and swallows this
concentration and dies painfully over a period
of hours from salt poisoning, dehydration,
brain hemorrhage, and convulsions
- EXTREME PAIN; burns the outer layer skin
(cherry red color)
5. Dilation and Extraction (D&X) Abortion
- used in the late second and third trimester of
gestational age
- even used during the period of viability
(“partial-birth abortion”)
- Guided by ultrasound, the abortionist
grasps the baby's leg with surgical forceps.
- The baby's leg is pulled out, in breach
position, into the birth canal.
- The abortionist delivers the baby's
entire body, except for the head.
- The abortionist jams scissors into the
baby's skull. The scissors are then opened
to enlarge the hole.
- The scissors are removed and a suction catheter
is inserted. The child's brain is then sucked out
and the baby is "evacuated" by the abortionist.
6. Prostaglandin Abortion
- during the late second trimester and third
trimester of gestation
- (8 milliliters) injected into the uterine;
contracts to expel the baby (20 hours)
7. Hysteretomy Abortion
- Caesarian section done during the last
trimester of pregnancy
- uterus is surgically opened and the baby is
lifted out
- the baby is then either left to die or
deliberately lived
8. Inter-cardiac Injection Abortion
- employed during about sixteen weeks
- ultrasound imagery is used to locate the
baby so that a long needle may be guided to
the heart
- potassium chloride is injected causing the
baby to have an immediate heart attack
- after a period of days, the dead baby is
delivered
 Potential Physical
Effects of Abortion
1. Uterine Perforation
2. Cervical Lacerations
3. Placenta Previa
4. Ectopic Pregnancies
5. Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID)
6. Endometritis
7. Cervical, Ovarian, & Liver Cancer
8. Death
 Psychological Effect
1. Flashback
2. Suicidal Attempts
3. Hysterical Outbreaks
4. Loss of Self-confidence & Self-esteem
5. Eating Disorders
a. Anorexia
b. Bulimia
6. Illegal Drug Use
7. Loss of Pleasure during Intercourse
 Is Abortion Moral?

As long as
it is direct,
performed
deliberately
and
willfully,
abortion is
immoral.
 Against Natural Law
It is against the order of right reason which dictates,
regardless of religious belief and social orientations,
that innocent life must not be taken directly,
deliberately, and willfully for whatever reasons.

It breaks and destroys not only the natural bond

between parents who submit for abortion and abortus –
the baby who is aborted, but also the natural function of
parents to parent their child.
Biblical Condemnations

1. Deuteronomy 27:25
2. Jeremiah 7:6
3. Jeremiah 22:17
4. Psalm 106:37-38
5. Proverbs 6:17
6. Exodus 21:22
 Recent Powerful
Church’s Documents

1. Vatican II, Gaudium et Spes, no. 51

“God, the Lord of life, has entrusted to men the noble
mission of safeguarding life; and men must carry it out
in manner worthy of themselves. Life must be
protected with the utmost care from the moment of
conception: abortion and infanticide are abominable
crimes.”
2. Pope Paul VI, Humanae Vitae, 1968, no. 4
“We must once again declare that . . . directly willed
and procured abortion even if for therapeutic reasons
[is] to be absolutely excluded as [a] licit means of
regulating birth.
3. Pope John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae, no. 89
“Absolute respect for every innocent human life also
requires the exercise of conscientious objection in
relation to procure abortion . . . It runs completely to
the health care profession which is meant to be an
impassioned and unflinching affirmation of life.”
 Canonical Penalty for Abortion

Latae Sententiae
Excommunication
- the person brings instant excommunication
upon himself or herself with his/her act
 Scope of Penalty:
a. those who provide assistance in any form
without which abortion would not be possible
- the abortionist
- the nurse
- other health care providers who assist and
help during the procedure
b. the boyfriend or husband who encourage
the woman to go to an abortionist
c. the parents who push their daughter to
submit for abortion
d. a friend who counsels and advises that
abortion is an alternative
e. anybody who, in one way or the other,
provides a way for the realization of abortion
f. accomplices
 When is Abortion Morally Allowed
ABORTION is morally justifiable when it is
INDIRECT – that is – when it is not willfully
employed as an end or a means. Indirect
abortion is the foreseen (at least with
probability) but unintended loss of the fetus
following upon a medical (or surgical)
procedure necessary to preserve the life or
health of the mother.
 What should be done during
specific circumstances?
During Threatened Abortion
- bed rest and appropriate medications are the only
treatments
- termination by curettage, which is sometimes
advised in this case, would be morally as well as
obstetrically wrong.
- the use of tampon would also be immoral under the
circumstances
During Inevitable Abortion
- If the fetus has already been expelled while the
placenta remains, which is indicative of incomplete
abortion, the subsequent appropriate procedure does
not have any moral objection at all.
- If the cervix is dilating of its own accord, and the
patient is hemorrhaging and is in immediate danger of
bleeding to death, D&C is the appropriate health care
intervention. It is morally allowed if the placenta is
determined to be already detached so that, by then,
the fetus has already been dead because of lack of
oxygen.
During Severe Hemorrhage in Inevitable Abortion
- Severe bleeding poses a grave threat to the
mother’s life. With moral certainty that the fetus is
already dead, the health care practitioner immediately
proceeds with the appropriate health care intervention
that is designed to save the mother.
- Health care practitioners are morally allowed to
scrape and empty the uterus only when they are sure
that the baby has already been dead, as medically
indicated, so that there is no moral objection that may
surface.
Treatment of Human Embryo
- In the case of pre-natal check-up and treatment,
there is no moral problem if it respects the life and
integrity of the embryo and the human fetus and is
directed toward its safeguarding or healing as an
individual.
- It is gravely opposed to moral law when this is done
with the thought of possibly inducing an abortion,
depending upon the results: a diagnosis must not be
the equivalent of a death sentence.
Rape and Incest
- The innocent victim of a criminal attack is allowed to
eject or destroy the sperm before conception takes
place. Unjust aggression is the moral basis which
justifies the victim.
- If any means is used to remove it from the uterus or
fallopian tubes, it must be employed before there is
any probability that an impregnated (fertilized) ovum is
already existing. Otherwise, it would take the form of
direct abortion which is never permissible.
- The innocent human life should not suffer
punishment for the crime committed by the
perpetrator.
 Moral Teaching on the
Inviolability of Human Life
- Human life begins to exist at the moment of
conception or fertilization. It must be respected and
protected absolutely from the moment of conception.
From its conception, the child has the right to life.
- The inviolable right to life proceeds from the dignity
of the human person created according to the image
and likeness of God, redeemed by the blood of Christ,
and sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
 Pointers for Health Care Practitioner
1. Abortion willed as an end or a means of another end
is direct and thus, immoral. This includes therapeutic
abortion as the case may be. A cooperation without
which direct abortion cannot come to its completion is
an ample ground for automatic excommunication. The
sin of abortion is reserved for absolution to the bishop or
a priest delegated by him.
2. Abortion which is not directly willed as an end or
means and which is merely seen and tolerated as evil
effect is indirect and thus, morally permissible under
the principle of double effect.
3. In case of spontaneous-inevitable abortion, if it is
medically indicated that the fetus is dead, it is morally
licit to remove it; if the fetus is viable and the mother is
in danger of death, termination of pregnancy for
premature delivery is medically advisable incurring no
moral objection; if the fetus is not viable, direct
removal of which constitutes direct abortion rendering
the procedure immoral; if the mother is in danger of
death, the principle of double effect has to be invoked
so that the procedure constitutes indirect abortion
which is morally allowed.
4. In case of abruptio placentae, if the placenta is
completely detached causing the death of the fetus
and that hemorrhage follows, removal of the fetus is,
of course morally licit; if the placenta is not yet
completely detached and that the non-viable fetus is
still alive, removal of said fetus may constitute direct
abortion which is not morally permissible; again, in
which case, the principle of double effect has to be
employed.
5. Responsibility must be taken to dispel any vincible
ignorance and to obtain knowledge about surrounding
issues and moral principles relative to the removal of
the fetus for the sake of the mother’s health so as to
establish clear and certain conscience in whatever
procedure and / or cooperation to be employed. This
can be done by means of reading books in health
ethics and morality, consultation with moral
authorities, and others.
The End