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As a Catholic, I know that I am accountable to a higher law than human/positive law. The natural moral law is the guiding force behind the formation of my conscience and if human laws are not in accord with the current law, I am obligated to deny/change/protest/ignore them.

As such, is it right, for me, to consider the moral crime of abortion to be equal in all instances to the moral crime of murder? Is abortion exactly the same as murder, under the natural moral law and in the eyes of the Catholic Church?

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You are perfectly free to believe that abortion is morally equivalent to murder. That's a matter of opinion. Murder itself, however, is a technical legal term defined by legislatures. Neither you nor the Catholic Church (except in the Holy See itself) has any authority to claim that abortion is murder. – TRiG Jun 8 '12 at 16:56
@trig I agree, you want me to edit that in to the question? – Peter Turner Jun 8 '12 at 17:06
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@TRiG I don't think that matters in this case. If the state enacts some bill that redefines theft so items taken from my neighbor worth less than $10 don't qualify for the definition of theft, that church is going to go own teaching exactly what it does in relation to the commandment not to steal, plus we'll add an explanation that in our economy theft of any amount is still theft. Those of us in politics would also lobby for the morally baseless definition to be fixed for the benefit of society as a whole. Murder is more serious, but the same principles apply. – Caleb♦ Jun 8 '12 at 21:00
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@Caleb. There is a difference, in that theft is theft in any context, while murder is, by definition, unlawful killing. So the opinion of the legislature does matter. – TRiG Jun 8 '12 at 21:05
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@TRiG No offense, but your reasoning would make it possible for the same action to be a violation of the 5th commandment in some countries but not others. Christianitiy only makes sense taken in the context of God's absolute standards. No legislature has the right to set their own arbitrary definitions for things such as what it means to take a life, and if they do, Christians are certainly not bound only to them. Since one of God's commands is to submit to authority, we are bound to obey whichever is stricter of the states and God's laws. If they ever outright conflict, God is always trump. – Caleb♦ Jun 8 '12 at 21:14
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Yes, in the eyes of the Catholic Church, under the guidance of the Pontifical Council for the Family abortion has been likened to murder.

The moral gravity of procured abortion is apparent in all its truth if we recognize that we are dealing with murder and, in particular, when we consider the specific elements involved. The one eliminated is a human being at the very beginning of life. No one more absolutely innocent could be imagined. In no way could this human being ever be considered an aggressor, much less an unjust aggressor!

Pontifical Council for the Family - Children, Springtime of the Family and Society, October 14-15, 2000

And the notion goes even deeper and predates Christian ethics, as tied to the Hippocratic Oath.

the evident synthesis of Hippocratic ethics and Christian morality cannot be contested -both Hippocratic ethics and Christian morality regard all forms of direct abortion or direct (whether active or passive) euthanasia as illegitimate because one is dealing with an act which destroys a prenatal life and with an act of murder which nobody can justify.

The Charter for Health Care Workers: A Synthesis of Hippocratic Ethics and Christian Morality

So, I think in the eyes of the Church, abortion is a form of murder. In fact it is the worst possible kind of murder because it destroys the life of a completely innocent human being.

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I could be mistaken, but it seems to me that the phrase "worst possible kind" implies that killing a less-innocent person would somehow be better. – Bruce Alderman Jun 8 '12 at 17:56
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Yeah, I think that's about the gist of it. I think it makes sense. It's why abortion, euthanasia and embyro-destruction are non-negotiable items in the eyes of the Catholic Church and self-defense, just war, and execution (in cases of public safety) are negotiable. – Peter Turner Jun 8 '12 at 18:00
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In the eyes of natural moral law and the church direct abortion is tantamount to murder (whether the legislature agrees or not). Direct abortion is when one chooses to intentionally abort a fertilized egg. However, indirect abortion is not tantamount to murder. Indirect abortion is when one does something that is not intended to harm the child, but the outcome is that the pregnancy is terminated (i.e. a woman with cancer has exhausted all treatment options that will not harm her baby and opts for a treatment which results in the death of her child). This is not a light decision for a mother, but is not seen as morally abhorrent and the choice would be left to the woman (although I think it should be highly prescribed in cases where if not treated both the woman and child would be lost). If any of this is confusing, here is an article which discusses the topic I have presented in more thorough detail. http://catholicmoraltheology.com/international-symposium-on-maternal-health-direct-abortion-never-medically-necessary/

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Welcome to Christianity.SE! This is a fairly good first answer, and I hope you'll stick around! :) – El'endia Starman♦ Oct 19 '12 at 19:56

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