Abortion

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If you or someone you know think you might be pregnant, Click Here to connect with your local center or clinic for help. There are resources available to help support you through pregnancy and childbirth.

“God’s love does not differentiate between the newly conceived infant still in his or her mother’s womb and the child or young person, or the adult and the elderly person. God does not distinguish between them because he sees an impression of his own image and likeness (Gn 1:26) in each one.” – Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.” Jeremiah 1:5

Overview

A procured or induced abortion is the deliberate killing and removal of a baby from her mother’s womb before birth. Abortion has been condemned by the Church since apostolic times. The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, composed before A.D. 100, told the faithful “You shall not procure abortion. You shall not destroy a newborn child” (II, 2). Direct abortion and infanticide were from the beginning placed on the same level of malice. Hundreds of ecclesiastical documents from the first century through to the present testify to the same moral doctrine, with such nuances as time, place, and circumstances indicated. The Second Vatican Council declared: “Life must be protected with the utmost care from the moment of conception,” so that “abortion and infanticide are abominable crimes” (Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, IV, 51). Pope Paul VI confirmed this teaching in 1974. “Respect for human life,’ he wrote, “is called for from the time that the process of generation begins. From the time that the ovum is fertilized, a life is begun which is neither that of the father nor of the mother. It is rather the life of a new human being with its own growth. It would never be made human if it were not human already.” Consequently, “divine law and natural reason exclude all right to the direct killing of an innocent human being” (Declaration on Procured Abortion, III, 12).

Annual Events

  • USCCB 9 Days for Life: Our Diocese joins the USCCB on a 9 Day campaign of prayer, penance, and pilgrimage to promote a culture of life. The campaign operates primarily through social media.
  • Mass for the Protection of Unborn Children (Roe v. Wade): Hosted at Christ Cathedral, the whole Diocese gathers to pray for an end to abortion and other abuses of the dignity of life. Date: Wednesday, January 22, 2020.
  • OC 40 Days for Life: During Lent, our Diocese observes forty days of prayer for the respect of life. In concordance with 40 Days for Life Orange County, the Diocese encourages parishes and individuals to participate in peaceful prayer vigils outside of abortion clinics as well as offering personal or parish prayers and sacrifices. Please keep in mind our Diocesan GUIDELINES FOR CATHOLIC PRO-LIFE OUTREACH for a Catholic, Christ-Centered Approach to Pro-Life Ministry. Favor de considerar nuestras DIRECTRICES PARA ALCANCE COMUNITARIO CATOLICO PRO-VIDA, para un ministerio pro-vida catolica, con cristo al centro.
  • Mother’s Day Roses Collection: We encourage parishes to offer roses for a donation which will benefit a local Life Center or Birth Choice Clinic which supports mothers in crisis pregnancies.
  • Participate in Pennies From Heaven Campaign

Church Teaching

Other Resource

Taking Action

  • Find a full list of ideas for involvement
  • Volunteer or Donate to at your local pregnancy center, clinic or shelter
  • Download App for Life (Options United): App for Life, is a “virtual” sidewalk prayer app. Real time prayer requests from women who are considering an abortion. Download and hit “Pray” & then “Pray All” to begin.
  • Join your parish’s Respect Life Committee and invite others to advocate for life, through raising awareness and funds, supporting events, etc.
  • Join the Catholic Legislative Network and advocate for pro-life public policy that serves the common good. Be a voice for Life & Dignity in California!
  • Subscribe to our Life, Justice & Peace Newsletter
  • Subscribe to newsletters from Respect Life Organizations
  • Participate in Catholic Advocacy Day to advocate for legislation that respects life in California
  • Pray at Peaceful Prayer Vigils outside of clinics or plan and organize your own vigil.
  • Participate in Pennies From Heaven Campaign
  • Organize a Mass for the Protection of Unborn Children at your parish
  • Participate in 40 Days for Life Orange County
  • Participate in Walk for Life LA
  • Promote Adoption

Please read our Diocesan Guidelines for Catholic Pro-Life Outreach for appropriate witness to the Catholic Church’s teaching on the dignity of the human person and the inviolable right to life of all human beings. Faithful Catholics are encouraged to prayerfully reflect on these guidelines when preparing to engage in pro-life public outreach.

Prayer

Liturgy and Devotion

Post Abortive

Education

Pastoral Care

Each year around 40,000 births occur in Orange County.  How many might be crisis pregnancies? Fear and anxiety can grasp a woman bearing a child in her womb.  Teenagers, still in high school, struggle to openly discuss the situation with their family.  Women in abusive relationships, without a supportive partner, face their pregnancies alone.   Women already struggle to provide for their families and now another child is on the way.  Single women contemplate the reality of being a mom; where will they find child care so they can work to support a child?  Around the Diocese, pregnancy resource centers promote the dignity of life by providing compassionate support for women facing crisis pregnancies, by offering medical assistance and offering alternatives to abortion.

Crisis Pregnancy

  • If you or someone you know is considering an abortion, Click Here to connect with your local center or clinic for help.

Post-Abortion Care

“Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person – among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life.” – CCC 2270

Abortion