I'm not a Catholic, so you Catholics can correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the Pope or a high-ranking bishop just make a public statement that while some moral questions such as capital punishment and war are debatable, abortion is not debatable? Catholic teaching is simply that abortion is wrong. This is not an elusive, difficult search for truth; it is a clear teaching of the Church.
Bingo.
Excuse me for using the technical language. "Bingo" is a term in Catholic theology, meaning, "You got it!"
Several higher ups in the Church have made such statements, including Cardinal Ratzinger.
Boiled down to basics, it goes like this: there are some things, such as war and the death penalty, that ARE debatable. The Pope, for example, holds that the death penalty ought not be used in most western countries, believing that life in prison is more merciful. However, Church law does NOT forbid the death penalty as implemented by lawful authority.
On the other hand, there are five issues which are of an intrinsic evil (if I have the correct terminology). That is, they can NOT be justified, nor debated. They are Abortion, Euthanasia, Same Sex Marriage, Cloning, and Embryonic Stem Cell Harvesting.
These five issues stand in opposition to the word of God, and the teachings of the Church.
Oddly enough, Kerry is in favor of all five. That's a CATHOLIC position? I don't think so.
Paraphrasing, of course, but I think I've got the gist...
Abortion is ALWAYS wrong.
That's the essence of it. The statement was made by the cardinal prefect for the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith (formerly known as the Inquisition). He's the pope's "#2 man."