The Church has not changed in the least.
A child in utero must never be intentionally killed no matter what the reason.
Pregnant women often refuse cancer treatment and die in order to save a babe in utero. I know my wife would insist on that. I have friends who have died this way and the baby is healthy. We have a canonized Saint Gianna whose children are still alive - she sacrificed her life so that her child could be born healthy. The kids attended her canonization!
We believe it is always wrong to intentionally kill a person who is innocent. Always. And we treat unborn children in the womb as persons.
I want to clarify: it is morally acceptable to take cancer treatments if you are pregnant because your goal is NOT to kill the child, but to kill the cancer. I simply brought this example up because it is an example of the heroic virtue the Church hopes we will exhibit when we make choices such as the choice to not kill a baby to protect a pregnant mother’s life. I will note that the likelihood that killing the unborn child will save the mother’s life is almost zero. Such a medical situation happens 1 in a million times.
For a person to lay down his or her life in defense of another is considered the highest form of love, according to the New Testament.
When this happens in wartime, the person who does it is often awarded the Posthumous Medal of Honor.
Nobody is born with that kind of grace or courage, as Survival is one of our primary instincts.
St. Gianna sacrificed her life because she had that special grace and courage from the Lord.
Would she still be a saint if she died as a result of a federal law requiring her to deliver a healthy child even if it meant her death?
I am Pro-Life and I believe that life begins at conception. Abortion is killing a human being, absolutely.
But to expect all Americans to accept Medal of Honor or Canonized Saint standards with regard to a deadly entropic pregnancy is a wee bit over the top.
You are correct. The Catholic Church has not changed in this regard, and I applaud them for it. It would be very sad if they caved to secular pressure to accept what to the Church is unacceptable.
But not everybody in the USA is a Catholic. So One has to make laws based on medical knowledge, which shows that “LIFE” begins at Conception, and there is a beating heart very soon thereafter. Based on that, Abortion is the deliberate killing of a human being. That alone is enough basis for its ban, without splitting hairs. The types of pregnancies that end up in abortion are usually for the CONVENIENCE of the mother, rather than the LIFE of the mother. It is a VERY TINY percentage that are to save the mother’s life, and its introduction into the argument only makes it more difficult to convince people that Roe Vs Wade is WRONG and should be repealed.
I respect your views, but they can’t be the Law of the Land.