From the vantage point of a Catholic, life begins at conception. Life, in this sense, would mean ‘personhood’. If one is a human person, then it would be morally wrong to kill him.
But even if one would not accept the proposition that life begins at conception, one must at least be humble enough to accept that there is no conclusive evidence as to when life begins. If this is the case, abortion would still be morally wrong.
This is due to the following proposition: that if one is unsure as to when ‘life’ begins, it would be morally irresponsible for one to engage in an abortion. If we are unsure as to whether ‘personhood’ is conferred upon an embryo, for example, then there is a possibility of the embryo being a person.
If there is a possibility of the embryo being a person, then it would be, by analogy, like shooting a moving bush (unsure of what’s behind it) hoping that it be a deer rather than a human being. In such a circumstance, if the ‘thing’ behind the bush turns out to be a human, there is gross negligence on the part of the shooter.
In a similar way, going for an abortion, not knowing whether the embryo is a person or not shows moral irresponsibility and may constituted as gross negligence.
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