Respect Life

DEFINITION - Abortion is the intentional termination of a pregnancy before term by causing the expulsion of the baby from the womb, usually in the death of the baby. An intentional abortion is always wrong.
A “spontaneous abortion” is the term used when the pregnancy unintentionally ends due to natural causes during the first trimester.  It’s called a “miscarriage” if it happens during the second trimester, and “premature birth” during the third trimester. There is no wrong when this happens, since it is not an intentional action.
 
CHURCH TEACHING
CCC: Catechism of the Catholic Church
CCC 2258 
“Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves the creative action of God and it remains forever in a special relationship with the Creator, who is its sole end. God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end: no one can under any circumstance claim for himself the right directly to destroy an innocent human being.”  ( CDF Donum Vitae)
CCC 2259 
Gen 4:10-11
In the account of Abel’s murder by his brother Cain, God declares the wickedness of this fratricide: “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.” 
CCC 2270 
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 2271   
Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law:  “You shall not kill the embryo by abortion and shall not cause the newborn to perish.” (Didache 2,2)  (Didache - pronounced “did’-a-key”, from the 1^st century).  The Didache or The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles is a brief early Christian treatise, dated by most scholars to the mid to late first century. The first line of this treatise is "Teaching of the Lord to the Gentiles (or Nations) by the Twelve Apostles“.  The text, parts of which constitute the oldest surviving written catechism, has three main sections dealing with Christian ethics, rituals such as baptism and Eucharist, and Church organization. 
Biblical references
Ex 23:7 
Scripture specifies the prohibition contained in the fifth commandment: “Do not slay the innocent and the righteous.”
Mt 5: 21-22 
You have heard that it was said to the men of old, “You shall not kill: and whoever kills shall be liable to judgment.” But I say to you that every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment.
Jer 1:5
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you…
Ps 139:15
My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately wrought in the depths of the earth. 
CDF: Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith:
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (Latin: Congregatio pro Doctrina Fidei, C.D.F.) is the oldest among the nine congregations of the Roman Curia. It was founded to defend the church from heresy; today, it is the body responsible for promulgating and defending Catholic doctrine. It is informally known in many Catholic countries as the Holy Office and after 1904 was termed as the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office.
Founded by Pope Paul III in 1542, the congregation's sole objective is to "spread sound Catholic doctrine and defend those points of Christian tradition which seem in danger because of new and unacceptable doctrines". Its headquarters are at the Palace of the Holy Office, just outside Vatican City. The congregation employs an advisory board including cardinals, bishops, priests, lay theologians, and canon lawyers.   
Donum Vitae is the instruction on Respect for Human Life in Its Origin and on the Dignity of Procreation which was issued on February 22, 1987 by the CDF.  It addresses biomedical issues from the Roman Catholic Church's perspective.
CDF: - Donum Vitae: 
"From the time that the ovum is fertilized, a new 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 his own growth. It would never be made human if it were not human already. To this perpetual evidence ... modern genetic science brings valuable confirmation. It has demonstrated that, from the first instant, the programme is fixed as to what this living being will be: a man, this individual-man with his characteristic aspects already well determined. Right from fertilization is begun the adventure of a human life, and each of its great capacities requires time ... to find its place and to be in a position to act".
 
MORE INFORMATION ON ABORTION:
PENNSYLVANIA PROLIFE FEDERATION – Abortion Education
 https://paprolife.org/education/#1692222664505-4ed7ca39-ac54 
 
UNITED STATES CONFERENCE OF CATHOLIC BISHOPS
 https://www.usccb.org/prolife/abortion 
 
OTHER RESOURCES:
 https://www.priestsforlife.org/
https://www.respectlife.org/ 
https://aul.org/abortion/
 
HEALING AFTER ABORTION:
 https://www.rachelsvineyard.org/