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Abortion

Everyone deserves equal access to the full range of reproductive healthcare services, including safe and legal abortion. The majority of Catholics believe that abortion should be legal. When navigating Catholic teachings on abortion, your conscience is the ultimate authority.
Jamie L. Manson, president of Catholics for Choice, speaks at a podium in Washington, D.C. that reads “NO CONFIRMATION BEFORE INAUGURATION."
“Giving a woman a legal right to have control and agency over her body translates to other aspects of her life, namely her freedom to claim political, economic, and social autonomy. The bishops reject the notion that women are equal to men. So how could they possibly support any right that would lead women into that kind of power and liberty?”
Jamie L. Manson

Abortion remains illegal or unavailable for millions of people around the world. In the U.S., the constitutional right to abortion faces constant challenges, despite the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Roe v. Wade. The Catholic hierarchy’s political sway plays a huge role in influencing public policy and limiting the availability of reproductive healthcare services worldwide. However, the hierarchy’s position does not reflect what ordinary Catholics know to be just. In the U.S., 56% of Catholics believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases, and 68% believe that Roe v. Wade should not be overturned. Moreover, Catholic teachings on abortion have changed over time, indicating that true Catholicism is based on a deep respect for each individual conscience when making moral decisions.

Catholics for Choice fights for the rights of all individuals to have access to the full scope of reproductive healthcare, including abortion. Barriers to abortion access have the greatest impact on the poor, the vulnerable, and people of color. We are part of the majority of the faithful in the Catholic church who know that abortion access is a social justice value — and a matter to be decided by one’s individual conscience.

Catholics in Public Life

Resources designed to help Catholic policymakers promote policies that ensure access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services.

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Questions About Abortion

We've compiled these talking points to help inform Catholic conversations about abortion.

Do Catholics have abortions?
What do Catholics believe about abortion?
Isn't the Catholic church's teaching on abortion unchanged and unchangeable?
Will I be excommunicated if I have an abortion?
Do I have to confess to having an abortion?
Why do people have abortions?