Abortion for a ectopic pregnancy

[Paladin D]

What's an ectopic pregnancy exactly? Is it still a sin to get an abortion in this case?

[Guest Aluigi]

i think it is not a sin to do an ectopic transplantation (some procedure akin to that i'm not sure what it's called) that would put the baby in danger without directly killing it.

direct abortion is always a sin and never necessary.

[JP2Iloveyou]

I'm not a biology major, but I'll try to explain. Please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. An ecoptic pregnancy is where the fertilized egg plants in the fallopian tube instead of in the interuterine wall. If left there, it will seriously harm the mother, more than likely kill her, and kill the baby because the result is the embryo grows and eventually becomes to large for the fallopian tube which eventually rupturs and bursts.

In such a situation, the principle of double effect must be employed. It is never licit to directly kill the baby for the sake of saving the mother; however, it is licit to save the mother even if a negative, though seen consequence is the death of the baby. The intention of the act is to save the mother's life, not to kill the baby. The reason this can be permitted is because if by chance the baby didn't die and they were able to reimplant it where it's supposed to go, you wouldn't say, "Dang, we goofed. Let's go back and kill it again." It's all about the intention.

[Balthazor]

You got it right. JP2 Ilove you
this is from fids health.com:
"What Is an Ectopic Pregnancy?
Ectopic means "out of place." In an ectopic pregnancy, a fertilized egg has implanted outside the uterus. The egg settles in the fallopian tubes more than 95% of the time. This is why ectopic pregnancies are commonly called "tubal pregnancies." The egg can also implant in the ovary, abdomen, or the cervix, so you may see these referred to as cervical or abdominal pregnancies. None of these areas has as much space or nurturing tissue as a uterus for a pregnancy to develop. As the fetus grows, it will eventually burst the organ that contains it. This can cause severe bleeding and endanger the mother's life. A classical ectopic pregnancy never develops into a live birth."

As far as I understand it, the loss of a pregnancy because of the removal of a reptured fallopian tube is okay, because the intent is not to terminate the pregnancy but to save the mother who if she did not have the section taken out would die of internal hemoraging. The intent is not abortion the child died because of a procedure the mother needed...or something like that.

However there are other ways of dealing with an ectopic pregnancy that I and my sister are trying to figure out if they are permissable one is a methotrexate injection that just dissolves the pregnancy, it is far less traumatic for the mother as far as I know and you don't have to take any organs with it and there is far less pelvic scarring. But I do not know if this is permissable.

As for ectopic transplantation...I have never heard of it and would like to hear more about it.

See the problem is that in some ectopic pregnancies it is certain the child will die wether the mother has an abortion or not....the only variable is if the mother dies too.

Obviously if there is a chance to save both mother and child it should be taken that goes without saying..

My sister is in ultra-sound so she knows more about this stuff than I do...I will ask her if she has ever heard about this.
God Bless,
Balthazor

[Guest Aluigi]

i just made up an eroneous term intending to say what you all said. sorry, didn't really know

[Balthazor]

It's cool.... I was just curious. That explains why I haven't heard about it though.

Edited November 27, 2004 by Balthazor

[thessalonian]

I heard this explained on Catholic Answers one time by James Akin I think it was. He said that if the intent of the procedure was not an abortion, i.e. a medical procedure which is neccessary, but which consequently ends the life of the child, it is not immoral. The intent is not to have an abortoin in this case but to prevent the mother from dying. Hope that helps.

[Balthazor]

I am still wondering about the Mexthotrexate injection, it is directly causing an abortion.....granted an abortion on a preganacy that will never result in a living child, but an abortion no less.

1 Must a woman wait until her fallopian tube is ruptured and she is bleeding internally and has to have a section of the tube taken out with the pregnancy for it to not be a mortal sin?

2 Or can she have a slit made in the tube and the fetus taken out and then the slit sewn up again?

3 Or can she have the Mexatrexate, and avoid a very expensive surgery, pelvic scarring, a missing tube and an increased risk to her life?

I have a lot of trouble with this it seems only the first of the three is permissable. I really don't know about the other two. However I am thinking no on the Mexthotrexate....

[vianney316]

The Mexthotrexate injection is directly attacking the embryo and is immoral and an abortion. "Disolving the pregnancy" would be disolving the unborn child and thus directly attacking the child.

In dealing with an ectopic preganancy, it is necessary that the act doesn't directly cause the death of the unborn child and the intention is not to directly kill the child. So removing the fetus directly through a small slit in the fallopian tube and then sowing up the tube would be alright if the fetus were put in the right place and allowed to live, but it is not (in the case you are talking about). If the fetus is directly removed and allowed to die, it is the same as directly attacking the unborn child and is an abortion. The surgery must be on the tube, not the child.

Removing the fallopian tube is not directly attacking the child and would have the intention of saving the life of the mother with an undesired effect of the fetus dying. This is a morally acceptable option.

I do not think it is still medically possible to remove the fetus from the fallopian tube and put it in the proper place allowing it to live. Let's pray that day comes soon.

There are a bunch of good Q&A on this by searching "ectopic" at EWTN's Q&A section.

God bless!

Edited November 28, 2004 by vianney316