Why Does the Church Excommunicate for Abortion but Not for Murder?

The Church considers abortion a far graver sin than the murder of an adult or even a born child. Those who participate in abortion are automatically excommunicated by the very act itself—this includes not only the parents of the unborn child but also doctors, midwives, gynecologists, and anyone whose words or actions encouraged the parents to commit this crime against their own child.

Church Law on Excommunication

If we turn to the Code of Canon Law, we indeed find Canon 1398: “A person who procures a completed abortion incurs a latae sententiae excommunication,” meaning that the very act of abortion results in automatic excommunication. In contrast, intentional murder does not carry such a penalty.

Pope John Paul II explained the reason for this in his encyclical Evangelium Vitae:

“By this severe penalty, the Church points out this crime as one of the most serious and dangerous, encouraging the perpetrator to seek true repentance. For in the Church, the penalty of excommunication is intended to make the guilty party fully aware of the gravity of the committed sin and to lead them to sincere conversion and repentance.” (62)

The Legal and Moral Confusion

Everyone understands that intentional murder is an evil act, prosecuted under civil law. The situation with abortion, however, is different. A Catholic knows that abortion is murder and an evil act, leaving no room for ambiguity. However, in many countries, abortion is not considered evil—on the contrary, the state even facilitates and funds it. This leads to moral confusion, fostering the misconception that what is legally permitted is not necessarily evil or at least not a serious one.

In 1978, the Italian bishops issued a special document on this matter, stating:

“A reasonable person cannot fail to recognize that abortion is intentional murder, as the unborn child is entirely defenseless. The Church’s penal intervention is aimed at protecting the unborn, especially since the state, at least in certain cases, no longer considers abortion to be murder, while it continues to classify homicide as a crime.”

Statistics on Abortion

In Italy, there are approximately 700–800 murders per year. The numbers for abortion, however, are drastically different: 130,000 annually. In Russia, official statistics report 1.2 million abortions per year, but other sources estimate the figure at 5 to even 12 million. This does not include illegal abortions or miscarriages induced by abortifacient drugs, including the “morning-after pill.”

Source: Radio Vaticana