When Does Human Life Begin? Conception And Ensoulment
By Lindsey Disney, New York University Medical Center
Larry Poston, Nyack College, NY.
In The Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph #2322 states that “from its conception, the child has the right to life. Direct abortion . . . is a criminal practice, gravely contrary to the moral law. The Church imposes the canonical penalty of excommunication for this crime against human life.”
[1] Catechism of the Catholic Church (New York: Image Books/Doubleday, 1994), 606, 607, 618.