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According to Catholic Rapist Priests: Treating an Ectopic Pregnancy is an Abortion

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Treating an Ectopic Pregnancy is an Abortion, says Catholic Church and "Pro-Life" Groups

An ectopic (tubal) pregnancy is one in which the embryo has been implanted outside of the uterus,
most often in a fallopian tube.

Ectopic “pregnancies” will not result in a birth.

It is a very serious situation for the woman that can cause massive, internal bleeding, shock, and death.
Tubal pregancies currently affect 1 in 65 pregnancies
in the United States.
The maternal mortality rate is 9% and they are the leading cause of maternal death in early pregnancy.

Ectopic pregnancy Adam Illustration

A drug, Methotrexate (MXT - which is given as an injection) and the removal of the embryo (salpingostomy) are considered "direct attacks" on the embryo by Catholic hospitals and are therefore abortions.

Catholic hospitals condone only two treatments for ectopic pregnancy:

  • First is the surgical removal of the woman's fallopian tube (a salpingectomy) which is regarded as an “indirect abortion.”

  • The second option is referred to by Catholics as "expectant therapy" / "expectant management" in which the woman waits in hope that the pregnancy miscarries "naturally" before tubal rupture and/or her death.

According to Catholics, the main causes of ectopic pregnancies are venerial (sexually transmitted) disease and multiple sexual partners.*

"Pelvic inflammatory disease, which is spread by sexual promiscuity,
results in a 600% increase in the incidence of ectopic (tubal) pregnancy.”

- John B. Shea, Life Issues,

(Please note: credible medical practioners disagree with this position.)


Husbands of pregnant women, often the only person capable of speaking on the woman’s behalf, have been encouraged by Christian websites and “prolife hotlines” to pursue a painful and life-threatening course of action for their wives to endure:

"As it turned out in the end, the original doctors who had suggested
the abortive procedures did not perform the surgery.
Diana went into surgery as their shifts changed and instead a well-respecting
Catholic doctor performed the surgery and was very openly inspired
by our example of morality, as he shared with us afterwards in the follow-up visits.
We have thanked the Lord for this doctor."

While mentally healthy people view this as a form of torture,
Chrisitians see this as admirable and carrying out the “Will of God.”

“When a pregnancy goes terribly wrong, and the attending physicians have the choice of killing the fetus, and saving the life of the woman, or allowing nature to take its course and watching both the woman and fetus die, the moral decision in the eyes of the church is the latter.

“Fortunately, few physicians follow this directive.

“The church does make exceptions in a few unusual cases, like ectopic pregnancies and cancer of the uterus where the death of a fetus is an indirect result of a medical procedure.”
(Possible exceptions to the ban on abortion by the Roman Catholic Church)


Question: “What moral principles must be taken into account in treating a tubal pregnancy? What alternatives are available that respect both the mother's life as well as the life of her unborn child?”

Answer: “A mother facing a tubal pregnancy risks imminent rupture of the fallopian tube. While the doctor would opt for the least risk and expense to the mother, all the options presented to her involve terminating the pregnancy. The mother, however, must respect both her life and that of her child.

“There is no treatment available that can guarantee the life of both. The Church has moral principles that can be applied in ruling out some options. Most reputable moral theologians accept full or partial removal of the fallopian tube as a morally acceptable medical intervention in the case of a tubal pregnancy.”

Catholics United for the Faith
The opinions presented on their website refer to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops view of female entitlement to health care. This group also reported on the current epodemic of Catholic child molesting priests, the number of which was grossly underestimated to be 4932 U.S. Catholic priests as of 2002.
More information on the John Jay report "The Nature and Scope of the Problem of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests and Deacons in the United States"

More information about child-preditor Catholic priests in your area


Question: “It said this (procedure) leaves the fallopian tube in place and intact, arguing that it is the more pro-life and pro-fertility procedure. Is this a direct abortion?”

Answer: “I believe it is a morally direct abortion"

Catholic.net - William B. Smith
Not ironically, this question is answered at the bottom of a page addressing the Catholic opinion of the war in Iraq being a “just war.” The response asserts that male Christians are free to murder in the name of a cause that they see fit; Christian women are not allowed to want to live.


I remember speaking with a retired Catholic hospital chaplain who recalled his anguish at having to allow women to die from ectopic pregnancies.

The Principle of Double Effect, by David F. Kelly

"It is absolutely true that the Catholic Church bans abortion to save the life of the mother."


These moral considerations thus become vitally important
because, in the moral debate over management procedures for ectopic pregnancy
currently ensuing especially among Catholic theologians and medical doctors, we are
discerning the distinction between saving the life of the mother versus what is otherwise
murder of the unborn child masked under the auspices of saving the mother’s fertility.

Kelly Bowring, Sacred Theology and Pastoral Catechetics, St. Mary's College of Ave Maria University


“Women will die from ectopic pregnancies. We will lose mothers and wives.”

Call for Life


“Ectopic pregnancies do not all wind up in death for the child or the mother. Many can and do survive. (Exactly 1 in 60,000,000.)

“So does this mean that we should allow abortions when there is a risk of death for the mother? Let me ask you this one simple question:

“When is it acceptable to kill your child?

“If you have 10 children and they all need their mother and she has an ectopic pregnancy which might result in her death, what do you do? You might argue that those children need their mother right? It could be impossible for the father to raise them without her."

- Pro Life Blogs


Please conduct your own search (“ectopic catholic”) or for actuate medical information
please search “ectopic pregnancy.”

If you have further technical questions about ectopic pregnancies, contact a
Nonchristian OB/GYN for factual data.

Related info:
Ectopic Pregnancy
Ectopic Pregnancy (eMedicineHealth)
History of Roman Catholic positions on abortion

*The Moral Dilemma of Management Procedures for Ectopic Pregnancy - St. Mary’s College of Ave Maria University, New Advent, Catholics United for the Faith.

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