Question Title | Posted By | Question Date |
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Ectopic pregancy | Faith | Sunday, January 9, 2005 |
Question: I am curious...what is the church's position on how to handle an ectopic pregancy. If I understand the condition correctly, an egg becomes fertilized OUTSIDE of the womb, and most likely in one of the fallopian tubes. Not only can the developing embryo not grow properly in the tube or anywhere else outside of the womb, the subsequent rupturing of the fallopian tube can kill the woman. I think even if it doesn't kill her, it can permanently damage her tubes making future pregnancies impossible or unlikely. My question surrounds the fact that often the developing fetus is intact and alive, its just that it cannot grow in that environment. I believe in most cases where an ectopic pregnancy is suspected, physicians immediately go in and remove the pregnancy. I suppose in the old days women just died from this or suffered the complications of a ruptured tube. How should a woman handle this? |
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Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM
Dear Faith: The situation of Ectopic pregnancy is resolved according to the doctrine called "double effect." The doctrine of double effect states:
The surgery required to save the mother's life is a good in itself. This good (this surgery) is obtained through proper means in which the death of the baby is an incidential by-product of the surgery; the baby will die regardless. The death of the baby is not directly intended, but is permitted in order to accomplish the medical procedure. There is grave reason to perform the procedure since without it both baby and mother will die. This issue, however, is rather complicated. For example, tubal pregnancies are not the only type of Ectopic Pregrancy. To discuss the full details, see the article: Ectopic for Discussion: A Catholic Approach to Tubal Pregnancies (this is a PDF file. You must have Acrobat Reader on your computer). God Bless, P.S. If you need to download a free version of Acrobat Reader, click on the button below:
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