Question Corner: At what point does being a pro-choice Catholic become sinful?

Q: Catholic governors commit an obviously sinful act when they sign extremely permissive abortion laws. On the other hand, there is an extraordinary minister of holy Communion in my parish who told me she is pro-choice, but I’m not aware she has done anything to support abortion except maybe vote for a pro-choice candidate. My question is: At what point does being a pro-choice Catholic become sinful? (Indianapolis, Indiana)

A: I think there are a couple of implied layers to your question. That is, we can ask at what point supporting abortion becomes sinful, and we can also consider at which point this support becomes sinful in such a way where the Catholic in question would run into canonical consequences.

On this first level, I would think that any support of abortion whatsoever could be considered a sin, in the sense of it being an act which offends God and damages our relationship with him.

Though as a caveat, by “supporting abortion” here I mean supporting the direct and intentional ending of an innocent human life in the womb. I’m not referring to tragic medical situations where an unborn child dies as the foreseen but unintended result of a gravely necessary medical procedure, and certainly not to cases of unintended miscarriages.

I would argue that even privately regarding the direct and intentional killing of an unborn child as morally acceptable in one’s own mind — especially when one has had adequate catechesis and Christian formation and is not simply struggling with a sincere doubt — would constitute a sin, albeit clearly not as grave a sin as actually facilitating an abortion.

We are called to love God with “all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind” (see Mt 22:37), and intellectually subscribing to a belief that is contrary to God’s law is falling short of this standard.

This is one reason why at the beginning of every Mass, we pray: “I confess to almighty God … that I have greatly sinned in my thoughts and in my words” along with “in what I have done, and in what I have failed to do.”

But this kind of very hidden sin would be a matter of what canon lawyers call the “internal forum.” This means that while someone who committed a purely interior sin would do well to bring it up in confession, the Church would never seek to impose exterior consequences for a sin that is truly between an individual and God.

Things get a little more complicated when we are talking about sins committed in the “external forum,” meaning sins that are outwardly observable by third parties.

Some but not all observable sins are also considered crimes in canon law, and often entail canonical punishments. Abortion is one such sin, which is punished by an automatic excommunication (see Canon 1397, 2 of the Code of Canon Law).

However, the only people who are guilty of the canonical crime of abortion are those who were directly involved in bringing about a specific abortion in real life, such as the doctor who actually carried out the operation.

This means that those who support abortion in general — even in very practical ways like fundraising for pro-abortion political candidates — generally would not incur the specific penalty of excommunication based on this generic support alone.

Yet, even if a specific sin does not rise to the level of being a canonical crime, it can still have consequences in canon law. For instance, as a matter of sacramental discipline, those Catholics who “obstinately persist in manifest grave sin” should be denied holy Communion as per Canon 915.

So for example, in theory, if a Catholic who vocally promoted abortion in general was warned by his or her bishop or parish priest about the sinfulness of his or her situation, but still refused to change his or her ways, he or she would not be permitted to receive Communion, despite the fact that he or she wouldn’t necessarily be excommunicated.

Read more Question Corner

Question Corner: Is it appropriate to hold hands or lift your hands up during the Our Father at Mass?

Question Corner: How can a priest deal pastorally with those who are quick to suspect people of being Freemasons?

Question Corner: Can I receive Communion even if I didn’t attend the whole Mass?

Question Corner: Why wasn’t Jesus clearer in making St. Peter head of the Church?

Question Corner: What is the Catholic Church’s teaching on the death penalty?

Question Corner: What is the Catholic Church’s current stance on Freemasonry?

Copyright © 2026 OSV News

 Print