Church Has Never Declared its Position on Abortion to Be Infallible
Catholics can and do support public policies that acknowledge the moral agency of women, respect developing life, and appreciate the Catholic tradition while honoring the views of other faith groups. Many of these Catholics support a woman’s right to choose an abortion.
Church teachings, tradition and core Catholic tenets—including the primacy of conscience, the role of the faithful in defining legitimate laws and norms, and support for the separation of church and state—leave room for supporting a more liberal position on abortion. The church has acknowledged that it does not know when the fetus becomes a person and has never declared its position on abortion to be infallible. Catholics can, in good conscience, support access to abortion and affirm that abortion can be a moral choice.
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Have we not read our Popes' encyclicals? Pope John Paul II wrtoe the encyclical Evangelium Vitae specifically for the purpose of defining the Church's teaching on life issues such as abortion and euthanasia. The CHurch recognizes the Pope's authority to speak definitively on issues of faith and morals, and all Catholics are morally bound by such defining statements.
Mr. O'Brien appears to be attempting to muddle the definition of 'infallible teaching'. Church teachings are declared in one of three ways:
Papal 'ex cathedra' statements - Except for the errors stating that the declaration of infallibility itself was proclaimed via this method and the implication that it is the sole source of infallible teaching, Mr. O'Brien's characterization of this particular source of the deposit of faith is correct. (The dogma of papal infallibility was declared via the Extraordinary Universal Magisterium, specifically from the First Vatican Ecumenical Council - 1870.)
Extraordinary Universal Magisterium - Bishops united with the Pope at an Ecumenical Council. An infallible example here would be the dogma of Christ's Divinity. (First Nicea Council – 325)
Ordinary Universal Magisterium – Bishops dispersed throughout the world and united with the Pope being in agreement on one judgment or position to be definitively held. An infallible example here would be the reality of angels and demons as creatures of intellect and will.
Mr. O'Brien's assertion of a doctrine of primacy of personal conscience also selectively cites a partial portion of the Church teaching regarding conscience. Consider also paragraph 1783 of the Catechism which includes:
“The education of conscience is indispensable for human beings who are subjected to negative influences and tempted by sin to prefer their own judgment and to reject authoritative teachings.”
Although the Magisterium has a plethora of statements that are definitive authoritative teachings of the Church doctrine regarding the grave sin of abortion, perhaps the most succinct is from Pope John Paul II in Evangelium Vitae who quotes Vatican II documents Lumen Gentium & Gaudium et Spes as well as Pope Paul VI's Humanae Vitae:
“By the authority which Christ conferred upon Peter and his successors, in communion with the bishops – who on various occasions have condemned abortion and who in the aforementioned consultation, albeit dispersed throughout the world, have shown unanimous agreement concerning this doctrine – I declare that direct abortion, that is, abortion willed as an end or as a means, always constitutes a grave moral disorder, since it is the deliberate killing of an innocent human being. This doctrine is based upon the natural law and upon the written Word of God, is transmitted by the Church's tradition and taught by the ordinary and universal magisterium.”
The Church only makes a formal declaration of infallibility in extraordinary circumstances, and in particular, regarding matters of widespread doubt among the faithful.
The Church doesn't know when life begins? Really? I think the Church has access to the findings of science, just like everyone else...