Science and the Doctrine of the Immaculate Conception: Powerful Allies in the Fight Against Abortion

In many discussions and debates, the following statement is triumphantly uttered on a regular basis: “I believe in and follow science.” Of course, this declaration made by far too many people is quite often nothing more than mere pretense that is used dishonestly in an effort to support favored policies or positions on a variety of issues. It is also employed to make it appear that those in opposition do not respect science, so their views should not be considered as having any legitimacy. However, it is frequently the case that science not only fails to support the favored policies or positions of the "I believe in and follow science crowd"; it actually supports opposing points of view. Case in point: Abortion.

A primary and perhaps the most popular argument used by those in favor of abortion is the false claim that the being in the womb is not a separate human being that possesses basic human rights, especially the right to life.  According to many abortion advocates, the being in the womb is only another part of the woman’s body, and this, it is claimed, is supported by science.  Hence the slogan “My Body, My Choice” that declares if a pregnant woman chooses to have an abortion, all she is doing is simply eliminating a part of her body she no longer wishes to have within her.  Since abortion involves only the woman’s body, the slogan also communicates a threatening “don’t tread on me message” to anyone who would dare to restrict a woman’s freedom by “telling her what she can or cannot do with her own body.” Alas, the argument and accompanying slogan convince many gullible people to look no further into the reality of what pregnancy actually means and what abortion actually does, and so they support abortion under the false belief that such is necessary to support the freedom of all pregnant women.

But is this popular pro-abortion argument scientifically sound?  Let’s check the actual science to see what it says. 

Great work in this area has been done by Dr. Maureen Condic, a member of the Pontifical Academy for Life and Professor of Neurobiology at the University of Utah.  Dr. Condic first published a detailed White Paper entitled “When Does Human Life Begin? A Scientific Perspective” in 2008, and on occasion over the years she has updated and slightly revised some of this work.  Dr. Condic has also provided helpful shorter versions of her scientific studies that have been made available online through many outlets since 2008.  In June, 2014, the Charlotte Lozier Institute published online Dr. Condic’s “A Scientific View of When Life Begins,” and I urge all people interested in defending human life in the womb to carefully read this work that can be found at https://lozierinstitute.org/a-scientific-view-of-when-life-begins/, and add it to their pro-life toolbox to be referred to often and shared with both pro-life and pro-abortion advocates. For purposes of this article, below is a copy of Dr. Condic’s conclusion from “A Scientific View of When Life Begins”:

“The conclusion that human life begins at sperm-egg fusion is uncontested, objective, based on the universally accepted scientific method of distinguishing different cell types from each other and on ample scientific evidence (thousands of independent, peer-reviewed publications). Moreover, it is entirely independent of any specific ethical, moral, political, or religious view of human life or of human embryos. Indeed, this definition does not directly address the central ethical question surrounding the embryo: What value ought society place on human life at the earliest stages of development?  A neutral examination of the evidence merely establishes the onset of a new human life at a scientifically well-defined “moment of conception,” a conclusion that unequivocally indicates that human embryos from the one-cell stage forward are indeed living individuals of the human species; i.e., human beings.”

From the conclusion cited above, note in particular the demonstrably scientific statement that “human life begins at sperm-egg fusion,” and also the grand finale so to speak that “establishes the onset of a new human life at a scientifically well-defined ‘moment of conception,’” which is a human being. 

Accordingly, actual science unequivocally demonstrates that the being in the womb is not merely a part of the woman’s body; it is indeed a separate human being.  From this scientific conclusion that establishes the existence of a new human being at conception, the only morally right thing to do is honor that being’s inherent right to life as a child of God.

Now what does this have to do with the Doctrine of the Immaculate Conception?

Promulgated on December 8, 1854, the Doctrine of the Immaculate Conception declares:

"We declare, pronounce, and define that the doctrine which holds that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful." (Cf. Denz., n. 1641.)

Well before science definitively established that all human life begins at conception, Holy Mother Church, in defining the Immaculate Conception, specifically states that the grace which preserved her from the stain of original sin was granted to Mary by Almighty God at the “instance of her conception.”  This grace was not granted at the moment of transplantation or at the moment of birth.  Instead, it was granted at the very first moment of Mary’s life, at the moment of her conception.

But if Mary was not alive and not a separate being from the first instance of her conception, the Doctrine of the Immaculate Conception would ultimately make no sense as the grace would have been granted to a non-existent being.  However, since it was granted to Mary at the first instance of her conception, the only reasonable conclusion is that she was alive and a human being separate from her mother.  And there would have also been no point in emphasizing Mary’s conception if such was not the beginning of life for her as it is for all human beings.

So objective science has established when all human life begins at the first moment of conception, and the Doctrine of the Immaculate Conception presciently reinforces this reality in its infallible teaching on the grace given to Mary when her life began at the first moment of conception.  Taken together, an infallible teaching and objective science are indeed powerful allies in the ongoing fight against the monstrous crime of abortion.