EWTN News portal reports on the introduction of the Dismemberment Abortion Ban Act of 2026 by Rep. Kat Cammack and others, which would prohibit dilation and evacuation (D&E) abortions — a procedure involving the dismemberment of unborn children. While the bill represents a marginal restriction on one method of abortion, it fundamentally fails to address the root evil: the legalized murder of innocent human beings, a crime against God’s Law that no human authority can legitimize.
The Primacy of God’s Law Over Human Legislation
The proposed legislation, while commendable in its limited scope, operates within a framework that implicitly accepts the legitimacy of abortion itself. By targeting only one method of abortion — dilation and evacuation — the bill concedes the premise that other forms of killing unborn children remain acceptable. This is a grave error that contradicts the immutable Catholic teaching on the sanctity of human life from the moment of conception.
As Pope Pius XI declared in *Casti Connubii* (1930): “The life of an innocent person is sacred, and no human authority can legitimately take it away.” The Church has consistently taught that all direct abortion — regardless of method — is a mortal sin and a crime against God’s Law. The proposed ban, by focusing solely on the “inhumanity” of one procedure, inadvertently suggests that other methods of killing unborn children are somehow less objectionable.
The Syllabus of Errors (1864) by Pope Pius IX condemns the proposition that “the violation of any solemn oath, as well as any wicked and flagitious action repugnant to the eternal law, is not only not blamable but is altogether lawful and worthy of the highest praise when done through love of country” (Proposition 64). Similarly, the legalized murder of the unborn, even when sanctioned by civil law, remains a “wicked and flagitious action repugnant to the eternal law.”
The Failure to Recognize the Unborn as Full Human Persons
The article quotes Rep. Andy Harris, a medical doctor, stating that the practice “violates both medical ethics and human dignity.” While this is true, it falls far short of the Catholic understanding of the unborn child’s status. The unborn are not merely “youngest patients” deserving of “respect, love, and access to healing” — they are full human persons with immortal souls, created in the image and likeness of God, endowed with the right to life from the moment of conception.
The Catechism of the Council of Trent teaches: “The soul is infused at the moment of conception, and the child is thus a human person from that instant.” This teaching, rooted in Scripture and Tradition, affirms that the unborn child is not a potential person but an actual person, deserving of the same protection as any other human being.
The proposed legislation’s focus on the “pain” experienced by unborn children during dismemberment, while emotionally compelling, risks reducing the argument to one of suffering rather than the fundamental right to life. As St. Thomas Aquinas teaches, “The sin of murder consists not in the manner of killing, but in the taking of innocent life” (*Summa Theologica*, II-II, Q. 64, A. 6). The horror of dismemberment abortion lies not primarily in the pain it inflicts but in the deliberate destruction of an innocent human life.
The Inadequacy of Legal Remedies in a Apostate Society
The article notes that the bill would allow women who experienced trauma from these abortions to seek legal recourse for damages. While this provision acknowledges the psychological harm caused by abortion, it fails to address the far greater spiritual harm: the mortal sin incurred by those who participate in the destruction of innocent life.
The post-conciliar “Church” — the conciliar sect occupying the Vatican — has largely failed to teach the faithful about the grave sinfulness of abortion and the eternal consequences of this crime. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (1992), a product of the post-conciliar revolution, states that abortion is a “moral evil” but fails to emphasize the automatic excommunication (*latae sententiae*) incurred by those who procure or participate in an abortion, as taught by the 1917 Code of Canon Law (Canon 2350).
The proposed legislation, while a step in the right direction, cannot substitute for the full restoration of Catholic teaching on the sanctity of life and the eternal consequences of sin. As Pope Leo XIII wrote in *Immortale Dei* (1885): “The Almighty, therefore, has given the charge of the human race to two powers, the ecclesiastical and the civil, the one being set over divine, and the other over human, each the highest in its kind, and each fixed within certain limits.” The civil power, while it can and should protect the unborn through legislation, cannot fulfill its duty without recognizing the authority of the Church and the primacy of divine law.
The Silence on the Spiritual Ruin of Abortion
The article quotes Jennie Bradley Lichter of March for Life Action, who describes dismemberment abortion as “the barbaric practice of tearing preborn babies apart limb from limb.” While this language accurately describes the physical horror of the procedure, it fails to address the spiritual dimension of the crime: the destruction of a soul destined for eternal life.
The Church teaches that every human being is created for eternal salvation, and the deliberate destruction of an innocent life is not merely a crime against the victim but an offense against God Himself. As the Prophet Jeremiah declares: “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee” (Jeremiah 1:5). The unborn child, known and loved by God from the moment of conception, is destined for eternal life — a destiny that abortion irrevocably destroys.
The proposed legislation, by focusing solely on the physical and psychological aspects of abortion, ignores the gravest consequence: the eternal damnation of those who participate in this crime without repentance. As Our Lord warns: “Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28).
The Necessity of Total Prohibition, Not Partial Restrictions
The article notes that the 2003 Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act is the only federal law prohibiting a specific abortion procedure, leaving “every other procedure unregulated.” This admission reveals the fundamental inadequacy of the proposed legislation: it seeks to regulate murder rather than abolish it.
The Catholic Church teaches that “the direct and voluntary killing of an innocent human being is always gravely immoral” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2261). This teaching admits of no exceptions, no “legal gray areas,” and no “medical emergencies” that would justify the direct killing of an unborn child. As Pope Pius XI declared in *Casti Connubii*: “No reason, however grave, may be put forward by which anything intrinsically against nature may become conformable to nature and morally good.”
The proposed legislation, by targeting only one method of abortion, implicitly concedes that other methods are acceptable. This is a betrayal of the Church’s uncompromising teaching on the sanctity of life. As St. John Paul II — despite his many errors and the dubious nature of his “canonization” — wrote in *Evangelium Vitae* (1995): “The deliberate decision to suppress a human being is always morally grave and can never be justified by the intention of avoiding suffering or of helping another person.”
The Duty of Catholic Lawmakers
Catholic lawmakers who support the proposed legislation must recognize that their duty extends far beyond the regulation of abortion methods. As members of the Mystical Body of Christ, they are bound to uphold the fullness of Catholic teaching on the sanctity of life and to work for the total abolition of legalized abortion.
Pope Leo XIII, in *Immortale Dei*, teaches that the civil power must recognize the authority of the Church and govern according to the principles of the faith: “The Almighty, therefore, has given the charge of the human race to two powers, the ecclesiastical and the civil, the one being set over divine, and the other over human, each the highest in its kind, and each fixed within certain limits.” Catholic lawmakers who fail to work for the total prohibition of abortion — and who instead settle for partial restrictions — betray their sacred duty to uphold God’s Law.
The proposed Dismemberment Abortion Ban Act of 2026, while a marginal improvement over the current legal regime, is a timid half-measure that fails to address the root evil of legalized child sacrifice. True justice demands not the regulation of murder but its total abolition — and the recognition of the unborn child’s God-given right to life, from the moment of conception to natural death.
Source:
Lawmakers, activists rally behind proposed ban of ‘inhumane’ dismemberment abortion (ewtnnews.com)
Date: 01.05.2026