Moral Methodology and Pastoral Responsiveness: the Case of Abortion and the Care of Children

MORAL METHODOLOGY is intimately related to pastoral practice. Though neither element can be reduced to the other, the way one construes a moral problem methodologically shapes one's response to the problem. This article will analyze the moral reasoning in three recent church documents in order to assess the implications of their modes of reasoning for the relationship between abortion and the care of children. The three documents are the "Declaration on Abortion" issued in 1974 by the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and two statements by the American Catholic Bishops: "The Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities: A Reaffirmation" (1985), and "Putting Children and Families First: A Challenge for Our Church, Nation, and World (1991). The insight that there is some connection between the issues of abortion and the care of children is not uncommon. A number of scholars make the initial observation that there is a link between the two. But efforts to understand more fully how they relate have been less than satisfactory. The frustration is evident in Cardinal Bernardina words: "There must be a connection—logical, legal and social— between our lack of moral vision in protecting unborn children and our lack of social vision in the provision of basic necessities for women and children." These words imply, correctly, that the inability to relate