Catholic teaching on abortion is clear

If you were confused by Bishop Edward Scharfenberger’s position regarding President Joe Biden's eligibility to receive Holy Communion in the Roman Catholic Church, given the president's efforts to make abortion available to all women in the interest of “fairness,” you were not alone.

Here is the Catholic teaching I was given as a medical student in 1955, at Georgetown University Medical school, when abortion was illegal in the United States and we did not have a Catholic president:

1. A Catholic physician who performs an abortion, other than to preserve the life of the mother, is automatically excommunicated.

2. A Catholic physician who assists another physician in performing an abortion in any manner, other than to preserve the life of the mother, is automatically excommunicated.

3. A Catholic physician who knowingly refers a patient to another physician for an abortion, other than to preserve the life of the mother, is automatically excommunicated.

This teaching seems to me to be pretty unequivocal, and I believe would apply to President Biden with respect to the #2 prohibition.

Now, perhaps I misunderstood something in the 1955 teaching. If so, will someone enlighten me as to what the correct teaching from the Catholic church was in 1955, when there were no political considerations and abortion was illegal in this country? And, finally, has the Catholic teaching on abortion today changed, just a tiny bit, now that abortion is legal and we have a Catholic president, who with his abortion policy is mainly concerned with being re-elected? Joseph A. Kelly, M.D.

Menands