wo points here:
1. The notion that a fetus is a human being from the minute it is conceived is contrary to early church teachings. No less than Thomas Aquinas believed that there was no soul until the fetus "quickened," i.e. couild be felt moving around by the mother.
Aquinas was referring to "ensoulment" which takes us into the fifth month or so. However, in the 21st century, the Church's position is unequivecal:
The Catholic church regards the fifth of the Ten Commandments ("Thou shalt not kill") as governing in most instances where the life of an embryo or fetus is artificially and directly terminated. (This is the sixth commandment according to the numbering system used by most Protestants and Eastern Orthodox churches.) They teach that a human person comes into existence at conception, perhaps two weeks before pregnancy begins. (Physicians regard pregnancy as beginning after conception, when the fertilized ovum implants itself in the wall of the uterus.)
