In the church the Holy Office (that is, the Inquisitors-General in matters of faith and morals) is the official authority which interprets, under the approval of the Pope, the morality of acts like abortion and related operations. In 1895 the following difficulty was proposed to the Holy Office for solution:
A physician is treating a woman with a disease which will certainly be fatal to her unless cured medically, and the disease is due to the presence of a fetus in her womb. To save her it is necessary to empty the uterus, but the fetus is not yet viable. The question is, May the physician perform therapeutic abortion in such circumstances?
On July 24, 1895, the Holy Office answered: "The Inquisitors-General in matters of faith and morals, with the vote of their Consultors, decree: Negatively, in accord with the other decrees of May 28, 1884, and August 19, 1888."
In May, 1898, the following questions were proposed to the Holy Office:
I. Is the induction of premature labor licit when a contracted maternal pelvis prevents the birth of a child at term?
II. If the maternal pelvis is so narrow that premature delivery is impossible, is it licit to perform abortion, or to effect cesarean delivery at the proper time?
III. Is laparotomy in extrauterine gestation licit?
May 4, 1898, the Holy Office answered, with the assent of Leo XIII:
I. Premature labor in itself is not illicit, provided it is done for sufficient reason, and at the time and by such methods as will under ordinary circumstances preserve the life of the mother and the fetus.
II. As to the first part, the answer is negative, according to the decree of July 24, 1895, on the unlawfulness of abortion. As to the second part, there is no objection to the cesarean delivery at the proper time.