From a Catholic perspective, abortion, that is the intentional direct termination of pregnancy by killing the embryo or foetus, is always morally wrong. The Catholic perspective affirms: 'Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves the creative action of God and it remains for ever in a special relationship with the Creator, who is its sole end. God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end: no one can under any circumstance claim for himself the right directly to destroy an innocent human being (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, 1987. 5). This Catholic understanding goes beyond God's supposed rights to be the giver and taker of life. This understanding moves beyond opposition to abortion simply because one is Catholic. Rather Catholic understanding here is in a very profound way about our attitude to life and love and the way in which these attitudes shape us as persons, regardless of our religious belief. When we are asked, what kind of a person do you want to be, the answer for most of us is 'a loving person', and 'a just person'. Faced with an unplanned pregnancy from whatever situation, the question about what kind of a person one wants to be is crucial. Asking the question of oneself should help us to see that to be truly loving and just, one must support life and love, one must stand up for the dignity, the worth of all human beings. So, whenever and however a child is conceived, the man and woman involved are called upon to take responsibility as human beings for their actions and to stand up for life and love. That means respecting the new life that has resulted from their behaviour and finding the best solution for the new human person whom they are privileged to bring into the world. If we examine the realities of our contemporary society, the issue of abortion most frequently arises precisely in those contexts where the Catholic perspective on sexual morality has not been followed, such as in having sex outside of marriage or where a married fail to act in ways characterised by love, justice and in accord with Catholic understandings of love and intimacy. Indeed, it is precisely such irresponsible and unethical behaviour towards woman in the marriage context that fuelled the call for women to have control of their reproductive capacities, including the so-called right to have an abortion. But abortion here only addresses a symptom. The cause, namely unjust and unloving sexual relationships between men and women, even in marriage remains unaddressed. The Catholic perspective does not condone the objectification of women as 'baby-making machines' or as satisfiers of their husband's sexual urges, just as the Catholic perspective also does not condone the reduction of sexual activity to sexual pleasure. All relationships must be seen in light of God's will for life and love. That said, however, even in contexts of irresponsible behaviour (sex outside of marriage) or unjust and unloving behaviour (objectification of women, even in marriage), the Catholic perspective still prioritises the goodness of the life that results from these actions above the wrongness of the actions themselves. In other words, just because we might have done the wrong thing (or someone might have done the wrong thing to us), this does not entitle us to take the life of an innocent person.