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References within the Canons of the Church

The Council of Trullo, A.D. 692
The First Canonical Epistle of Our Holy Father Basil, Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia to Amphilochius, Bishop of Iconium.
The Canons of the Councils of Ancyra, Gangra Neocaesarea, Antioch and Laodicea
The Apostolic Teaching: The Lord's Teaching Through the Twelve Apostles to the Nations




The Canons of the Council in Trullo A.D. 692
Canon XCI


Those who give drugs for procuring abortion, and those who receive poisons to kill the. foetus, are subjected to the penalty of murder.

Ancient Epitome of Canon XCI.


Whoever gives or receives medicine to produce abortion is a homicide, See Canon XXI. of Ancyra, and Canon II. of St. Basil; to wit, "She who purposely destroys the foetus, shall suffer the punishment of murder. And we pay no attention to the subtile distinction as to whether the foetus was formed or unformed. And by this not only is justice satisfied for the child that should have been born, but also for her who prepared for herself the snares, since the women very often die who make such experiments."

The First Canonical Epistle of Our Holy Father Basil, Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia to Amphilochius, Bishop of Iconium.
Canon II


"A woman who aborts deliberately is liable to trial as a murderess. This is not a precise assertion of some figurative and inexpressible conception that passes current among us. For here there is involved the queston of providing for the infants to be born, but also for the woman who has plotted against her own self. For in most cases the women die in the course of such operations, But besides this there is to be noted the fact that the destruction of the embryo constitutes another murder.... It behooves us, however, not to extend their confessions to the extreme limit of death, but to admit them at the end of the moderate period of ten years, without specifying a definite time, but adjusting the cure to the manner of penitence."



The Canons of the Council of Ancyra
Canon XXI


Concerning women who commit fornication, and destroy that which they have conceived, or who are employed in making drugs for abortion, a former decree excluded them until the hour of death, and to this some have assented. Nevertheless, being desirous to use somewhat greater lenity, we have ordained that they fulfil ten years [of penance], according to the prescribed degrees.



APOSTOLIC TEACHING AND CONSTITUTIONS
The Lord's Teaching Through the Twelve Apostles to the Nations
Chapter II.The Second Commandment: Gross Sin Forbidden

1. And the second commandment of the Teaching; 2. Thou shalt not commit murder, thou shalt not commit adultery,thou shalt not commit paederasty, thou shalt not commit fornication, thou shalt not steal,thou shalt not practise magic, thou shalt not practise witchcraft, thou shalt not murder a child by abortion nor kill that which is begotten.