THE CESAREAN SECTION AND CATHOLIC MORAL TEACHING. — I. If the mother is alive, a cesarean section is permissible when the following conditions are met: a) that the birth cannot otherwise occur and thus there is no other way to avert the death of the mother or the child; b) that the fetus is viable, that is, it can in any way live outside the maternal womb; c) that there can prudently be hope of saving the mother; which, given the great progress of surgery in our time, constitutes the majority of cases; d) that the operation, naturally, be performed by a skilled surgeon. The cesarean section would become obligatory if it were the only means of baptizing the fetus; but in practice this is almost never the case, since the fetus can be validly baptized even within the maternal womb.
2. If the mother is dead, she must be delivered by cesarean section as soon as possible, both to save the fetus if possible and at least to baptize II. The obligation, which is grave, falls upon the surgeon and the physician, and in their absence, upon whoever is capable of performing the operation. A priest is not permitted to do so, because of the danger of scandal that might easily arise (Decree of the Holy Office, Feb. 15, 1780; Dec. 13, 1899, in ASS, 32 [1899], pp. 501-502); he must, however, ensure that the operation is performed as soon as possible by a skilled person. The obligation to perform the cesarean section ceases if there is moral certainty of the fetus’s death; it becomes all the more grave, however, the more months of life the fetus has, especially in cases of the mother’s sudden or rapid death.