According to Roman Catholic doctrine, the fetus from conception is considered to be what?

• A. Non-person
• B. Innocent person
• C. A potential life
• D. A tissue with no moral status

Answer: (B)

From conception, life is understood to begin and the fetus is a person with inherent dignity and the right to life in Catholic teaching. This means the fetus has moral status from the start, not merely as tissue or as something with potential to become a person. The term “innocent person” captures this status—someone whose moral value comes from being a human person, not from actions or guilt. It wouldn’t be correct to call it non-person, a tissue with no moral status, or merely a potential life, since Catholic doctrine holds that personhood begins at conception.