Hey there. I was just reading through some of the text on Roe v. Wade, and quite frankly, this opinion is a disaster. It is a disaster not only from the Catholic perspective, but also a legal and philosophical perspective. It is probably the clumsiest ruling I have seen in all my time studying Supreme Court cases. Be that as it may, the context of this question lies in this sweeping misstatement:

"The Aristotelian theory of 'mediate animation,' that held sway throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance in Europe, continued to be official Roman Catholic dogma until the 19th century..."

I'm sorry but I had to laugh. I can't believe that kind of ignorance can actually make it on an official Supreme Court opinion. This is so far from the truth. Just goes to show how little anyone even understands about what is and isn't Roman Catholic dogma.

Am I correct in my understanding that the Church has always taught that abortion was wrong by virtue of Ordinary Magisterium (taught in the Didache and since then), but that Saints like Augustine and Thomas Aquinas speculated on when life began?

From what I remember, St. Thomas Aquinas thought it began some time after conception, and likewise with St. Augustine, but that both regardless did not regard abortion as morally permissible. In short, my conception is that although some debate went back and forth from certain members in the Church as to when life began, the Church Herself has always taught that regardless of these speculations abortion is grievously wrong. Is this accurate?