The Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) published a response to questions regarding the liceity of hysterectomies. They say a woman can have a hysterectomy “when it does not regard sterilization.”
Thus, in cases when the uterus is no longer able to procreate and a spontaneous abortion could take place before the unborn child is born, the Vatican says it is licit to remove it.
The CDF says “sterilization is to impede the functioning of the reproductive organs, and
the malice of sterilization consists in the refusal of children.” However, when reproductive organs can no longer protect a conceived child up to birth, the “natural end of bringing a living child into the world is not attainable.”
The follow-up comes after the July 31, 1993 response titled Responses to Questions Proposed Concerning “Uterine Isolation” and Related Matters which addressed three questions with an explanation.
