Thursday, November 12, 2009

What does it mean to be Catholic and Pro-Choice?



Many people of faith struggle to reconcile their church's teachings with their own personal convictions about reproductive health. When it comes to the Vatican’s teachings on a woman's right to choose, Catholics around the world stand well apart from the hierarchy. You are not alone!

  • -Barely a fifth (22%) of Catholics in the U.S. agree with the bishops that abortion should be completely illegal
  • -Catholic women in the U.S. have abortions at the same rate as women in the population as a whole.
  • -Majorities of Catholics in Bolivia (66%), Colombia (54%) and Mexico (69%) feel abortion should be  permitted under some or all circumstances. 
  • -In Italy, which is 97% Catholic, 74% favor the use of RU-486
So what do these numbers mean? Below is are excerpts from a statement by Catholics for Choice on what it means to be Pro-Choice and Catholic--and why it is important (read full statement here).

"We strive to be an expression of Catholicism as it is lived by ordinary people. We are part of the great majority of the faithful in the Catholic church who disagree with the dictates of the Vatican on matters related to sexuality, contraception and abortion.

In all parts of the world, women, men and their families suffer and some die because they lack the resources to plan their families and the comprehensive information and education to keep themselves safe and healthy. The Catholic hierarchy’s role in influencing public policy affects everyone—Catholic and non-Catholic—by limiting the availability of reproductive health services worldwide. The Catholic hierarchy’s lobbying against contraception and abortion has disastrous effects on women’s lives both in the United States and abroad and especially on the lives of poor women.

We believe in a world where every woman and man has access to quality and choice in contraception. Wherever possible, we believe in working to reduce the incidence of unplanned and unwanted pregnancy and that society and individuals should strive to give women and men real choices."

"Even in a predominantly Catholic country, laws governing access to abortion need not adhere to the official Catholic position. The Second Vatican Council’s Declaration on Religious Freedom reinforced the call for Catholics to respect the positions of people of other faiths. This is particularly significant given that the Catholic church’s positions on health policies, including abortion, is more conservative than that of other major faith groups."

"We affirm that the moral capacity and the human right to make choices about whether and when to become pregnant or to end a pregnancy are supported by church teachings. We believe that people should be empowered and given support to exercise their rights and responsibilities. We believe that women have a right to choose."

There are many resources out there for pro-choice people of faith.  Remember--being pro-choice does not necessarily mean agreeing with abortion in and of itself, but rather giving women the legal option to choose what is right for themselves and to control their own reproduction.

1 comment:

Rachel said...

Fortunately, the teachings of the Catholic Church are not determined by majority vote.

If you don't believe what the Church teaches, you aren't Catholic. And according to Canon Law, if you procure an abortion or aid someone else in procuring an abortion, you have automatically excommunicated yourself.

""Formal cooperation in an abortion constitutes a grave offense. The Church attaches the canonical penalty of excommunication to this crime against human life. ‘A person who procures a completed abortion incurs excommunication latae sententiae,’ [CIC, can. 1398] ‘by the very commission of the offense,’ [CIC, can. 1314] and subject to the conditions provided by Canon Law [Cf. CIC, cann. 1323-1324]." - Catechism of the Catholic Church, para. 2272

God's healing mercy and grace await any woman who has had an abortion and who repents and seeks forgiveness through the Sacrament of Confession. Abortion hurts women, perhaps just as much as it hurts their unborn children.

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