Both choice and reproductive justice have a place in our battle for women’s autonomy. But one cannot take the place of the other.
Last month, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights issued a final ruling in favor of the right to access in vitro fertilization (IVF) in Costa Rica. This is a win for women and Catholics and a blow to the bishops and conservatives who want to deny individuals the right to decide whether and when to have children.
The story told by “The Secret History” isn’t just for Catholics. It gets to the heart of how we all make moral decisions and seek compassionate answers. Ultimately, the film is not just about history, but about how we live our faith today and where we want our church to go. More than that, it’s a vibrant declaration that we are not afraid.
Catholic bishops went all in this election season. Will they learn anything from their defeat?
It seems outlandish to claim that the Catholic bishops’ own crusade against contraception is anti-Catholic. Still, arguments that this position is anti-Catholic seem not only well-founded but reasonable, whereas the Catholic bishops’ incessant interfering in American women’s lady-business is spectacularly unreasonable.
Regardless of what church leaders encourage at the pulpit, a majority of Catholics believe voting with their bishops isn’t mandatory.
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Catholics for Choice has been hearing a lot from Catholics who are indeed upset. An excerpt from just one of the letters we’ve received: “I will start paying more attention to the bishops’ position on birth control on the day a Catholic bishop becomes pregnant. Until then I’ll stand with the 97 percent of Catholic women who use or have used birth control.”
I firmly believe the requirements under the Affordable Care Act, and the slate of regulations being created to implement it, infringe on no one’s conscience, demand no one change her or his religious beliefs, discriminate against no man or woman, put no additional economic burden on the poor, interfere with no one’s medical decisions, compromise no one’s health — that is, if you consider the law without refusal clauses.
This week marks the 26th celebration of Catholic World Youth Day. Though discussions of condoms do not appear to be on the official agenda for the week, a group of youth advocates from around the world hopes to make sure attendees hear their message: “Good Catholics Use Condoms.”
The payoff for getting into debates with today’s Catholic hierarchy seems pretty low.
