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Washington,
DC – On the 43rd anniversary of Pope Paul VI’s groundbreaking decision to
reaffirm the Vatican’s ban on contraception, a score of progressive Catholic
organizations wrote
to Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human
Services, calling on her to “implement the coverage recommendations of the
recent Institute of Medicine (IOM) report which include comprehensive
contraceptive methods as a preventive benefit.”
The United
States Conference of Catholic Bishops has been active in seeking to allow
some entities to opt out of this no-cost coverage for family planning by
seeking to create burdensome conscience clause provisions. Citing the
Catholic social justice tradition, the organizations requested that Secretary
Sebelius reject this demand from the US bishops and not
“impose burdensome conscience clauses which seek to limit and indeed eliminate
access, and dishonor the conscience of those seeking services.”
Most
Catholics use modern contraceptives and believe it is a moral choice. Many of
these good Catholics wish the hierarchy would respect their decisions, taken
in good conscience, about what is best for themselves, as well as for their
relationships, families and children. Sadly, the US
bishops do not accept or acknowledge this perspective.
The letter
noted that the “vast majority of Catholics in the United States support
contraceptive services—98 percent of sexually active Catholic women in the US
have used a modern contraceptive method at some point in their lives. When
Catholic voters considered healthcare reform in 2009, more than six in ten
supported health insurance coverage—whether it is private or government
insurance—for contraception and family planning. It is clear that the IOM’s
recommendations are strongly supported by Catholics throughout the United
States.”
The timing of
the letter is particularly opportune because July 25 is the 43rd anniversary
of the date in 1968 when Pope Paul VI issued Humanae Vitae. This
encyclical, subtitled “On the regulation of birth,” reaffirmed the Vatican’s
stance against the use of artificial contraception. The ensuing split between
the hierarchy’s instruction and the practice of the faithful, told in the
Catholics for Choice publication Truth
& Consequence:
A Look Behind the Vatican's Ban on Contraception, reveals much about
the hierarchy’s long-standing obsession with contraception.
When the previous pontiff, Pope John XXIII, decided to open a discussion on
contraception by appointing a commission to study birth control, many
believed the church teaching would change. However, he subsequently removed
the Birth Control Commission from the main debates of the Second Vatican
Council in an apparent attempt to control its findings. His successor, Pope
Paul VI, expanded the Commission to include five (married) women as part of
its contingent of 34 lay members. Early reports from the Commission suggested
the ban would be ended because the use of contraceptives by married couples
was not “intrinsically” evil. When the published document reaffirmed the
church’s prohibition on contraception, rejecting the recommendation of the
majority of the experts on the Commission, it caused a huge rift in the
church.
Today, the
vast majority of Catholics have rejected the Vatican’s teaching on
contraception, as shown by the wide variety of Catholic organizations that
have signed the letter, which concludes: “A large majority of Catholics in
the US are committed to ensuring that women and men
have access to the full range of reproductive healthcare services. The
recommendations from the IOM are an important step in ensuring that all women
will have access to family planning services under the ACA and that all
Catholics will be able to listen to their consciences and have their
consciences honored in turn.”
The organizations that signed on are as follows:
8th Day
Center for Justice – Women in Church and Society Committee
Association for Rights in the Catholic Church
Call to Action
Catholics for Choice
Chicago Women-Church
Congregation for Peace with Justice Committee of the Sisters of Providence
SMW
CORPUS
DignityUSA
Ecumenical Catholic Communion
Faithful of Southern Illinois
Greater Cincinnati Women-Church
National Coalition of American Nuns
New Ways Ministry
San Francisco Bay Area Women-Church
Southeastern Pennsylvania Women’s Ordination Conference
WomenEucharist Boulder
Women-Church Baltimore
Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual
Women’s Ordination Conference
View the full letter.
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