WHY is the Catholic Church against women's right to abortion under any circumstance? Gregory S. Paul has given the best answer in his book “The New Inquisition: the Roman Catholic Men Cult’s Modern War on Women's Right to Abortion.”
Those who favor the rights of women would do better if they:
1. Take the offensive by labeling the anti-abortion movement for what it is: a new and dreadful inquisition.
2. A misogynist inquisition.
3. A modern form of evil inquisition.
Women should put the pressure back on the Church and demand that they (boy’s club) cease waging a war on average law abiding women and put their moral focus where it should be: on the miscreants Catholic Church which commits real crimes.
Social disadvantage for women created by the Church
Gender awareness in reproductive health is important because one finds health inequalities which result not only from the biological and genetic differences between men and women but also from the social disadvantages to which many women are subjected. In the Philippines, this social disadvantage for women is created by the Catholic Church. By depriving women of their basic reproductive rights, the Church creates an environment where women suffer considerable mortality and morbidity in relation to their sexual and reproductive health.
Fertility regulation, pregnancy, childbirth, sexually transmitted diseases, infertility and diseases of the reproductive system require health services for women through family planning clinics. These services are nonexistent in the Philippines due to the powerful lobby by the Church.
Reproductive rights is one of the primary goals of gender equality. Women and young girls having control of their reproductive health (when to have children and how many children to have) is the key to make things better for everyone economically.
The United Nations on July 11, 2000 commemorated World Population Day, underlining the importance of reproductive rights for women empowerment and gender equality. “Too many women still cannot choose when or whether to become pregnant. Too many women resort to abortions that are not safe,” UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said.
In a report entitled “Women's Empowerment and Reproductive Health” released on July 11, 2000, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) said that reproductive health and reproductive rights are lifetime concerns that are essential to women empowerment and gender equality.
The UNFPA study also details the burdens and dangers linked to the reproductive health of young women. Half a million women are said to die each year due to complications of pregnancy and childbirth of which 99% occur in developing countries such as the Philippines. This catastrophe can be easily prevented if women have access to family planning clinics.
As stated earlier, empowerment in reproductive health is the key to gender equality. Having the ability to make strategic life choices, whether to have children, when to have them, how many to have and which sexual partners to have are central choices to everyone’s life.
It is particularly important in women’s lives because they bear the responsibility for biological and social reproduction. Providing women the opportunity to make these decisions is one pathway to empowerment. This is why the human rights conventions guarantee women the right to control their fertility and sexuality (UN 1994). Without this right, women cannot realize their equal rights— whether to obtain an education, work outside the home, run for office or participate in the cultural life of their community.
(Issue of Sept. 12-18, 2011)
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