I still remember the evening our parish priest lambasted my forty year old mother for having had a hysterectomy without his permission and while still of child-bearing age.
The damage inflicted by the papal prohibition against contraceptives, particularly on the poor, on women, on children, on relationships, on health, on society and not least on the Church itself, is a millstone around our necks. It needs to be removed, as the Wijngaards Institute’s “Catholic Scholars’ Statement on the Ethics of Using Contraceptives” explains compellingly.”
Prof Mary McAleese, former President of Ireland
Many Catholics choose to ignore the Vatican’s ban on birth control, but the world’s poorest people do not have that luxury. For half a century, the Catholic hierarchy has blocked funding and access to contraception for family planning and HIV/Aids prevention, with deadly impacts for the most vulnerable globally.
Jon O’Brien, CEO of the US-based Catholics for Choice.
Queue to register for family planning services in rural Malawi (Lindsay Mgbor/Department for International Development (DFID) – UK [CC / Flickr])
Join Us Today
Join our monthly giving community and transform lives for families around the world. Approximately one-fourth of health care facilities worldwide are Catholic and therefore cannot, by statute, offer contraceptives for the purpose of family planning. In the developing world they are often the only providers of health care for large sections of the population.
Similarly, Catholic schools in developing countries often do not teach about modern contraceptives and sexual health. The ignorance in which their pupils are left often results in unintended pregnancies and abortions.
As a result, millions of the most vulnerable people are denied access to modern non-abortifacient family planning services because of the current official stance of the Catholic hierarchy.
Our tiny staff and numerous volunteers ensure donations go a long way. Every contribution will help the lives of thousands of religious believers.
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We urgently need researchers, web masters, moderators for our online discussion forums, academic advisors and ambassadors. Most of the work can be done remotely, and you will have complete flexibility in determining how much time and resources to devote to helping us: it could be a daily, weekly, or monthly commitment of as many hours as you wish at any time of the day or night. If you think you can help, please get in touch by writing to Miriam or Luca at hello@wijngaardsinstitute.com