A statewide survey released yesterday by NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts found that staff at several hospitals may be in violation of a 2005 state law that requires emergency rooms to offer emergency contraception (EC) to rape survivors. The survey was conducted by a researcher posing as a rape crisis counselor who called 70 emergency rooms statewide […]
The Vatican issued a comprehensive doctrinal ethics guide Friday that reaffirms opposition to contraception, in vitro fertilization, embryonic stem cell research, genetic testing, and cloning. The document, entitled Dignitas Personae, also prohibits use of the morning after pill, intrauterine devices, and mifepristone. The Digitas Personae is the Vatican’s first authoritative statement on reproductive science in […]
Planned Parenthood of Indiana will offer gift certificates for their services this holiday season. The Indiana state vice president of PPFA told Indiana’s CBS 10 that the decision to offer the certificates is in part because of the economic downturn: “People are making really tough decisions about putting gas in their car and food on […]
A family planning bill currently moving through the Philippine legislature that would promote sex education and contraceptive use is expected to be defeated. This outcome is expected largely because of the Philippine Congress’s strong support of the Roman Catholic Church. According to Agence France Presse, only 99 members out of the 238 member House of […]
The American Civil Liberties Union requested documents from the federal government Monday on current US policy that limits teenage refugees’ access to reproductive care. According to the Richmond Times Dispatch, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) initiated a policy earlier this year that limits reproductive health services for undocumented teenagers, including access to contraceptives […]
The Women’s Ordination Conference (WOC) held a press conference today in Rome in support of full inclusion of women in the Catholic Church. The WOC seeks for the Church to fully allow women to serve as bishops, deacons and priests and to increase women’s representation in the ‘Synod of Bishops.’ In a statement WOC Executive […]
Bruce Ivins, the biodefense researcher accused by the Department of Justice of being solely responsible for the 2001 anthrax attacks, may have been motivated by personal anti-abortion politics. Letters containing anthrax spores were mailed to former Senator Tom Daschle and Senator Patrick Leahy. It is now theorized that Ivins may have targeted these senators specifically […]
Roman Catholic Womenpriests ordained three women as Roman Catholic priests and another as a deacon in an ordination ceremony in Boston on Sunday. Bishop Dana Reynolds ordained Gloria Carpeneto of Baltimore, MD, Judy Lee of Fort Myers, FL, and Gabriella Velardi Ward of New York City, NY, as priests, and Mary Ann McCarthy Schoettly of […]
Former Filipino President Joseph Estrada is now touring the country promoting contraceptives and family planning, despite longstanding opposition from the influential Catholic Church. According to the Daily Women’s Health Policy Report, local advocates are openly promoting family planning on radio talk shows, and increasing efforts to distribute condoms. According to Wall Street Journal, family-planning advocates […]
The Vatican last week reaffirmed its stance against allowing women to be ordained as priests. The Catholic Church warned that it will automatically excommunicate anyone involved in the ordination of a woman as a Catholic priest, according to the New York Times. The Church acted in response to a number of what a Vatican aide […]
Irena Sendler, who smuggled 2,500 Jewish children out of the Warsaw ghetto during World War II, died at age 98 in a hospital in Warsaw on Monday. Sendler was honored by the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem in 1965 for her efforts to save children in the Warsaw ghetto. During the war, Sendler was […]
High birthrates help keep Filipino families in poverty, the Washington Post reports. The government of the Philippines only supports so-called”natural family planning” methods, rejecting more modern methods of birth control because of the country”s strong ties to the Catholic Church. The Washington Post reports that the national government prohibits the use of federal funds to […]
A support group for victims of clergy sex gathered in Washington, DC for the pope’s visit to demand that he hold bishops and cardinals accountable for concealing sex crimes committed by priests. Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) denounced the pope’s speech in which he criticized the way the scandal was handled. SNAP […]
Conservative officials in Chile are threatening the countrys progressive emergency contraception (EC) policies with a lawsuit that would ban EC. Under the policy of President Michelle Bachelets administration, all forms of birth control including EC have been free for women over 14 at public clinics since 2006. Conservatives argue that President Bachelets policy violates the […]
State and federal cutbacks in funding for family planning services, increases in abstinence only funding and lack of access to abortion is fostering a baby boomlet in the U.S. The 4.3 million births reported in the U.S. in 2006 is the largest number since 1961. A report released last month by the CDC’s National Center […]
The Jesuit order of Roman Catholic priests agreed to a $50 million settlement with 110 Eskimo victims of alleged sexual abuse. Twelve priests and three missionaries were accused of sexually abusing Eskimo children in 15 villages and the city of Nome from 1961 to 1987. Ken Roosa, the plantiffs’ attorney, said his clients ranged in […]
Pope Benedict XVI on Monday urged a conference of Catholic pharmacists to avoid dispensing emergency contraception or euthanasia drugs by being conscientious objectors. He went on to tell the attendees that they should inform patients of the ethical implications of using such drugs, reports the Associated Press. The pharmacists were in the Vatican for the […]
The Orange County, California Catholic diocese will settle 4 alleged sexual abuse cases for almost $6.7 million. The cases, settled earlier this month, involved lay employees of parish high schools, an assistant basketball coach, a teacher and two choir director, and high school girls. The alleged abuse occurred between 1990 and 1999. Officials report that […]
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles is evicting nuns from their convents in order to sell the buildings to help pay off a $660 million settlement with victims of pedophile priests. The archdiocese announced that it will sell up to 50 non-parish properties, including their headquarters, the Los Angeles Times reports. A convent in […]
The Supreme Court declined to hear a case Monday about whether religious-based social services agencies should be forced to subsidize the cost of contraceptives as part of their health insurance benefits. The court effectively upheld a New York law, the Women’s Health and Wellness Act of 2002, which compels employers offering prescription benefits to their […]
