Wisconsin group argues Catholics can use contraception in good conscience

CNA ^ | 12/4/2009

[markomalley]

A Wisconsin group claiming to be Catholic has launched a series of television ads which state that using contraception doesn't make you less of a Catholic. The group, Young Catholics for Choice, has partnered with the Wisconsin Family Planning Health Services and is advocating the use of the controversial morning after pill.

Member of Young Catholics for Choice, Marissa Valeri, told Milwaukee's Fox 6 news, “They may have heard differently from the hierarchy and they may have heard differently from their parish priest and we're here to let them know that they are not alone and that you can be a good Catholic and use contraception.”

She added, “I'm sure there will be some conservative voices out there that will not agree with that we are saying in these ads and we're not speaking to them. We're speaking to the vast majority of Catholics that use contraception and are supportive of emergency contraception and use that as well."

“As a young Catholic myself, Young Catholics for Choice does not speak for me,” said Virginia Zignego, communications director of Pro-Life Wisconsin. “The Catholic Church clearly opposes contraception and abortion. It is unfortunate that Catholics for Choice are using the label ‘Catholic’ to push their agenda and normalize risky sexual behavior.”

Archbishop Jerome Listeki, the new Archbishop of Milwaukee, says there isn't any room for interpretation on the issue of “choice.” He noted that to say one is a Catholic, but also embraces “a position of choice,” denies “an inherent aspect. He told Fox News, “That inherent aspect is the dignity of the human individual right from the very moment of conception.”

“That strikes at odds with the Church's teachings,” concluded Listeki.

Young Catholics for Choice presented the “Plan B” pill as “the get it before you need it pill” at this press conference. However, they fail to mention the series of negative affects it has on the woman's body.

Pro-Life Wisconsin cited the FDA website which warns that “Plan B is not designed for frequent use, because of its negative health consequences, which include blood clots and a high risk for ectopic pregnancy.”

The pill itself works by creating a chemical abortion within the woman's body. The morning-after pill “can act to terminate a pregnancy by chemically altering the lining of the uterus (endometrium) so that a newly conceived child (human embryo) is unable to implant in the womb, thus starving and dying,” notes Pro-Life Wisconsin.

“When Young Catholics for Choice and Family Planning Health Services recommend women ‘should have [the morning after pill] on hand before they need it,' women's health is not being respected,” Zignego concluded.

[wagglebee]

NYer had sent out a ping a while back seeing who still wanted to be on the list. It seems that a bunch of us didn’t pay any attention to it and got removed from the list.

[Tax-chick]

Heh ... Pat would reason them into absolute hysterics and then recite the Star Wars saga in iambic pentamenter. That will teach them!

[Straight Vermonter]

I’m not sure the USCCB would be the best group to hold such a copyright.

[samiam1972]

We’d need a bus! :o)

[Tax-chick]

Our van is full with just us.

[narses]

+

Freep-mail me to get on or off my pro-life and Catholic List:

Add me / Remove me

Please ping me to note-worthy Pro-Life or Catholic threads, or other threads of general interest.

Obama Says A Baby Is A Punishment

Obama: “If they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby.”

[samiam1972]

Ours is, too. We haven’t upgraded to the 12-15 passenger yet. That’s next on our list although we have joked about buying a small bus.

[StAthanasiustheGreat]

It’s currently being trumpeted on this guy’s blog too as a courageous Catholic position and something we should be proud of.

http://faithfulmilwaukeecatholic.blogspot.com/2009/12/young-catholics-that-still-care-about.html

[al_c]

women's health is not being respected,” Zignego concluded.

the killing of babies is not being respected,” Zignego concluded.

There ... I fixed it.

[AnAmericanMother]

You know, the local Archbishop here SUED a bunch of con men who started up an "Iglesia Catolica" in order to chisel the local Hispanics out of their hard earned dinero.

He won, too.

[BlackElk]

If I have inadvertently been dropped from either of your lists, please add me back onto each of them. Also thanks for all the wonderful work that each of you do here.

[the lastbestlady]

I’m a BAD Catholic...but I have never used birth-control in my LIFE!!! This is disgusting!

[Brian Kopp DPM]

The "controversial morning after pill" also happens to be abortifacient. Besides the fact that the Church will always continue to teach that contraception is inherently sinful, the Church cannot endorse abortion, be it surgical or chemical:

Postfertilization Effect of Hormonal Emergency Contraception

DATA SYNTHESIS: The 2 most common types of hormonal EC used in the US are the Yuzpe regimen (high-dose ethinyl estradiol with high-dose levonorgestrel) and Plan B (high-dose levonorgestrel alone). Although both methods sometimes stop ovulation, they may also act by reducing the probability of implantation, due to their adverse effect on the endometrium (a postfertilization effect). The available evidence for a postfertilization effect is moderately strong, whether hormonal EC is used in the preovulatory, ovulatory, or postovulatory phase of the menstrual cycle.

CONCLUSIONS: Based on the present theoretical and empirical evidence, both the Yuzpe regimen and Plan B likely act at times by causing a postfertilization effect, regardless of when in the menstrual cycle they are used. These findings have potential implications in such areas as informed consent, emergency department protocols, and conscience clauses.

[Salvation]

**Young Catholics for Choice**

I think not. They need to check their catechism!

[Salvation]

More from the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

                From the Catechism of the Catholic Church (click on the book for the link.)    

2399 The regulation of births represents one of the aspects of responsible fatherhood and motherhood. Legitimate intentions on the part of the spouses do not justify recourse to morally unacceptable means (for example, direct sterilization or contraception).

2370 Periodic continence, that is, the methods of birth regulation based on self-observation and the use of infertile periods, is in conformity with the objective criteria of morality. These methods respect the bodies of the spouses, encourage tenderness between them, and favor the education of an authentic freedom. In contrast, "every action which, whether in anticipation of the conjugal act, or in its accomplishment, or in the development of its natural consequences, proposes, whether as an end or as a means, to render procreation impossible" is intrinsically evil:

Thus the innate language that expresses the total reciprocal self-giving of husband and wife is overlaid, through contraception, by an objectively contradictory language, namely, that of not giving oneself totally to the other. This leads not only to a positive refusal to be open to life but also to a falsification of the inner truth of conjugal love, which is called upon to give itself in personal totality. . . . The difference, both anthropological and moral, between contraception and recourse to the rhythm of the cycle . . . involves in the final analysis two irreconcilable concepts of the human person and of human sexuality.

[Salvation]

Contraception: The history you may have missed and would rather not know
Press in a Dither Again over Pope’s Reaffirmation of Catholic Teaching
How Birth Control Changed America for the Worst
If You Are Contracepting, You Are Part of A Very Big Problem

Vatican and Italian government criticize sale of RU 486 in Italy
New Condom Ads Target Catholics, Latinos
St. Padre Pio, Humanae Vitae, and Mandatory Abortion
Responsible Parenthood in a Birth Control Culture, Part Two [Open]
Responsible Parenthood in a Birth Control Culture, Part One [Open]

Humanae Vitae and True Sexual Freedom — Part 6 of 6 [Open]
Contraception v. Natural Family Planning — Part 5 of 6 [Open]
Sex Speaks: True and False Prophets — Part 4 of 6 [Open]
Contraception and the Language of the Body — Part 3 of 6 [Open]
Does Contraception Foster Love? — Part 2 of 6 [Open]
Contraception and Cultural Chaos — Part 1 of 6 [Open]

Priests still suffering from effects of Humanae Vitae dissenters, Vatican cardinal says (Must read!)
"Provoking reflection" (Contrasting views on Humanae Vitae)
Humanae Vitae The Year of the Peirasmòs - 1968
Catholics to Pope: Lift the Birth Control Ban

[OPEN] The Vindication of Humanae Vitae
Catholic Clergy Challenge Colleagues to Reacquaint Themselves and Their People with Humanae Vitae
White House proposes wide "conscience clause" on abortion, contraception
THE EX CATHEDRA STATUS OF THE ENCYCLICAL "HUMANAE VITAE" [Catholic Caucus]
“A degrading poison that withers life”
Australia Study: 70 Percent of Women Seeking Abortions Used Contraception

[Fr. Thomas Euteneuer] In Persona Christi: The Priest and Contraception

A Challenging Truth, Part Two: The Day the Birth Control Died
A Challenging Truth, Part One: How Birth Control Works
Ten Challenges for the Pro-Life Movement in 2008
The concept of the "intrinsically evil"
Pope Tells Pharmacists Not to Dispense Drugs With 'Immoral Purposes'

Massive Study Finds the Pill Significantly Increases Cancer Risk if Used more than Eight Years
Birth Control Pill Creates Blood Clot Causing Death of Irish Woman
Seminarians Bring Church’s Teaching on Contraception, Sexuality to YouTube
Abortion and Contraception: Old Lies
History of Catholic teaching on Contraception

Pope: Legislation "Supporting Contraception and Abortion is Threatening the Future of Peoples"
Contraception: Why It's Wrong
On Fox News Fearless HLI Priest Takes on Sean Hannity (may be indebted for saving his soul)
VIDEO - SEAN HANNITY vs REV. THOMAS EUTENEUER (must see!)
The Early Church Fathers on Contraception - Catholic/Orthodox Caucus

Pope on divine love vs. erotic love
Conjugal Love and Procreation: God's Design
Being fruitful [Evangelicals and contraception]

[Salvation]

You are never a “former” Catholic. Once you are a baptized Catholic — you are ALWAYS a Catholic. Better rethink your views.

[Northern Yankee]

Good Morning!

This is in my backyard, but I haven't seen any of these ads.

Didn't know about this until I saw the post.

Hmmmm.... It ain't gonna sell around here.

[trisham]

I took some time off recently. It probably happened then. This is all the proof I need to justify being on FR 24/7!

[B Knotts]

Isn’t this the establishment of a state church, and therefore unconstitutional?