Embracing the Autonomy of Catholic Women – Discussing the Healthcare and Environmental Consequences of the Church’s Ban on Contraception

Abstract

"The modern Catholic Church represents a body of 1.3 billion people who follow the Church’s teachings, given to them in the form of documents on different topics, including family issues. The latest, 2016 Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia, confirmed the previous documents on the topic, stating that periodical abstinence is the only contraceptive method possible for Catholic Christians. This means that 1.3 billion people are forbidden to use modern contraception. This significantly contributes to the spread of sexually transmitted infections (including AIDS/HIV pandemics) and the global epidemic of unintended pregnancies and their consequences (induced abortions, maternal and infant morbidity and mortality, etc.). These consequences are the most severe in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, where the Catholic Church prevails. Unintended pregnancies also greatly contribute to the rapid population growth currently being witnessed by humanity. As such, unintended pregnancies lead to severe environmental consequences (environmental degradation, resource depletion, species extinction, climate change, etc.). Unintended pregnancies are highly preventable if women are well-informed about family planning methods and if they are free to choose a contraceptive method based on their personal opinion, expectations, contraindications, and more. This merely underlies the important fact that voluntary family planning is fundamental to human dignity and critical for women’s health as well as the health of the planet. For the aforementioned reasons, it is necessary to openly discuss the healthcare and environmental implications of the Church’s ban on modern contraception, and bring the Church’s representatives to acknowledgement of women’s autonomy to freely choose their preferable contraceptive method. "