Catholic Bishops Appalled by Amnesty International's New Stance on Abortion
The Conference has called it an affront to "people in many nations, cultures and religions who share a consistent commitment to all human rights."
"Amnesty International's action will lead many people of conscience to seek alternative means to end grave human rights abuses, fight injustice, and promote freedom of conscience and expression. The essential work of protecting human life and promoting human dignity must carry on...To some, the action of Amnesty International may appear to be a compassionate response to women in difficult situations of pregnancy, but this is a false compassion...As our Conference has argued, a far more compassionate response is to provide support and services for pregnant women, advance their educational and economic standing in society, and resist all forms of violence and stigmatization against women," writes William S. Skylstad, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Critics of this militant stance against abortion assert that it is the extension of the looming shadow of patriarchal attitudes that formerly led the Catholic Church to degrade women for centuries, because it does not take into consideration the sacred right of a woman to decide what to do with her own body and her own future.
Although the Church would be justified in asserting that abortion is not an acceptable form of birth control, it fails to consider the agonizing choice that would face a pregnant woman, and probably the father of her unborn child, if she learned that carrying through with her pregnancy would threaten her life, or if medical scans showed that her baby would be severely deformed or diseased in some way, the critics continue.
Political activists who oppose all abortion and want to see Roe vs. Wade overturned have recently begun a media blitz in which they assert that women who have abortions are much more likely to later on be the victims of depression, anxiety, sexual frigidity or promiscuity, and even suicidal thoughts.
However, professional psychiatrists, including female psychiatrists, have dismissed these claims as dogmatic rubbish. They say that women who felt they had to have abortions were very likely to have had the aforementioned personality traits already; what's more, there are plenty of those women who have had abortions have never experienced those conditions or at least not experienced them for any significant length of time.
Published by Brant McLaughlin
I am a Writer driven by endless curiosity and a deep desire to waste time creatively. View profile
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11 Comments
Post a CommentThis constant dribble of bishops leaving Amnesty is a cynical ploy by the catholic church to try and hurt Amnesty financially and thus cause a rethink.
It has made me decide to join Amnesty for the first time, and I urge you to do the same.
www.PetitionOnline.com/ainotcc/petition.html
Always remember, dear reader: Sacred cows make the best hamburgers.
Hi Christopher - interesting commentary. Thank you.
Lauren, your commentary is worthy of being erased and you are worthy of being blocked. However, I am going to leave your comments here for future readers to see how ignorant, prejudiced, and fearful (not to mention illogical and irrational) fundementalist religious beliefs cause people to be.
Hi Carol. Yes, religion and writings about it do strongly tend to set off enormous mood swings. Hahahaha.
Lauren,
You have projected your "shallow arrogance" onto the author of this piece, who is myself. And while it is true that I am indeed "pro choice", I gave a perfectly objective assessment of the situation. I very much doubt you have much understanding of Church history and theology compared to me. Catholic women have very often felt degraded by Chruch teachings, and if you don't know that then you live in a cave.
Wow, Brant, you have really triggered some intense feelings in some readers.
The Catholic Church is a terrorist organization. They have exasperated the HIV problem in Africa enormously by preaching that condom use is sinful, and now they are trying to convince African women that a fetus is more important than the women themselves are. If the Catholic Church were anything other than a religious organization, it would have been condemned globally for the incredible amount of blood it has on its hands.
(continued) ... college graduate who double majored in history and business finance. I am also a mother, a wife, and a Christian. And I reject any implication that I am a "political activist." Much of this article and the claims of this author are unproved, un-provable, and I feel that anyone not wishing to remain ignorant and hateful towards women (and Catholic women in particular) should dismiss them as "rubbish" (preferably after they make the effort to determine for themselves that "rubbish" is - in fact - the best word to use.)
Thank you and may God bless you and your families!
Lauren
(continued) ...[just]ified in 'asserting?' The author clearly does not understand the basics (and they are pretty basic) of how the authority of the Catholic Church works - much less what the word "justified" means. Not to mention 'asserting' that the Church (which includes me) has failed to consider the suffering of pregnant women in different circumstances around the world.
I 'assert' that the author "fails to consider" that the majority of women who have had abortions endure an incredible amount of suffering. And the resources to help suffering women are very difficult to find... partially because of articles like this that mock and belittle our pain with vague references to "professional psychiatrists."
I highly doubt the author has taken the time to research the reality of the suffering caused by abortion, after all, the author is part of the "media blitz" who actively "degrade women" by attempting to keep us silent about our pain and neglect.
I am a 24 year old coll