Catholics for Choice

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Catholics for Choice (CFC), formerly Catholics for a Free Choice, is a pro-choice organization based in Washington, D.C. that was founded in 1973 "to serve as a voice for Catholics who believe that the Catholic tradition supports a woman’s moral and legal right to follow her conscience in matters of sexuality and reproductive health."[1] It is currently led by President Jon O'Brien. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) states that it is not a Catholic organization and identifies the positions it advocates as inconsistent with Catholic teaching.

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[edit] History

CFC was founded in by Joan Harriman, Patricia Fogarty McQuillan, and Meta Mulcahy, as Catholics for a Free Choice, to promote access to abortion in the context of Catholic tradition. Its first president was Joseph O'Rourke, who was expelled from the Jesuits and the priesthood in 1974. The group emerged from Catholics for the Elimination of All Restrictive Abortion & Contraceptive Laws, a New York lobby group that had been formed in 1970.

Mr. O’Rourke remained as president of CFC until 1979, when Pat McMahon was hired as Executive Director. McMahon shifted CFFC's legal status from a lobby to an educational association, opening the group up to tax-exempt status and to foundation support. One result of this was a $75,000 grant on behalf of the pro-choice Sunnen Foundation which funded the group's first publications, the Abortion in Good Faith series.

In 1980 Frances Kissling joined the group, and in 1982 she was made president. For 25 years, she angered the church hierarchy and conservative Catholics by criticizing fundamental teachings on sex.[2] She lobbied politicians and activists, many Catholic, to work in favor of giving women access to abortions and to artificial contraception. Kissling led CFC until announcing her retirement in February 2007.[3] CFC's former Vice-President and Director of Communications Jon O'Brien was subsequently appointed as the organization's new President.

[edit] Mission

The organization describes its mission as "to shape and advance sexual and reproductive ethics that are based on justice, reflect a commitment to women's well-being and respect and affirm the capacity of women and men to make moral decisions about their lives. CFC works in the United States and internationally to ensure that all people have access to safe and affordable reproductive health-care services and to infuse our core values into public policy, community life and Catholic social teaching and thinking. [4]

The organization's stated issues include:

  • Keeping abortion legal[5]
  • Expanding access to contraception[6]
  • Expanding the range of services provided by the Catholic healthcare system to include abortion[7]
  • A frank exploration of human sexuality[8]
  • Awareness of HIV & AIDS issues[9]
  • Exploring diversity of views within the Catholic tradition[10]
  • Challenging public policy initiatives by "conservative religious groups"[11]

Although Catholics for Choice has several goals, it is most well-known for its pro-choice advocacy.

[edit] Condom program

In 2001, CFC initiated a worldwide public education campaign called Condoms4Life[12] to raise awareness about the Church's teaching regarding the use of artificial birth control, including condoms. In 2005 CFC created a group called World Youth Day for All that attended the Catholic World Youth Day in Cologne, Germany. They passed out postcards and stickers saying "Good Catholics Use Condoms".[13] Posters from the group at this event also portrayed a male couple in a familiar embrace. Some critics claim this portrayal of homosexuality in the context of expressing sexuality (which the Catholic Church opposes) was offensive.[14] As indicated on the youth portion of its website, CFC also expresses a position on sex outside marriage that opposes the Catholic Church's teaching.[15]

The organization maintains that condom use will prevent the spread of AIDS, since couples will have sex despite Vatican prohibition.[16] Two bishops share the beliefs of Condoms4Life,[17][18] and have come out in support of condom use when one partner has AIDS, arguing the Roman Catholic Church's official position on this issue is unconscionable.[16]

[edit] Criticism of CFC

The USCCB has made the statement that "[CFC] is not a Catholic organization, does not speak for the Catholic Church, and in fact promotes positions contrary to the teaching of the Church as articulated by the Holy See and the NCCB."[19]

In response, the CFC maintains that Roman Catholicism is an individual choice[20] and that the CFC is an advocacy group of pro-choice Roman Catholics, not a sanctioned Catholic organization. This emphasis on the individual and the individual conscience is a basis of CFC's organizational mission.[21]

In addition, some conservative Catholic opponents argue that CFC is directly opposed to Catholic teaching.[20] These critics respond to CFC by stating that the organization's theological arguments directly contradict the Catholic Church's teaching on abortion.[22] This teaching is described in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.[23]

One pro-life activist, Diane Dew, has pointed out on her website that through the 1970s, the majority of the organization's budget came from a New York foundation related to a Long Island Unitarian Universalist church, and that the organization first operated out of office space donated by Planned Parenthood. Dew claims that CFC is funded by groups that oppose the Catholic Church, such as the Playboy Foundation, and other groups supporting population control.[24]

Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz of Lincoln, Nebraska issued an interdict in March 1996 forbidding Catholics within his diocese from membership in twelve organizations, operating locally, where membership is described as "...always perilous to the Catholic Faith and most often is totally incompatible...", in a letter of formal canonical warning published in the diocesan newspaper, the Southern Nebraska Register. Catholics for Choice was the last of the twelve organizations. Members of the diocese were given one month from the date of the interdict to remove themselves from participation in the named organizations or face automatic excommunication.[25]

Both the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights and the Catholic News Agency have described the organization as Anti-Catholic.[26][27]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Catholics for Choice- About Us
  2. ^ New York Times. Backing Abortion Rights While Keeping the Faith. Neela Banerjee. February 27, 2007
  3. ^ http://www.catholicsforchoice.org/news/pr/2.20.07FKDeparture.asp
  4. ^ Catholics for Choice - About Our Work
  5. ^ Catholics for a Free Choice - Topics/Issues
  6. ^ Catholics for a Free Choice - Topics/Issues
  7. ^ Catholics for Choice - Topics/Issues
  8. ^ Catholics for a Free Choice - Topics/Issues
  9. ^ Catholics for a Free Choice - HIV & AIDS
  10. ^ Catholics for Choice - Topics/Issues
  11. ^ Catholics for Choice - Topics/Issues
  12. ^ Condoms4life.org Web Site
  13. ^ Condoms4Life.org : Good Catholics Use Condoms - Good Shepherd Awards
  14. ^ Scripture Catholic - HOMOSEXUALITY
  15. ^ [1]
  16. ^ a b Reformers Turn Up Heat on Church
  17. ^ French Bishop Supports Some Use of Condoms to Prevent AIDS
  18. ^ One South African Bishop Supports Condoms To Prevent AIDS
  19. ^ U.S. Catholic Bishops - Office of Communications
  20. ^ a b [2][dead link]
  21. ^ [3][dead link]
  22. ^ Fr. Frank Pavone to Francis Kissling: Being Catholic is not a game
  23. ^ "2270-2275"
  24. ^ Who Are 'Catholics for a Free Choice'?
  25. ^ Catholic Culture : Missing Page Redirect
  26. ^ CATHOLICS FOR CHOICE NEEDS TO CONVERT Catholic League Dec. 3, 2009
  27. ^ Pro-Marxist, anti-Catholic groups unite to attack Mexican Bishops CNA July 24, 2006

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholics_for_Choice"