Catholic Church

Tomorrow, the House will vote on the "Protect Life Act," an unprecedented bill that would allow hospitals to let women die at their doorsteps.

The Department of Health and Human Services has included contraceptive coverage as essential preventive care under the Affordable Care Act, while exempting organizations with an explicit religious mission from having to comply. For some, this exemption does not go far enough. But how far can religious right organizations go in denying their employees access to essential preventive care?

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A right-wing group affiliated with the Catholic Church hierarchy is advocating against New York City Mayor Bloomberg's new sex-ed mandate while also opposing access to family planning services and decrying the city's abortion rate.

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The payoff for getting into debates with today's Catholic hierarchy seems pretty low.

There may have been an official change in policy regarding clergy sex abuse, but practice and culture appear to be lagging. In practice, the leadership of the Catholic Church has plenty of tolerance for the sexual abuse of children.

Despite pressure from the Catholic Church, voters in Malta asked for the legal right to divorce. This leaves the Philippines as the only country where divorce is illegal, but maybe not for long. 

While some had hoped this weekend's meeting would build on recent comments about condoms from the pope, Vatican officials toed the line and emphasized chastity and behavior change. 

The war on contraception seeks to replace bedrock values--equality, freedom of thought, freedom of conscience, democracy--with blind obedience to authority and second class status for women.

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The Catholic Church inadvertently pushed women toward sterilization rather than risk committing a continuous offense against the Church.