Catholics who own businesses in the United States are pondering how to get around a health insurance dilemma caused by a new federal mandate. The mandate, introduced by President Barack Obama, requires their health insurance plans to cover contraception, sterilisation and abortion drugs. It came into effect for secular employers on August 1, but religious Read more
Nuns and priests in Manila have led a rally of around 10,000 Catholics in protest against a proposed birth control bill that would provide free contraceptives and introduce reproductive health and sexuality classes in schools. The protesters, many dressed in red, gathered at a Catholic shrine to voice opposition to the bill, which would also Read more
An ethical fund that was set up to invest in line with Catholic beliefs is to close after its managers lost faith in its ability to attract investors. JPMorgan Asset Management had hoped to attract investors who wanted exposure to investments that would not clash with tenets on issues such as birth control and civil Read more
A Colorado business owned by a Catholic family does not have to comply with President Barack Obama’s new healthcare mandate that private employers provide employees with insurance coverage of birth control, a federal judge has ruled. U.S. District Judge John Kane in Denver temporarily blocked the government from the enforcing the birth control mandate against Read more
Mere days after 43 Catholic dioceses and organizations launched an unprecedented mega-lawsuit against the Obama administration over its contraception mandate, a new Gallup poll found that 82% of Catholics in America believe contraception is “morally acceptable.” While critics say the poll is more evidence that the Church hierarchy is out of touch with its people Read more
American Life League President Judie Brown is encouraging Catholics to contact their bishops to urge them to act against billionaire Catholic Melinda Gates’ newly announced campaign to bring contraceptives to millions of poor women in the third world. Among other things Gates is providing Depo-Provera, an injectable drug that causes abortions, and is also linked Read more
A practicing Catholic, Melinda Gates, recently delivered a talk at TED, putting birth control back on the global agenda. Gates said that the topic of contraception has become a hot topic in recent years, but asked whether it should be. She believes that many of the world’s social change issues depends on ensuring that women Read more
US House Minority Leader and Democratic politician Nancy Pelosi has told the Catholic Church its teaching on birth control is not working. Speaking at a special hearing called by the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, Pelosi illustrated her claim by saying that an “overwhelming number ” of American Catholic girls from age 14 or Read more
I feel like an idiot. When the U.S. bishops came out so strongly against the new government rules regarding contraceptives and health insurance, they said the issue was one of religious freedom. And I believed them. When the bishops argued that it was not the administration’s place to decide whether Catholic hospitals or colleges fit Read more
The federal government is grappling with the explosive question of whether to let anyone of any age buy the controversial morning-after pill Plan B directly off drugstore and supermarket shelves without a prescription.
The Food and Drug Administration has until Wednesday to respond to a request from the drug’s manufacturer to make the pill as easy to get as toilet paper and toothpaste, a move pushed by some doctors, health advocates, family-planning activists, members of Congress and others to help women prevent unwanted pregnancies.
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