The Women on Web site has a long history of helping those in countries where abortion is illegal obtain pills to terminate early pregnancies.

An online consultation with a doctor is involved.

A woman is told where she can get the pills locally that will bring about an abortion or, if necessary, the pills will be sent to her.

Revelations about the scale of the demand were published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the Guardian reported.

The researchers analysed data for 19 Latin American countries.

They compared the numbers of requests there with three countries - Chile, Poland and Uruguay - where there have been no health warnings about the dangers of Zika virus in pregnancy.

"There is a huge surge," said Dr Catherine Aiken from the University of Cambridge.

"It's over 100 per cent increase in demand in some of the countries we looked at - almost 110 per cent increase in Brazil."

In those countries with no Zika outbreak, there was no such rise in demand.

In a supplement to the study, the researchers have published some of the emails to Women on Web which reveal their fears.

"I need to do an abortion because of the great risk of infection with Zika here . . . Please help me. My economic situation is extremely difficult," said one woman in Brazil.

Earlier this month, the World Health Organisation advised people in countries where the Zika virus is spreading to consider delaying pregnancy.

In February, Pope Francis strongly rejected abortion as a response to fears about the Zika virus outbreak.

The Pope said abortion is not the lesser of two evils, but is a crime and an "absolute evil".

Sources

• The Guardian
• CNN
• Catholic News Agency
• New England Journal of Medicine
• Image: The Guardian

Young women make up to almost 30 percent of all Mormon missionaries. Mormon leaders are giving their women missionaries permission to wear pants to protect their legs from mosquitoes while missioning in hotter climates to protect them from mosquito-born diseases such as Zika, chikungunya, and dengue.

Women are still expected to wear dresses and skirts to church services and to the Mormon temple. Continue reading

In a press conference aboard the papal flight to Rome from Mexico, Francis was asked if the grave nature of the virus - which is linked to serious birth defects - might make abortion a "lesser evil" for a mother faced with the choice of having a malformed child.

The Pope firmly rejected the use of abortion, saying it is not a "lesser evil", but is "a crime" and an "absolute evil".

But he said that avoiding pregnancy is not an absolute evil.

Francis said: "The great Paul VI in a difficult situation in Africa permitted sisters to use contraception for cases of violence."

"Do not confuse the evil of avoiding pregnancy in and of itself with abortion," he added.

"Avoiding pregnancy is not an absolute evil," the Pope said.

"In certain cases, like in that which I mentioned of Blessed Paul VI, it was clear."

The Pope did not indicate if the faithful who want to avoid pregnancies amid a Zika epidemic would have the Church's explicit blessing to do so.

But Francis urged the medical and scientific communities to do everything possible to find out more about the mosquito-transmitted Zika virus.

Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi, SJ, said the Pontiff had been talking about the possibility of having recourse to birth control only in "emergency cases".

"That does not mean that this recourse is accepted and can be used without discernment," Fr Lombardi told Vatican Radio.

But he noted it could be "the object of discernment in a serious case of conscience".

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith member Msgr Octavio Ruiz Arenas said: ""You don't change doctrine with off-the-cuff remarks."

Msgr Ruiz Arena said Humanae Vitae is the only teaching that counts on the subject.

The World Health Organisation said last week that the link between the Zika virus and microcephaly could take four to six months to prove.

Latin American bishops have urged believers to either abstain from sex if there is a risk of infection or use natural family planning to avoid a risky pregnancy.

Sources

• AFP
• National Catholic Reporter
• Reuters
• CBC
• Crux
• Full text of Pope's in-flight interview
• Image: Catholic Herald

Health officials in some Latin American nations have advised women not to get pregnant.

This is because the virus, which is typically transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, has been linked to cases of babies having microcephaly and related conditions.

Fr James Bretzke, SJ, and Fr John Paris, SJ, both from Boston College, expect bishops in affected nations will not reiterate the Church's ban on contraception.

A condemnation of contraceptive use may not be best pastoral approach, said Fr Bretzke, a theologian.

He said in the face of such consequences — in this case, a baby who could suffer greatly — he thinks the Church might not be so hard line, especially under the leadership of Pope Francis.

"In Catholic Church teaching, some would say it would be acceptable to try to prevent conception in cases like this," Fr Bretzke said.

Fr Paris, a bioethicist, agreed that extenuating circumstances call for more nuanced approaches.

"In the older world, you couldn't eat meat on Friday, but if you were starving and meat was the only food available, of course you would eat meat," he said.

Or consider German families who, in the aftermath of World War II, stole coal, he said.

"The Bible says ‘thou shalt not steal', but is it wrong for a father to go get a bucket of coal to keep his family from freezing to death? The answer is no, of course not," Fr Paris said.

Fr Frank Pavone, the national director of Priests for Life in the US, said the prohibition on contraception does not change based on circumstances.

"So couples have a responsibility to live according to the Church's teachings in whatever circumstances they find themselves," Fr Pavone said.

He expects Latin America's bishops to issue a statement that married couples should not use "artificial" birth control.

The Zika virus issue has triggered debate on liberalising abortion laws in some affected nations.

Sources

• CNN
• IB Times
• Image: Stat News