Despite the Vatican's 2000 ''
Statement on the so-called 'Morning After Pill''' and the 2008 ''
Dignitas Personae'' (i.e., Section 23), so-called emergency contraception is used in Catholic hospitals for individuals who identify themselves as victims of sexual assault. Fr.
Juan Vélez is an Opus Dei priest with
a doctorate in dogmatic theology and an M.D. Along with Rebecca Peck, M.D., Fr. Juan writes:
- "All physicians who value life, and especially Catholic healthcare
institutions, have a duty to re-examine the available scientific
information on Plan B. We think the data shows a small anovulatory
effect and suggests a significant post-fertilization or abortifacient
effect. Given this information, the Peoria Protocol, and other
rape-based protocols should be abandoned, as use of Plan B during the
critical fertile period, would not be expected to prevent
ovulations in a majority of cases, and in fact, would lead to a
significant possibility of post-fertilization effect.
- "Moreover, as newer emergency contraceptives with better efficacies
emerge, the precedent has been set for allowing agents with
abortifacient mechanisms of action" ("Plan B’s Main Mechanism of Action: The Case for a Post-Fertilization Effect," Human Life International).
In the words of
Human Life International, let us pray that our
- "Catholic bishops and those who advise them in these
issues will see the urgency of revisiting the approval of Plan B for
treatment of women who have been raped. These women deserve the
absolute best life-affirming care possible, and this care should not
include drugs that only compound the violence already suffered by
causing abortions."
Click here, to email Archbishop Chaput and the National Catholic Bioethics Center on this matter.
