A lot of Catholic reformers were relieved when Pope Francis seemed to be calling for a shift in focus away from speaking against abortion and contraception and towards promoting social justice and environmental stewardship. So it is disappointing when he seems driven to play to his base and single out abortion as a “very grave sin.” (In fairness, the Pope also made clear that abortion is a sin that can be forgiven like any other sin, through confession.)
But even if you agree with him, there are a lot of sins the Catholic Church has never asked governments to outlaw. There are no laws banning infidelity or premarital sex or greed or pride, which some theologians believe is the most serious sin of all. Indeed, the institutional church in the U.S. has worked hard to block lawmakers from strengthening statutes that would make it easier to prosecute priests who turn out to be sexual predators. [...]
Consider this: An estimated three-quarters of all women in the U.S. who underwent abortions in 2014 were either living in poverty or low-income, with household incomes for a family of one roughly between $11,000 and $22,000 annually. Nearly a quarter of women who had this procedure identified themselves as Catholic.
My beef with Catholic bishops is that they have rejected efforts to help avoid the need for abortions. In doing so, they have sent the message that the abortion war really is a war on women. I fear that the bishops believe pregnancy is the appropriate punishment for a woman who is sexually active.
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