Reuters reports that a coalition of pro-choice Catholic groups has published an open letter to the Pope, calling on him to lift the ban on Catholic use of contraception. (Letter here). Nearly all sexually active Catholics use birth control and 75 percent of Catholics already think that it's possible to be a good Catholic and disobey Church teachings on the matter, which were created over the objections of many high officials forty years ago.
If you're not Catholic or just a committed secularist, you may not care, but you ought to: Lifting the ban would have great positive consequences for HIV/AIDS prevention, ending poverty and empowering women not just in the U.S. but especially in developing countries. While liberals typically make our milieu the government and policy world, it's important to remember that older cultural institutions often have just as much effect on the same challenges. The organizations that had that letter published deserve credit for being a liberal voice for social justice in an institution that doesn't welcome them, instead of simply using their option for exit, especially because so many people -- especially women -- don't have that option.
--Tim Fernholz
