Catholic Church Wants to Make Women Second-Class Citizens: Letter

The Catholic Church has just become part of the Republican Party. Both want to make women second-class citizens and will have no say in how or what they use for their medical care.

Ohio HB 125 would outlaw abortion so early in pregnancy that many women don't yet realize they are pregnant. Then they want to get an Constitutional amendment on the November ballot that would define a fertilized egg as a person under the law. All abortions would be outlawed, as would most forms of birth control and vitro fertilization. Women who have miscarriages could be investigated and charged with murder.

Now the Catholic Church wants to denied workers in hospitals, universities the right to be able to get birth control devices and possibly abortions and tubes tied. Again denied workers who over 60 percent in these institutions are non-Catholic and should not be denied to use the above.

Example this week on a cable news channel was a doctor and a nurse from a Catholic hospital and they wanted to tell their story. In their hospital 65% of the employees are non-Catholic and 35% are. They have started a survey on this issue and have talked to 55% of the staff. The majority of the 55% said that this issue should be provided and its up to them to make the choice. Roughly 15% of the 55% were Catholics and the majority of them agreed that it should be left up to them to decide, not the church. Five women said that they had their tubes tied and never considered what church rules were. They and their husband made that decision.

Today's Plain Dealer quotes a Catholic nun and it reads:

"Says the bishops are being disingenuous because the new rule does not force anyone to use contraception's. No Catholic is being coerced into using birth control, she said. On the books, church teachings say that birth control is not allowed. But the vast majority, probably 75 percent have not accepted the church's teaching on contraception. So you ask yourself, who are the bishops speaking for? It sounds like they're speaking for themselves rather than the Catholic people."

Why are they attacking women but swept under the rug when priest thru out the country attacked and raped children. They paid off families, moved priests around and after a lot of pressure allowed about 60 priest in the nation to be charged. Not one bishop was ever charged and only in Boston they were going to charge an Cardinal but the Vatican gave him a position in Rome and protected him.

In 2002 the Catholic Church apologized for sexual abuses, adultery, homosexuality and child abuse by two hundred priests over the previous 20 years.

In 2003 at least 34 priests were suspended in a sex scandal involving sexual harassment of women. 20 were from a single diocese

In 2011, a priest accused of sexually abusing a 17-year-old minor is sheltered by his bishop, despite calls for his surrender to civil authorities.

Facts: 300 priests in the US committed these crimes, the church in the US paid out $2.2 Billion dollars just in the US.

The same problem happened in the following countries: Kenya, Tanzania, Philippines, All the countries in Europe, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Peru.

In all of the above countries the church paid out roughly between $25-$30 billion.

This story goes on and on and on and the men in both the church and the government feel that they are best to decide what kind of medical care is best for women.

Dan LaVigne

Avon lake