Regarding coverage of Sen. Martha Scott's proposal to force health care insurers to cover prescription contraception to women: I am most concerned about the response by the Michigan Catholic Conference that the "Roman Catholic Church opposes the bill because it wouldn't protect religious freedoms of faith-based organizations that find contraception morally objectionable."I am a cradle Catholic and, until recently, was active in leadership in the church. I also happen to be a nurse practitioner working in Family Planning (Title X) - a program whose goal is to prevent unintended pregnancies in the most vulnerable women in our population.
This goal is linked to a much larger issue that population scientists concern themselves with - the impact of population growth in our world.
In his book "Contraception," John Guillebaud, a professor of family planning and reproductive health, references these issues.
In his introduction, he states: "According to United Nations figures, out of about 180 million conceptions each year, at least 75 million are unwanted. This results in 50 million abortions, of which 20 million are performed in unsafe circumstances.
"Around 600,000 women die each year (worldwide - equaling a jumbo jet crashing every six hours, or one woman every minute of the day) from these pregnancies, through abortions or for lack of basic requirements for safe delivery.
"An estimated 200,000 would not die if adequate services and supplies were available. They are killed by pregnancies they would have preferred not to have."
How is it that birth planning continues to be stigmatized as anti-life or morally objectionable? I believe that it is "morally objectionable" for a religious institution to work to block initiatives locally, nationally and worldwide aimed at preventing unintended pregnancies.
If the greater sin is abortion, then the church and the Michigan Catholic Conference need to hush up about contraception. Our world is facing greater moral issues than contraception.
Even the Catechism of the Catholic Church (section 2368) references spacing of the births of children as it relates to responsible parenthood (page 629).
I believe in contraception and believe in the work that I do.
I hail the proposed legislation by Sen. Scott. It mirrors the work of good people in organizations such as UNICEF that state: "Family Planning could provide more benefits to more people at less cost than any other single technology now available to the human race." (James Grant, UNICEF Annual Report, 1992).
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