A Catholic movement in Mexico that supports a woman's right to choose abortion says the Catholic Church is going against its own laws in the matter. "Catholics for the Right to Decide" says church policy on excommunication for women who have an abortion contradicts Catholic Canon Law, which says under many circumstances women who have an abortion will not be excommunicated, The Guadalajara Reporter said Monday.
Canon 1323 says women are not to be excommunicated if they are under 16, or acted "due to physical force" or "for necessity" or "coerced by grave fear," the group argues.
Canon wording is open to interpretation, Catholics for the Right to Decide member Angeles Gonzalez says, but she says she believes the Church is contradicting its own laws.
"The Church needs to recognize there are different visions and that the faithful have other visions," Gonzalez said. "We want to put forward the idea that there are other possibilities inside the Church ... at the moment we are criminalizing women and doctors.
"This campaign is to let women know their options and that they don't have to feel sinful or guilty about the decisions they make," Gonzalez said. "It's about empowering them and giving them freedom of conscience."
SIC: UPI