The Zika virus in Latin America has been linked to the development of birth defects in babies. For this reason, many people are asking the Catholic Church to lift the ban on contraception and abortion.
But according to Catholic leaders, the Church is not going to change its stance on abortion and contraception, The New York Times reports (via Refinery29). "Contraceptives are not a solution," Bishop Leonardo Ulrich Steiner of the National Council of Bishops in Brazil told The New York Times. "There is not a single change in the Church's position."
Catholicism is the predominant religion in Latin America, which is the center of the Zika virus outbreak, with approximately 70 percent of the adult population belonging to the Catholic Church. Some health experts have already advised women to avoid getting pregnant for a few months to a few years, but the Catholic Church would still not budge.
The only family planning method advised by the Catholic Church is the natural family planning method, which involves monitoring a woman's menstruation period and avoiding sexual intercourse during ovulation. However, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services say that 25 out of 100 women will still conceive using this kind of natural family planning method.
Catholic leaders are also condemning abortion even if the intention is to prevent microcephaly in babies. "Therapeutic means curative, and an abortion doesn't cure anything, it takes innocent lives away," Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga of Honduras told La Tribuna (via Crux Now).
Debates on whether it is right or wrong to lift the abortion and contraception ban inside the Catholic Church will continue to occur as the Zika virus continues to affect many families. The New York Times notes that 73 percent of Catholics in Latin America support abortion in some or all cases while 91 percent support the use of contraception.
