In the News - 2018

Tribune Chronicle ‘Heartbeat’ bill passes Ohio House

The Ohio House of Representatives approved the newest version of the “heartbeat” abortion bill around 1:30 a.m. Friday. The bill severely reduces the time in which a woman can end a pregnancy and also punishes doctors who don’t comply with a felony charge, a fine and a license suspension even before he or she is […]

Renee Fox

Catholics for Choice stands with Oregon in Defeating Ballot Measure 106

Catholics and others throughout Oregon organized to defeat Ballot Measure 106, which sought to rob women of access to equitable abortion care in the state. Catholics for Choice is proud to have stood with all of the organizers who helped defeat this measure and to lift up the voices of prochoice Catholics who opposed it. […]

The Nation The ‘Anti-Catholic’ Playbook

Confirmation hearings for President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court pick, Brett Kavanaugh, began yesterday with a sustained uproar from Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, who protested Republican efforts to barrel through the process. From the opening moments, Democrats prevailed on committee chair Charles Grassley to postpone the hearings—or entertain their motion to adjourn—because so many […]

Sarah Posner

Bright Magazine What happens when pastors preach about condoms?

The tiny town of Laisamis, in northern Kenya, is already uncomfortably hot by midmorning. The highway running through it is lined with a few dozen shops, behind which are dome-shaped huts called manyattas. A few meters away, along a sandy path, is a corrugated iron structure surrounded by a wooden fence and barbed wire. It […]

Anthony Langat

Rewire Oregon Pro-Choice Advocates Mount Defense of State Funding for Abortion Care

Pro-choice activists mounted a counterattack the moment word spread: An Oregon ballot initiative to ban state funding for abortion care had gained enough signatures to appear on the November ballot. Within 48 hours, more than 1,000 Oregonians had promised to vote no to Measure 106, organizers said. The site NoCutstoCare.com went live with this message: […]

Nicole Knight

Christian Post 91 Percent of Irish Catholics Disagree With Contraceptives Ban on 50th Anniversary

As the Roman Catholic Church marked the 50th anniversary of the major Humanae Vitae encyclical, which prohibited the use of condoms and contraceptives, a worldwide survey from a Catholic pro-choice group found that large majorities of Catholics disagree with the ban. Catholics for Choice revealed last week statistics from a survey it carried out on […]

Stoyan Zaimov

The Guardian Fifty years on, and Catholics are still in turmoil over contraception

Fifty years ago this week, the Catholic church released an encyclical – a papal letter to all bishops – that had a dramatically contradictory effect: it was both instantly disregarded by millions of women and had an enormous impact on the lives of the most vulnerable. Humanae Vitae was published at a time when medical advances […]

Harriet Sherwood

New York Times Inside the Ground Game to Reverse Roe v. Wade

AVON, Ind. — Armed with sunscreen, doorknob fliers and a mission 50 years in the making, the team of activists sporting blue “I Vote Pro-Life” T-shirts fanned out into a web of cul-de-sacs in a subdivision just west of Indianapolis, undeterred by towering rain clouds and 90-degree heat. It was exactly a week after President […]

Elizabeth Dias

Huffington Post With Brett Kavanaugh’s Nomination, Trump Again Privileges Conservative Christians

With his decision to nominate Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, President Donald Trump is one step closer to achieving the victory many on the Christian right were hoping for when they voted for him: a solidly conservative court whose rulings could help regain ground they’ve lost in the culture wars. But for progressive Christian leaders, […]

Carol Kuruvilla

The Independent Abortion could be illegal in large parts of US within 18 months after Supreme Court justice resignation, say activists

Abortion could become illegal in large parts of the US in as little as 18 months activists believe, following the resignation of Justice Anthony Kennedy from the Supreme Court and Donald Trump’spromise to appoint a replacement committed to overturning the landmark legislation protecting a woman’s right to choose. Within hours of the resignation of 81-year-old […]

Andrew Buncombe

The Santiago Times Argentina takes first step towards decriminalizing abortion

The lower house of Argentina’s congress has narrowly approved a bill that would legalise abortion in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy in what has been described as a historic move. The bill was narrowly passed by the chamber of deputies by 129 to 123 votes on Thursday and will now go before the senate. […]

Financial Times Argentina’s lower house of Congress approves abortion bill

“As Ireland, and Chile before it, have demonstrated, Catholics can be and often are pro-choice,” said Jon O’Brien, president of Catholics for Choice. “And indeed Catholic-majority countries can and often do support legislation for safe and legal abortion. Catholics revere individual conscience and support policies that allow all women — especially those without power and […]

Benedict Mander

Buzz.ie Argentina votes to legalise abortion up to 14 weeks

Huge progress. Since Ireland overwhelmingly voted to repeal the eighth amendment, work has been ongoing from TD’s to get the respective Bill through the Dáil. In the meantime, history has been made in another country with regards to abortion laws. The lower house of Argentina’s congress has narrowly approved a bill that would legalise abortion […]

David Kent

The Guardian Argentina congress takes historic step towards legalising abortion

The lower house of Argentina’s congress has narrowly approved a bill that would legalise abortion in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy in what has been described as a historic move. The bill was narrowly passed by the chamber of deputies by 129 to 123 votes on Thursday and will now go before the senate. […]

DC Abortion Fund A Big Win in Ireland

This past January I became a DC Abortion Fund case manager. I did this because I feel passionately about the right to choose, and being able to exercise this choice in your own community. These values overlap with my day job at Catholics for Choice where we advocate for a person’s moral and legal right […]

Casey Baker

Irish Central Ireland and America’s history – the abortion wars

Ireland’s vote on abortion reminds us that Roe vs. Wade in the U.S. did not take place all that long ago. Last week’s historic news out of Ireland — that voters chose to repeal the Eighth Amendment and loosen the country’s abortion laws — somehow came with the implication that Ireland was finally emerging from […]

Irish Central Staff

Jon O’Brien appears on Canal de la Ciudad

Jon O’Brien appears on Canal de la Ciudad to discuss being Catholic and prochoice, and the #AbortoLegalYa movement in Argentina. Watch the full interview here.

The Progressive ‘No Health Care for You!’

In the early aughts, when Dian Alarcón was new to this country and working for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, she developed endometriosis, a painful condition where tissue that normally grows inside the uterus grows on the outside. One day in 2007, Alarcón was rushed to the emergency room, bleeding and in severe pain. […]

La Nacion Aborto: 65 invitados exponen en la última jornada del debate en comisión en la Cámara de Diputados

El debate sobre la interrupción voluntaria del embarazo en la Cámara de Diputados entró en la recta final: hoy es la última ronda de expositores invitados antes de que los legisladores de las comisiones de Legislación General, Legislación Penal, Familia, Mujer, Niñez y Adolescencia, y Acción Social y Salud Pública aborden la discusión para firmar […]

Gabriel Sued

PAGINA 12 El aborto en la recta final en Diputados

En la última audiencia del debate por el aborto, convocada para hoy, se esperan figuras fuertes para convencer a indecisos de las filas del oficialismo y del peronismo. En la lista de expositores se destacan el actual ministro de Salud, Adolfo Rubinstein; su par durante la gestión de Néstor Kirchner, Ginés González García, y el […]

Mariana Carbajal

Sight Magazine Ireland votes to abolish constitutional ban on abortion

Ireland has voted overwhelmingly to lift a ban on abortion in a referendum over whether to abolish the eighth amendment of the nation’s constitution which explicitly prohibits terminations unless the mother’s life is at risk. Two-thirds of voters were in favour of the repeal with a turnout of 64 per cent. The result – which […]

David Adams

EL PAIS Irlanda se enfrenta a su último tabú: el aborto

La vergüenza y el silencio. Eso fue lo más duro para Louise White, dramaturga nacida en la región irlandesa de Laois, madre de dos hijos, que viajó a Inglaterra a los 24 años para abortar. “Es muy difícil para alguien extranjero comprender el legado de trauma que existe en este país, comprender cómo hay tanta […]

Pablo Guimón

Dazed and Confused Magazine How Catholic people find faith in Ireland’s pro-choice movement

“I grew up in a country that didn’t respect women and I think that this is a chance for Ireland to show that it does respect and trust women,” says Jon O’Brien, an Irish Catholic who is the president of Catholics for Choice, an American-based advocacy group. Catholics for Choice has campaigned for the use […]

Katy Fallon

Yahoo News Catholic voters, evangelicals or bishops: Who’s leading the anti-abortion movement today?

Ever since Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973, American Catholics have been identified in the public mind as the leading opponents of abortion. But as heavily Catholic Ireland prepares for a referendum on abortion policy, data suggests that American Catholics, as distinct from the church hierarchy, are fairly closely aligned with the rest of […]

Michael Walsh

WikiTribune In Catholic Ireland, legal abortion is a genuine prospect

Decision could end the need for Irish women to travel for a termination Proposed law would allow abortions up to 12th week of pregnancy ‘Don’t knows’, at 20 percent, will determine the outcome Confusion between Catholic doctrine and hierarchy’s pronouncements 2013 legislation failed to settle the question In 2016, 25 women had legal abortions in […]

The Good Men Project Laity and Catholic Hierarchs on Abortion

Jon O’Brien, the President of Catholics for Choice, took the time to discuss reproductive health issues and the Roman Catholic Christian faith with me. I asked, in particular, about the situation in America regarding both, especially touching base around pro-choice issues. When asked about the more pressing issues within the faith community, O’Brien said, “One […]

Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Rewire Rhode Island Faith Leaders: Pass ‘Roe’ Protections Now

While conservative religious figures mount a nationwide assault on reproductive health care, Rhode Island faith leaders gathered at the state house this week to publicly back the Reproductive Health Act (RHA), which would protect abortion access should the U.S. Supreme Court one day overturn Roe v. Wade. Members of the Rhode Island Religious Coalition for […]

Auditi Guha

Uprise RI Religious leaders call for passage of the Reproductive Health Care Act

  “We are religious leaders from a variety of faith traditions. As such, we walk separate but parallel paths in God’s direction,” said the Reverend Gene Dyszlewski from Lime Rock Baptist Church in Lincoln. “We share a striking commonality in our belief in the inherent worth and dignity of every human being. “It is a […]

Steve Ahlquist

Don’t Stop Repealin’ – Take Me to Church

Jon O’Brien appeared on the Don’t Stop Repealin’ podcast to discuss what it means to be both Catholic and prochoice, and Ireland’s historic upcoming chance to repeal the 8th Amendment. You can listen to the full episode here.

Sight Magazine Ireland votes to abolish constitutional ban on abortion

Ireland has voted overwhelmingly to lift a ban on abortion in a referendum over whether to abolish the eighth amendment of the nation’s constitution which explicitly prohibits terminations unless the mother’s life is at risk. Two-thirds of voters were in favour of the repeal with a turnout of 64 per cent. The result – which […]

David Adams

Coalition for Liberty and Justice Releases New Video on Religious Refusals

Across America, religious freedom is being used as a guise to discriminate against people and deny them care. Now ultraconservative religious activists inside Trump’s health department are elevating one set of beliefs at the expense of care for millions of Americans. Our new video tells the story of three women—Debbie, Colleen and Dian—whose lives were changed […]

MedPage Today Protesters Rally Against HHS Proposal on ‘Conscience’ Rules

The Department of Health and Human Services should not be letting healthcare providers impose their moral or religious beliefs on patients, speakers said Tuesday at a rally to protest a proposed regulation on the subject. Rally attendees stood behind cardboard boxes of comments opposing the regulation. “We collected over 200,000 comments — and counting — […]

Joyce Frieden

Rewire Trump Administration’s Global Gag Rule Review ‘Ignoring the Evidence’ on Policy’s Danger

The U.S. Department of State’s six-month review of the anti-choice “global gag rule” elevates political ideology over evidence-based public health, according to advocates working in the arena. Under the global gag rule, also known as the “Mexico City Policy,” foreign nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that receive money from the United States can’t provide or even discuss […]

Christine Grimaldi

1A Health And Holy Services?

Should evangelicals get to evangelize through healthcare? The newly created Conscience and Religious Freedom Division in the Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights handles conflicts between health and faith. For instance, if a doctor doesn’t want to perform an abortion because of a religious objection, they can go to the new division. The […]

Politico The religious activists on the rise inside Trump’s health department

A small cadre of politically prominent evangelicals inside the Department of Health and Human Services have spent months quietly planning how to weaken federal protections for abortion and transgender care — a strategy that’s taking shape in a series of policy moves that took even their own staff by surprise. Those officials include Roger Severino, […]

Dan Diamond

Chicago Sun-Times Trump, who once called himself ‘pro-choice,’ steps to forefront of anti-abortion movement

He once called himself “pro-choice.” But a year into his presidency, Donald Trump is stepping to the forefront of his administration’s efforts to roll back abortion rights. And though his record is mixed and a midterm election looms, abortion opponents say they have not felt so optimistic in at least a decade. “I don’t think […]

Laurie Kellman, Associated Press

The Wichita Eagle Kansas archbishop to take lead role in Catholic fight against abortion

Kansas City Archbishop Joseph Naumann has been outspoken in his opposition to abortion. In 2008, he asked Gov. Kathleen Sebelius not to receive communion because of her stance on abortion. He has written in the archdiocesan newspaper about Sen. Tim Kaine’s support for keeping abortion legal and severed the archdiocese’s relationship with the Girl Scouts […]

Katherine Burgess

Rewire Trump Carves Health-Care Discrimination Wing Into Civil Rights Office

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is doubling down on so-called conscience protections that give an out to health-care providers who don’t want to treat LGBTQ patients or provide reproductive health care, including contraception, miscarriage management, and abortion care. The Trump-era HHS, stacked with anti-choice extremists, on Thursday announced the launch of […]

Christine Grimaldi & Jessica Mason Pieklo

THE WASHINGTON POST New HHS civil rights division charged with protecting health-care workers with moral objections

Acting Health and Human Services secretary Eric Hargan on Thursday announced the creation of a new conscience and religious freedom division aimed at protecting doctors, nurses and other health-care workers who decline to participate in care that goes against their moral or religious convictions. Speaking at an event featuring Republican lawmakers and religious leaders, Hargan noted that […]

Ariana Eunjung Cha and Juliet Eilperin

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