Sunday, February 24, 2013

German Cath. Church OKs a "Morning-After Pill;" May Be Taken Only By Women Who Were Raped

The Roman Catholic Church in Germany said it would permit certain types of "morning-after pill" for raped women, after two hospitals last week provoked an outcry for refusing to treat a rape victim, the WWRN (World Wide Religion News) website reports today (February 24, 2013).

The German Bishops' Conference said church-run hospitals would now ensure proper medical, psychological, and emotional care for rape victims -- including administering pills that prevent pregnancy without inducing an abortion.

Archbishop Robert Zollitsch said a four-day meeting of German bishops in the western town of Trier had "confirmed that women who have been victims of rape will get the proper human, medical, psychological, and pastoral care."

The Catholic Church remains firmly opposed to abortion and artificial birth control, but in Germany it will now differentiate between pills that prevent sperm from fertilizing an egg in the womb and pills that induce an abortion, in cases of rape.

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