Critics draw comparison with church view on Aids/HIV as proscription remains on artificial contraception and abortion despite virus’s links with birth defects

The Catholic church has remained silent in the face of the mounting crisis caused by the Zika virus in Latin America, which has led at least four countries to urge women to avoid pregnancy for up to two years.



The church has not eased its proscription on artificial contraception and abortion despite strong indications that the virus spread by mosquitoes is the cause of devastating birth defects across the region. Thousands of babies have been born with unusually small brains and heads, a condition known as microcephaly.



The rights of women to make decisions about pregnancies must be at the forefront of the response to the Zika crisis, Tewodros Melesse, director general of the International Planned Parenthood Federation, said on Thursday.

“Despite opposition, in recent decades Latin America has made great strides in amplifying access to contraception. However much more needs to be done. In the face of the Zika virus, these gains need to be echoed throughout the region – especially for adolescents, poor women and those living in rural areas who are most likely to be exposed to the virus and least likely to have access to reproductive health services,” Melesse said.



“Access to contraception should be available to all. Governments must ensure their medical services have the supplies for those who want it. We recommend strengthening family planning programmes and access to safe abortion services for those women who need it and where it is permitted by law.”



Latin America is home to more than 425 million Catholics – nearly 40% of the world’s Catholic population. Although the proportion of adults identifying themselves as Catholic in the region has fallen from 90% in the 1960s to 69% today, the church is still highly influential on social attitudes and public policy.



In most Latin American countries, abortion is tightly restricted, and in at least four – Chile, El Salvador, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic – there are no exceptions granted. Even so, an estimated 4.4m women had abortions – the vast majority unsafe or illegal – in 2008.



Access to artificial contraception is restricted in some places, although the church’s ban is widely disregarded.



Robert Kennedy, chair of the department of Catholic studies at the University of St Thomas in St Paul, Minnesota, said the church was unlikely to ease its stance in light of the crisis. “I think the church will take what steps it can to offer support – material, spiritual and personal – to families affected by the problem, but I see no circumstances in which the church will repudiate its teaching about artificial contraception.”



The church believed that “some kinds of acts are always wrong” and these included “contracepted intercourse,” he added. “No set of circumstances can make acts like these morally good.”



According to Andrew Chesnut, chair in Catholic studies at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia, “the two most likely responses are continued silence or acknowledgement of the gravity of the situation with a reiteration of church doctrine”.



He pointed to the precedent of Aids/HIV, which did not lead to any change in the church’s opposition to the use of condoms despite tens of thousands of deaths. “Epidemics such as Aids and Zika call for critical re-evaluation of church doctrine on artificial contraception, which is consistently ignored by Catholics worldwide. Surveys show the great majority of parishioners across the globe to be in favour of allowing artificial birth control, but [Pope] Francis would face stiff opposition from conservative cardinals already unhappy with the direction of his papacy.”



Tina Beattie, professor of Catholic studies at Roehampton University, London, said: “Whether one agrees with the church’s position on contraception or not, this is a case of preventing avoidable catastrophe. There is a tragic dimension to life and the church’s teaching can sometimes overlook that.”



Acknowledging that the Zika crisis presented a challenge and dilemma for the church, she said: “If the church keeps quiet, that is regrettable. The problem with saying nothing is that it gives power to very hardline bishops.”



Pope Francis, she added, “talks a lot about the messiness of life. This is an opportunity to acknowledge that women’s lives have huge dimensions of complexity.”



Last year, the pope announced that for a duration of the current “year of mercy”, women who had abortions could be absolved as long as they expressed contrition and sought forgiveness from a priest. “I am well aware of the pressure that has led them to this decision. I know that it is an existential and moral ordeal,” the pope said.

The church believes that “every human life has value regardless of illness or disability, and would certainly disapprove of any response to the Zika virus that involves abortion,” said Melissa Moschella, assistant professor of philosophy at the Catholic University of America. But, she added, “the church does need to say something and clarify basic principles at stake in order to inform people’s consciences as they consider difficult decisions.”

Paul Tully of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (Spuc), said: “Pro-abortion lawyers are already calling for the abortion of babies whose mothers may have contracted the virus, even though the cause of increase in cases of disabled babies has not been established with any certainty … Killing the babies affected is not prevention and won’t prevent more cases.”



The Vatican did not respond to a request for comment.

