Cardinal backs morning-after pill as Catholic hospitals reject rape victim

The Catholic Church in Germany is considering approving some morning-after pills for rape victims after a leading cardinal said the pills did not induce abortions and could be used in Catholic hospitals.

Cardinal Joachim Meisner of Cologne, an ally of Pope Benedict, changed his policy after two Catholic hospitals in Cologne refused to treat a rape victim as they would not prescribe the pill, which is taken after sex to avoid pregnancy.

The Catholic Church firmly opposes abortion and artificial birth control. Many Catholics see all emergency contraceptives as abortion-inducing drugs banned by this policy, but Cardinal Meisner said some prevent fertilisation and could be used in cases of rape.

“The German Bishops’ Conference is holding a regular meeting in two weeks and the issue will be on the agenda,” said Cologne archdiocese spokeswoman Nele Harbeke.

“The bishops’ conference must, in principle, agree on a common line,” she said.

Cardinal Meisner, 79, had rejected emergency contraceptives as producing a “just-in-case abortion”. The Cologne incident sparked uproar in Germany last month and the cardinal apologised publicly, saying it “shames us deeply because it contradicts our Christian mission and our purpose”.

Cardinal Meisner’s change of mind made headlines because he is outspoken in relation to his conservative views. The surprise was compounded when another conservative, Berlin Archbishop Rainer Woelki, urged the Church to debate the issue.

Cardinal Meisner said he changed his view after learning from scientists that some newer pills did not abort fertilised eggs but instead prevented fertilisation altogether. “If a medication that hinders conception is used after a rape with the purpose of avoiding fertilisation then this is acceptable.”

His office said the exception was valid only in rape cases and not within Catholic marriage, where the Church teaches that artificial contraception is banned. It also said there was no change to the ban on the so-called abortion pill, based on the drug mifepristone or RU-486, marketed as Mifegyne or Mifeprex.

The cardinal consulted the Vatican as well as a 2009 directive for Catholic hospitals in the US that says a rape victim “may be treated with medications that would prevent ovulation, sperm capacitation or fertilisation”.

Meanwhile, a Catholic hospital in Colorado acknowledged it was “morally wrong” to argue in court that a foetus is not a human being under Colorado law.

Lawyers representing St Thomas More Hospital took that position in papers filed to fend off a wrongful death lawsuit brought after unborn twins died in its emergency room.

German cardinal says yes to 'morning-after pill' | Germany | DW.DE | 02.02.2013 http://t.co/v8whMAJm

— Fr. Brendan McGrath (@frbmcgrath) February 5, 2013