BBC Attacks Vatican
The BBC recently produced a program entitled Sex and the Holy City which attacks the Vatican for its opposition to the use of condoms to prevent the spread of AIDS. Cardinal Trujillo, head of the Pontifical Council for the Family is quoted as saying that the AIDS virus can pass through a condom even more easily than sperm, because it is so much smaller, In response to the criticism. Cardinal Trujillo told Vatican Radio, “One cannot really speak of ‘safe sex’ leading people to believe that the use of condoms is the formula to avoid the risk of HIV and thus to overcome the AIDS pandemic. Nor should people be led to believe that condoms provide absolute safety. They do not mention that there is a percentage of grave risk, not only of AIDS, but also of the different sexually transmitted diseases, and that the rate of failure is quite high.” He called the World Health Organizations promotion of condoms to young people, “a grave irresponsibility.” When asked what the Catholic Church advises in order to fight against AIDS, Cardinal Trujillo reminds us that the Church has many centers, all around the world, to care for those with AIDS, or the orphans of AIDS victims. The Church’s response to AIDS is to promote chastity. Cardinal Trujillo states, “Where there is an adequate orientation in sexuality, an understanding of chastity, the risks could be overcome with certainty. Thus the Church invites all to a formation in the values, especially of the youth, and the respect of the duties of the family, which are the only true solutions to the problem.”
(Steve Bradshaw, “Vatican: condoms don’t stop Aids,” The Guardian, 9 October 2003; Interview with Vatican Radio, His Eminence, Alfonso Cardinal Lopez Trujillo, 11 October 2003)
Too Many Indians?
A columnist writing in India’s Financial Express has called for a “direct frontal attack on population growth.” S.S. Tarapore wrote in response to a statement by Deputy Prime Minster L. K. Advani that the government is considering a strict population control law which would prevent people who have more than two children from running for public office or assuming government jobs. Tarapore goes even further, proposing that the fees for marriage be doubled and for birth certificates by quadrupled. To further deter people from having large families, the price for birth certificates would increase to ten times the current price for those having their third of later child. Other population control proposals include financial incentives for both men and women to undergo sterilization, increase in funding for population control NGOs, and flooding the market with free contraceptives. Particularly abhorrent is his suggestion that “monetary compensation” be provided to women who undergo abortions up to the third month.
(S.S. Tarapore, “Frontal Attack on Population Growth,” The Financial Ex-press, 31 July 2003)
MVAs and Abortion
Johns Hopkins University has announced that manual vacuum aspirators (MVAs) can be used for second-trimester abortions in the developing world. Dr. Paul Blumenthal, senior author of the recent paper on this topic, published in the International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics, states, “Now that we know the low-tech device is safe and effective, it can be taught to doctors in developing nations to help reduce the prevalence of unsafe abortions and complications.” The paper was based on a small study of 73 women who underwent manual vacuum aspiration abortions. Although the study was conducted in the U.S., manual vacuum aspirators are not used in this country. They have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for first-trimester abortions only. PRI has reported in the past that MVAs are used to perform illegal abortions in Kenya. They also hold a significant risk for the transmission of AIDS. The MVA and its detachable tubes can be used repeatedly but are difficult to properly sterilize in the medical setting in many developing nations (see PRI Review, May — June 2003).
(Manual, Low-Tech Method for 2nd Trimester Abortions Found Safe and Effective,” Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions press release, 30 September 2003)
Ugandan Bishop Speaks Out
Ugandan Cardinal Wamala has spoken out strongly against the promotion of condoms to prevent AIDS. Cardinal Wamala stated that, “If we want to promote immorality then we shall continue advocating artificial methods like condoms.” He emphasized that young people should he taught abstinence, rather than given condoms which were “originally made for prostitutes.” His condemnation of condoms was echoed by Fr. Joseph Obunga, Secretary of the Ugandan Episcopal Conference. Fr. Obunga said it is not safe to use condoms and “that those who use them go in for sex as creatures without intellect.”
(Josephine Maseruka, “Condoms Promote Immorality,” New Vision, 29 September 2003, quoted in LifeSiteNews.com, 10 October 2003)
