Accidental pregnancy.

the 42% of women who do not use any types of contraceptive methods when they become pregnant, three-quarters have used one at some point; the majority of these had most recently relied on either the pill or the condom. Fifty-three percent of prior pill users and 76% of prior condom users became pregnant within three months of stopping use.  The proportion of abortion patients who have never used any contraceptive method is highest among women who are younger than 18, single women, Catholic women, unemployed women, minority women, those with no religious affiliation, and those with low education and income levels.        Different religions hold different beliefs when it comes to abortion.  I have decided to examine the beliefs of the Catholic Church.  The church's positions on contraception and abortion are the most extreme positions taken by any religious group: contraceptives are forbidden even to married couples; direct abortion, even to save the pregnant woman's life, is never morally justified and should not be legal.  The church's position on reproductive matters are so extreme that most Catholics don't even agree with them. In the United States, poll after poll show that less than 15 per cent of Catholics agree with the bishops' position on abortion.  Catholic women have abortions at a slightly higher rate than women of other faith groups or of no faith group. Four out of five Catholics in the United States say that using modern methods of contraception is not wrong. And Catholics are just as likely as other Americans to use birth control methods opposed by the church.                                                                         In the wake of the 1973 US Supreme Court Roe v. Wade legalizing abortion, the US bishops began their enormous effort to make abortion illegal again. Although they have not achieved this goal, they still persist at working at it. While efforts initially focused on an outright constitutional ban, the bishops and their anti-choice allies now work to install various restrictions on access to abortions.  But the vehement opposition of the US bishops to legal abortion was the clarion call for US Catholic women. When the bishops emerged as the principal opposition after the Roe case, a small group of Catholic Women recognized the importance of organized opposition to the hierarchy's campaign. At the time, it was generally assumed that Catholics followed the bishops unquestioningly and blindly. These women were motivated by the simple conviction that the bishops did not represent the Catholic people on reproductive rights issues, including abortion. They knew from their own lives that Catholic Women had abortions and that Catholic women and men supported legal access to abortion.   Pro life catholic women have many points that they feel validate their beliefs when it comes to abortion.  They believe that Church law affirms both the right and the responsibility of a Catholic to follow her or his conscience on moral matters, even when it conflicts with church teaching.  Also they feel the Church teaching on sexuality and reproduction in not infallible.  A Catholic who believes abortion is immoral in all or most circumstances can still support its legality.  They believe that everyone is entitled to their opinion but they should not limit other people’s choices.  Their main point comes when they say that the church has no teaching on when the fetus becomes a person.  Official church teaching admits that we do not know exactly when a fetus becomes a person (that is, has a soul), but says fetal life must be protected just in case the fetus is a person.   Pro life catholic women show the world that the pope, as statistics on Catholics' use of contraception and abortion reveal, does not really command or dictate the lives of many Catholics.  Their dedication to reproductive rights and health is rooted in a commitment to the dignity and rights of women.  They continue to raise the moral and ethical dimensions of reproductive issues and to demand that women be respected as their own moral agents.