"Vatican Newspaper Says Melinda Gates "Off the Mark" on Family Planning/ Opposite is True/Vatican Policy Needs to be Changed

http://ncronline.org/news/women/vatican-newspaper-says-melinda-gates-mark-contraception

VATICAN CITY -- Under the headline "birth control and disinformation," the Vatican newspaper took to task Melinda Gates, wife of the Microsoft founder, who announced in early July that the couple's foundation would give $560 million during the next eight years to increase women's access to artificial contraception.
Written by Giulia Galeotti, a frequent contributor on abortion and other life issues, the article on the front page of the July 29 edition of L'Osservatore Romano said Gates is free to make charitable donations to whomever she wants, but not to spread incorrect information.
In an interview July 10 with The Guardian, a British newspaper, Gates identified herself as a practicing Catholic who "struggled" with the idea of publicly opposing church teaching to promote a project aimed at giving 120 million women in developing countries access to contraceptives by 2020.
Gates said she felt compelled to act to "keep women alive. I believe in not letting women die, I believe in not letting babies die."
In the Vatican newspaper piece, Galeotti wrote, "The American philanthropist is off the mark," the victim of "bad information and persistent stereotypes on this theme. To still believe that by opposing the use of condoms, the Catholic Church leaves women and children to die because of misogynist intransigence is a baseless and shoddy reading" of reality.
Gates told The Guardian that the Catholic church allows natural family planning, but "for our foundation, well, we promote modern tools because these have the most impact." At the same time the church can and should continue to teach women how to space births naturally, she said. "Let a woman choose what it is she would like to use."

Bridget Mary's Reflection:
In a perfect world, in which women are equal partners and a couple decides together to follow nfp, perhaps, natural family planning would work. It is a conscience decision as Melonda Gates points out in the article in L'Osservatore Romano.
 But, in many instances, natural family planning does not work, and if a woman has a irregular cycle, nfp is a problem. Besides, there is nothing wrong, (except in the Vatican's mindset) with using artificial birth control as a means to plan one's family.
There are many exceptions where natural family planning will not be an option.
One example is that millions of women are raped every day.
A woman's life and well-being should be the church's top priority, instead of a policy that condemns artifical birth control.  It is not Melinda Gates who is "off the mark" on family planning, but the Vatican who continues to threat women as second class citizens in the church. This is another example of why the church needs women priests in decision-making roles in the Vatican. Do you honestly believe that the cardinals or bishops would not use artificial birth control if they were bearing children and supporting them? 
Bridget Mary Meehan, arcwp
www.arcwp.org
sofiabmm@aol.com