Planned Parenthood launches campaign against Pope Benedict XVI

May 2, 2005 / 22:00 pm

Planed Parenthood has launched a campaign to motivate all of its members and supporters, nominal Catholics and non-Catholics, to send letters to the editor, requesting that Pope Benedict XVI reconsider his “backward views” and change his opinion on sexual morality.

Pope Benedict XVI must be encouraged to “reconsider his dangerously outdated stances on birth control, abortion and sexuality in order to help move the Catholic Church into the 21st century,” reads a memo issued by campaign manager Eve Fox.    

“The new Pope's positions on these crucial issues pose a terrible danger to the health of millions of women and girls around the world and undermines efforts to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS,” Fox wrote.

The campaign manager justified this action, saying that the “the Church has tremendous influence over many governments, especially in Latin America, and plays a powerful role in shaping social and political norms around the world.”

Calling him “even more conservative” than Pope John Paul II, Fox told her supporters that Pope Benedict XVI is “against all forms of contraception and opposes the use of condoms to prevent HIV/AIDS.” 

Prior to being elected Pope, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger “told Catholics in the U.S. it would be a sin to vote for pro-choice candidates like John Kerry, and urged bishops to deny Kerry Communion.  He has also led the Catholic Church's campaign against same-sex marriage and other rights for same-sex couples, including the right to adopt children,” wrote Fox.