Catholics for Choice

Catholics for Choice (CFC) was founded in 1973 to serve as a voice for Catholics who believe that the Catholic tradition supports a woman’s moral and legal right to follow her conscience in matters of sexuality and reproductive health.

CFC believes in and works toward the following principles:

• The right of individuals and couples to decide on when, whether and how they will form families;
• Women's and men's moral agency in reproductive health decisions, supported by access to the full range of contraceptive choices, safe and legal abortion, pre- and post-natal care and family supports;
• Support and respect, including treatment, prevention, and especially access to condoms, for people living with HIV/AIDS and those at risk;
• Social and economic justice that ensures that no one is denied sexual or reproductive health services because they cannot afford them;
• Equality for and non-discrimination against women in government, civil society, and all faith groups;
• Scientific and public policies that are determined by evidence-based research, democratic structures, and the common good;
• The right of faith groups to participate in public policy formation and the responsibility of policy makers to legislate without privileging sectarian religious beliefs;
• Freedom from all forms of intimate violence, including sexual abuse in the family, relationships, and the church; and
• Respect for and recognition of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons and relationships with all legal rights.

Catholics for Choice works in partnership with reproductive health, interfaith and Catholic church reform groups that share our commitment to safe, legal reproductive health care and women's equality.

CFC's programs in the United States include:

• A constituency-building program that educates, mobilizes, and provides technical assistance to targeted constituencies to encourage their participation in the public policy debate over sexuality, reproductive health and democratic values. These constituencies include our own grassroots activists and spokespeople throughout the United States.
• A high visibility education and communications program that includes researching, developing, producing and distributing a wide range of thoughtful publications and other educational materials on reproductive health, population, ethics, and other topics, and communications activities that involve electronic and print media exposure, polls, public speaking, seminars and conferences.
• In-depth policy analysis that provides policymakers with the data and educational materials necessary to make informed decisions and to articulate ethically sound positions on family planning, reproductive health and international population policy.

CFC shapes and advances sexual and reproductive ethics that are based on justice, reflect a commitment to women’s well-being and respect and affirm the moral capacity of women and men to make sound decisions about their lives. Through discourse, education and advocacy, CFC works in the US and internationally to infuse these values into public policy, community life and Catholic social thinking and teaching.

For more information, please visit www.catholicsforchoice.org.