The Pope is Holding Me Back

When WG1 and I started this blog, I set up my Google account so that I would get emails in my inbox when any news story mentioned the words 'career' and 'women'. And over the past year (or so), I've gotten a lot of random stories in my inbox (mainly because I chose very broad search words). But I think the most random was when this headline greeted me first thing in the morning: "Church harms career women".

Last week Cherie Blair, barrister and wife of the former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, said that one of the reasons women have come so far is because of the ability to control their fertility and "would prefer it if the Catholic Church took a more positive attitude towards contraception".

Blair went on to say that she doesn't think there is anything wrong with birth control and that without it she probably wouldn't have been able to achieve the things that she has.

A spokesman for the Catholic Church said contraception is known to cause four major problems, such as a lowering of moral standards, a rise in infidelity, lesser respect for women, and coercive reproductive techniques by the government, which is why the church takes a stand against it.

Obviously this subject is a hard one to approach. Religion is always a touchy subject. I grew up in a Catholic home, went to Catholic schools, and went to church on Sundays and I came to know the rules of the church very quickly. And while I might agree with some, their stance on birth control is not one of them.

In a way I think Cherie's statement came out sounding selfish, and I don't think she intended it to be so. I like to think she was trying to say that a life is precious whether it is planned or unplanned, however, I also believe in being able to control my body. And that birth control helps women who are in loving and committed relationships and those who are single control a 'ready factor'.

But do I believe the Catholic Church's stance on birth control is holding back career women? Eh, jury is still out on that one.