Catholics for a Free Choice
 |
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| Abbreviation | CFC |
|---|---|
| Motto | In Good Conscience |
| Formation | 1973 |
| Purpose | Pro-choice advocacy and activism |
| Headquarters | Washington, D.C. |
|
President
|
Jon O'Brien |
| Website | catholicsforchoice.org |
| Find out here | |
| Language | English |
| Publication details | |
| Publisher |
Catholics for Choice (United States)
|
|
Publication history
|
1999-present |
| Links | |
Catholics for Choice (CFC) is a pro-choice dissenting Catholic advocacy group based in Washington, D.C. Formed in 1973 as Catholics for a Free Choice, CFC states that its mission is "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." The group gained some notice and status after its 1984 advertisement in The New York Times challenging Church teaching on abortion led to Church disciplinary pressure against some of the priests and nuns who signed it. It has lobbied nationally and internationally for pro-choice goals and led an unsuccessful effort to downgrade the Holy See's status in the United Nations. CFC was led for 25 years by Frances Kissling and is currently led by its president, Jon O'Brien.
A number of Catholic bishops and conferences of bishops have unequivocally rejected and publicly denounced CFC's identification as a Catholic organization. For example, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, and the Archdiocese of Mexico have stated that CFC is not a Catholic organization and that it promotes positions contrary to Catholic teaching.
CFC was founded in 1973 by Catholics Joan Harriman, Patricia Fogarty McQuillan, and Meta Mulcahy as Catholics for a Free Choice, with the aim of promoting access to abortion in the context of Catholic tradition. It emerged from Catholics for the Elimination of All Restrictive Abortion & Contraceptive Laws, a New York lobby group that had been formed in 1970.
In an early bid for publicity in 1974, on the first anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision, McQuillan, the group's first president, had herself crowned pope on the steps of St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York.
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