Denver Catholic

4 MARCH 11-24, 2017 | DENVER CATHOLIC Cover Story beautiful teaching on her dignity, worth and inher- ent gifts? Endow, an organization that aims to facilitate conversation among women on their authentic femininity through small groups and is based on St. John Paul II's teachings, o'ers the Church's perspective. Denver's Endow branch, which is where the organization orig- inally started, recently launched its Hispanic division. Sair del Toro, director of Hispanic Endow in Los Angeles, shared what this looks like. "There is a complete confusion with the concept of 'feminism.' Today, people think that being a feminist means to have the same type of job, or the same salary as men and to work the same amount of hours," del Toro said. "That is not a healthy feminism. The true feminism is to know what you were created for. The woman's heart cannot be measured by the size of her salary…but it is measured based on how much they love. "The true feminism is knowing how to behave in all the circumstances in which we live in this modern world. A woman now works, a woman now has commitments she didn't have before. True feminism is to behave with the dig- nity that God gave us as women, to be an example of your faith. With our behav- ior and our example, a woman [changes many people]," del Toro added. Pope Francis has recently taken mea- sures to include women in the Church's decision-making, saying that they are not simply here to "wash the dishes." Del Toro agreed, saying that not only can a woman be a mother to her children and a wife to her husband, but she also con- tinues her education and is in positions of leadership, "or even as the president of a corporation." "But the most beautiful thing about a woman is that she does not stop taking care of her family. She remains the heart of the family that transforms societies," del Toro said. Del Toro referred to St. John Paul II's letters on women and how the dignity of woman was restored by Jesus, as he spoke to and healed many of them in a time and place where interaction with women was seen as taboo. St. John Paul II wrote in his apostolic letter Mulieris dignitatem ("On the dig- nity of women"), "…The Church desires to give thanks to the Most Holy Trinity for the 'mystery of woman' and for every woman…for the 'great works of God,' which throughout human history have been accomplished in and through her. After all, was it not in and through her that the greatest event in human history — the incarnation of God himself — was accomplished?" (#31). "We don't have to fight to have a place," del Toro said. "That place has been given. Christ gave it to us." IS THE CHURCH ANTI-WOMAN? It's a question that the Aquinas Insti- tute for Catholic Thought, an intellec- tual formation arm of the St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Center at the Univer- sity of Colorado Boulder, took on at their 10th annual Great Debate on Feb. 23. Dr. Mary Anne Case, a law profes- sor at the University of Chicago, and Erika Bachiochi, a visiting fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, met on the common ground of feminism as the debate's panelists. The question is not new. People have long asked why the Church does not allow women to be priests, which then spurred this deeper debate question. Bachiochi, who describes herself as a Catholic feminist, holds that the Church does indeed support women. Dr. Case believes that while Catholic feminism exists, the institution of the Church, more specifically the hierarchy and the clerics, are anti-woman. Dr. Case said that men and women shouldn't have "fixed notions" concern- ing their roles. Bachiochi said that she agreed with Case on several issues, and that the voices of women do need more of a plat- form in the Church. However, she said that demanding that women be allowed to become priests reeks of clericalism. "I have no less authority than a priest as a baptized Christian," Bachiochi said. "A priest has authority to repre- sent Christ in a sacramental way, and I have the authority to represent Christ in every other area of my life." However, Dr. Case pointed out that men in the Catholic Church "have all of the opportunities, and then some. How can the church not be anti- women…if women are not part of the decision-making?" Bachiochi agreed, and then referred to how the Pontifical Council of the Laity is a crucial branch of the Vatican. The council exists to assist the Pope in "all matters concerning the contribution the lay faithful make to the life and mission New protocol allows Colorado pharmacists to prescribe the pill without patient's physician BY THERESE AAKER A ccess to birth control is about to get a whole lot easier for Col- orado at the peril of women's health, according to Catholic health- care specialists. After a bipartisanª billª passed last year allowing the boards of medicine, nursing and pharmacy, in conjunction with the state health department, to create protocols that address public health needs, the first initiative to roll out will allow pharmacists to prescribe birth control to patients without their physician. Simply by filling out a questionnaire, doing a blood pressure test and having a 10-15 minute consultation to ensure the patient is not already pregnant or su'ering from other health conditions that would make taking the pill unsafe, oral contraceptives can be prescribed. The protocol will go into e'ect some- time this spring once pharmacists are trained, according to theªDenver Post. Colorado is the third state, after Califor- nia and Oregon, to pass this initiative. Dede Chism, executive director of Bella Natural Women's Care, a health- care clinic specializing in women's health and fertility, stated that this protocol goes against "best practice." "Bella Natural Women's Care takes a more natural and healthy approach… we do not prescribe or refer patients for artificial contraception," Chism said. "One important reason for this is the many physical and emotional side e'ects that accompany the use of artificial contraception. "Contraceptive medications, whether they be oral or any other form, carry with them side e'ects that can vary from mild to fatal. Our pharmacist colleagues are truly experts in their field, and provide awesome patient education, but their expertise is not in the day-to-day care of a patient and management of their health circumstances," Chism added. Catholic pharmacist Valerie Haas agreed that easier access to the pill could prove to be more harmful to women beyond the moral scope. "I think it's horrible, moral issues aside," Haas said. "I'd never want my daughters to get [ birth control] from pharmacists. It needs so much screen- ing and monitoring to prevent serious side e'ects." While the protocol requires pharma- cists to be trained, Haas is concerned about what that will look like and if the screening process will be enough to pre- vent complications from the serious side e'ects that could be potentially avoided with a physician's monitoring. "There are so many conditions to identify ahead of time and that need monitoring during use, and patients won't know what signs to look out for," Haas said. "Physicians have always been the gateway to assess side e'ects to make sure they're using it safely. "Honestly, I don't know how phar- macists will have time…to [screen prop- erly]," Haas added. "It could take 30 to 45 minutes to do it properly, and most pharmacists I know barely have time to go to the bathroom." Studies have shown that the pill can have serious side e'ects, and can increase the risk of breast cancer and blood clotting. Haas said that several underlying health issues would need serious screening, as contraceptives can More contraception? At what cost? « Denver events spark deeper conversation on women's place in society

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