However, Cologne’s Cardinal Joachim Meisner has indicated that some morning-after pills may be approved for use by rape victims in Catholic hospitals because he believes they do not cause abortions.
The policy change follows the decision of two Catholic hospitals in Cologne not to treat a rape victim because they were not allowed to administer the morning-after pill. Cardinal Meisner apologised publicly after the incident.
The pill, prescribed as an emergency contraceptive, can be taken up to 72 hours after sexual intercourse to prevent an unwanted pregnancy. Church teaching until now has been that such pills induce abortions and are therefore banned for use by Catholics.
The matter will have to be agreed by the German Bishops’ Conference but with the volte face by Cardinal Meisner, who has previously said the morning-after pill caused a “just-in-case abortion”, there is a good chance of the bishops giving this their approval.
Cardinal Meisner, an ally of Benedict XVI, now pope emeritus, is known for his strong conservative views but said he had been convinced to change his mind on certain morning-after pills because scientists told him the new generation of pills prevented fertilisation rather than aborting fertilised eggs.
Use of the morning-after pill would only be permitted for rape victims and not in any other circumstances.
The issue of the morning-after pill is also exercising the minds of Catholics in the United States where health reforms brought in by President Obama demand that Catholic hospitals give female employees birth control.