Kissling speaks on reproductive choice

The president of a Catholic abortion-rights group said the Catholic Church's opposition to abortion is a reflection of its long-standing fear and hostility towards women and sexuality in a speech Friday night. Frances Kissling, who has led the Washington D.C.-based group Catholics for Choice since 1982, presented her views in a speech titled "Lost in the Pelvic Zone -- Roman Catholic Opposition to Reproductive Choice." The speech was part of a weekend-long seminar on "Choosing Choice: Perspectives on Reproductive Freedom." Kissling, who spoke for an hour to a group of about 20 people in Dartmouth Hall, said the current papacy's thinking is a throwback to the thinking of the 5th century, when at the forefront of Catholic teaching were views such as the sinfulness of pleasure and the denial of one's body as a necessity for having a good soul. "What we're talking about is the Church's distrust of the capacity of women to make good decisions," Kissling said.