Risking Women’s Lives, Denying Women’s Experiences: CDF Statements on Sterilization in Catholic Hospitals

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has promulgated documents on sterilization that disregard relevant features of women’s experiences of dangers in pregnancy. After analyzing the shortcomings of key CDF documents, I retrieve a solidly probable opinion developed before Vatican II by moral theologians John Ford and Gerald Kelly, who used casuistry, moral principles, and pastoral approaches that are attentive to women who face the possibility of dangerous pregnancies. I argue that their probable opinion can be instructive for pastors and laity as they discern how to apply the church’s teaching on sterilization. I conclude the essay by explaining how such a retrieval advances justice for women today.