University of New Hampshire University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository Master's Theses and Capstones Student Scholarship Fall 2013 Protecting the sanctity of human life: The Catholic Church & her relationship with HIV/AIDS prevention Emma Joanne Burke University of New Hampshire, Durham Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.unh.edu/thesis Recommended Citation Burke, Emma Joanne, "Protecting the sanctity of human life: The Catholic Church & her relationship with HIV/AIDS prevention" (2013). Master's Theses and Capstones. 168. https://scholars.unh.edu/thesis/168 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Scholarship at University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses and Capstones by an authorized administrator of University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. PROTECTING THE SANCTITY OF HUMAN LIFE: THE CATHOLIC CHURCH & HER RELATIONSHIP WITH HIV/AIDS PREVENTION BY EMMA JOANNE BURKE Bachelor of Arts, University of Southern Maine, 2012 THESIS Submitted to the University of New Hampshire in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Justice Studies September, 2013 UMI Number: 1524302 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI Dissertation PiiblishMig UMI 1524302 Published by ProQuest LLC 2013. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 This thesis has been examined and approved. Thesis Director, Marion GirardHDorsey, Associate Professor of History — ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mary Maldne, Associate Professor of Political Science R^^CCCXt ^ QAdPufeTV.*______ Rebecca Warner, Professor of Psychology 7 / Date DEDICATION I dedicate this Master’s Thesis first and foremost to my family - Mom, Dad, Mae, and Mitchell - for being the constant and reliable support all graduate students must have to not only survive, but also thrive. I also dedicate this Thesis to Heather, Daniel, Carissa, Sarah, and Monica - you provided the laughs for the long days, company for the late nights, and friendship for the long haul. Lastly, I dedicate this Thesis to Dr. Ronald Schmidt, Jr., Dr. Sandra Wachholz, and Dr. Piers Beirne - your guidance, optimism and support during my undergraduate years are the foremost reasons that I have found joy in scholarship. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of my advisor, Dr. Marion Girard-Dorsey. Without her direction and encouragement, the success of this Thesis would not be possible. I would also like to acknowledge Dr. Rick Trinkner and Deborah Briand for all their constant advice and assistance. iv ABSTRACT PROTECTING THE SANCTITY OF HUMAN LIFE: THE CATHOLIC CHURCH & HER RELATIONSHIP WITH HIV/AIDS PREVENTION by Emma Joanne Burke University of New Hampshire, September, 2013 Though prevention is the most stressed component of the global fight against HIV/AIDS, global agreement regarding the most successful prevention method does not exist. For example, the majority of the medical and scientific community agrees that condoms and other safe-sex practices are the key to reducing the number of HIV transmissions, while the Catholic Church and her ranking officials claim that abstinence and monogamy are the only moral solutions. This Thesis examines the policies of the Church, including her dedication to the protection of the sanctity of human life, in an attempt to determine if the Church’s words are shaping HIV/AIDS prevention and if there is an opening for a reprioritization on her stance on condoms without abandoning her principles. At the conclusion of this Thesis, it is established that the Church’s own policies could support the use of condoms for disease prevention without compromising on her morals or canon. v TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION.................................................................................................................iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS..............................................................................................iv ABSTRACT....................................................................................................................... v CHAPTER PAGE INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................................l Organization of Thesis.........................................................................................5 Literature Review ................................................................................................. 6 Brief History of HIV/AIDS in the United States..............................................7 I. CATHOLIC CHURCH POLICIES......................................................................11 The Church & Sexual Relations.............................................................n The Church & HIV/AIDS .......................................................................12 Prevention solutions offered by the Church............................12 The opinions of the Popes..........................................................13 Pope John Paul II............................................................13 Pope Benedict XVI..........................................................21 Pope Francis 1................................................................. 34 II. CHURCH OPINIONS & CONFLICTS.............................................................36 Opinions About Church Policy.............................................................36 Working in Catholic Healthcare...........................................................43 Church Policies, Opinions, & Conflicts Discussion.......................... 48 III. HIV/AIDS IN THE UNITED STATES.............................................................52 Current HIV/AIDS Statistics................................................................ 52 The Case for Prevention........................................................................54 The condom................................................................................ 55 Other methods............................................................................ 58 Support from the medical community........................ 58 The realities of sex and ABC......................................................60 Chapter Discussion................................................................................ 62 III. DISCUSSION & CONCLUSION.......................................................................65 Discussion............................................................................................... 65 Conclusion............................................................................................... 74 LIST OF REFERENCES................................................................................................ 75 INTRODUCTION The HIV/AIDS virus has been both a medical and societal crisis in the United States since the early 1980s (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2013). To reduce HIV/AIDS from its pandemic status, science must work in two directions. While the work to find a cure is critical, the fewer new infections there are, the quicker the virus will be eradicated. Thus, prevention is also vital to the end of HIV/AIDS. More importantly, tools of behavioral prevention (such as condoms), are currently much more publicly accessible than methods of chemical prevention (such as vaccination). Thus, while the scientific community is working diligently towards more effective treatments and medications for those afflicted with HIV/AIDS, the behavioral prevention aspect must continue to be taken up by the United States and others just as persistently. Indeed, the implementation of public prevention efforts is essentially the only measure that presently greatly reduces the number of new infections (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2006). Without these efforts, the crisis of the HIV/AIDS virus is unlikely to be assuaged by any substantial degree in the United States, the region that will be the focus of this Thesis. Prevention further establishes itself as worthy of public focus when two other factors are taken into consideration. Firstly, medical breakthroughs are relatively few and far between - only recently was the first person announced cured of HIV (an infant born HIV-positive that was given antiretroviral therapy from the moment of birth) (Guinan, 2013), and individuals being cured of either 1 HIV or AIDS cannot be considered as a dependable solution at this juncture. While current medicines can provide HIV/AIDS patients with a much longer life than what was once expected, they will still suffer from the symptoms and risks of the virus (Leland, 2013). Secondly, most behavioral prevention measures (hereinafter referred to as prevention measures because they are the only ones currently available) are exceedingly easy to implement because they are physically simple and relatively