The issue of reproductive rights generally—and specifically for Nigerian women—is debated today because of constraints placed by Catholic teachings on reproductive health and public policies influenced by both culture and religion. These constraints have negative impacts on women’s agency and on women’s right to resist sexual exploitation and gain access to other important rights. Catholic teachings condemn all forms of
artificial birth control, such as direct contraception, direct abortion, and direct sterilization. However, the official Church teaching encourages the
use of natural means of fertility control. In Humanae Vitae, Paul VI prohibits the use of artificial contraceptives because they are said to obstruct the natural reproductive process. Drawing on a particular interpretation of the natural law, Paul VI encourages married couples to only engage in sexual intercourse during the wife’s infertile periods if couples seek to control their birth rate.