About Us

Catholics for the Right to Decide was formally constituted as an organization on August 3rd 1994, thanks to Frances Kissling (then President of Catholics for Choice), and Sarita Hudson, who continued the work that other allies such as Silvia Marcos and Julián Cruzalta had started, and under the leadership of María Consuelo Mejía, who from that date assumed the direction of CDD and gave it the necessary push to turn it into one of the leading feminist organizations in the defense of the rights of women and young people. In such a significant and complex year for national politics, we came together as an organization of believers who, from an ethical, Catholic, and feminist perspective, joined the defense of human rights for women and young people, particularly sexual and reproductive rights, including access to safe and legal abortion, and its correlation with social justice, democracy, and secularity.

Since then, we have raised the voices of millions of believers whose convictions diverge from official ones, to disseminate alternative Catholic arguments that differ from conservative positions of the Catholic hierarchy and other social sectors, aiming to transform attitudes, as well as social and cultural practices that limit the full exercise of human rights.

For more than 27 years, we have promoted respect for the moral authority of women and people with the capacity to become pregnant so that they can make decisions about their lives while encouraging people to enjoy their sexuality in a pleasant, free and informed way, free of fear, guilt, and shame. We have also made it clear that the community of believers is diverse and changing, and we have promoted values of respect and inclusion towards diverse sexual orientations and gender identities and expressions.

At the same time, we have worked to deconstruct gender stereotypes that cause discrimination and violence, whilst ensuring that the State fulfills its role of guaranteeing the human rights of all people. More recently, we have pushed forward liberating and hopeful values of a different Church and a different society, which have had an effect of freeing believers from blame and reconciling them with their spirituality.