Brazilian Catholic archdiocese says women should not use birth control to combat spread of Zika virus

Women living in countries ravaged by the Zika virus should not use birth control or abortions to stop the illness from spreading from mothers to children, according to a Catholic archdiocese.

The Vatican has stayed remarkably silent on Zika, despite the virus rapidly spreading across swathes of devoutly Catholic Southern and Central American countries.

This has left it up to local bishops to make the call on whether to temporary allow contraception, with one stating: 'Nothing justifies an abortion.'

The Zika virus, which causes babies to be born with unusually small heads and undersized brains, has spread through Latin America after first being diagnosed in Brazil last year. 

Many of these countries outlaw or limit women's access to abortion and contraception, with governments advising women not to have sex for years if they want to lower the chances of their children being born with the virus. 

But critics have argued this is unrealistic, and that women should be given access to birth control to stop the spread of the illness. 

Reverend Luciano Brito, a spokesman for the Catholic Archdiocese of Olinda and Recife, said Catholics should avoid using birth control, regardless of Zika. 

According to the New York Times, he said: 'Nothing justifies an abortion. Just because a fetus has microcephaly won't make us favorable' to changing the rules.

The Catholic catechism says that any method of contraception - including abortions - that can 'render procreation impossible' is 'intrinsically evil'.

The only exception to this rule is 'natural family planning', which sees women only have sex at times in their menstrual cycle when they are less likely to succeed. It only has a 25 per cent success rate.

Catholics are awaiting guidance from the Church on what they should do, with some countries advising women to simply not have sex until the threat of Zika has died down. El Salvador has told people not to have sex until 2018.

However, the Vatican declined to comment when contacted by the BBC.

Reverend Father Frank Pavone, national director of U.S.-based anti-abortion group Priests for Life, said Catholics should not use birth control regardless of the Zika virus.

'That prohibition doesn't change based on circumstances,' he told CNN.

'So couples have a responsibility to live according to the church's teachings in whatever circumstances they find themselves.' 

Not all Catholic leaders agree, with other reverends saying  families should be able to use contraception in exceptional circumstances like the ones seen in countries hit by the virus. 

Reverend James Bretzke, a professor of theology at Boston College, said: 'The polemical approach, that contraception is devious or demonic in origin or the smoke of Satan, may ultimately not be the best pastoral approach. 

'In Catholic Church teaching, some would say it would be acceptable to try to prevent conception in cases like this.'

Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic and El Salvador all ban abortions, while Paraguay, Guatemala, Honduras, Venezuela and Suriname only allow pregnancies to be terminated to save a woman's life.

Brazil - which has seen more than 4,000 cases of microcephaly caused by the Zika virus, only allows abortions to save mothers' lives or in cases of rape. 

International charity Women on Web is offering to send women in the early stages of pregnancy the pills who live in areas affected by the mosquito-borne disease so they can induce a home medical abortion.

However, Brazilian authorities are blocking them and women inEl Salvador, the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua face jail sentences if caught taking them.

The alternative is giving birth to a child who will need care for the rest of their life, who may not be able to walk or talk - an added strain for families already struggling on the breadline in some of the world's poorest and most violent countries. 

Most governments in the region have advised women against getting pregnant for at least two years, as fears grow that the virus, first discovered in Uganda in 1947, is causing children to be born with unusually small heads, and undersized brains.

It has yet to be definitively confirmed that the virus and the birth defect is related, but the World Health Organisation has warned of a global crisis. 

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