The Catholic rules on abortion are cruel and cause very great harm to women. A woman was raped in her home country. She left that country and sought asylum in Ireland. She discovered that she was pregnant and sought an abortion. Abortion is only possible in Ireland if the mother's life is at risk. She was suicidal, and the two psychiatrists needed agreed that her life was at risk. The third doctor, an obstretician, disagreed about the mental health status of the patient and so she could not get an abortion. She went on hunger strike, intending to kill herself or kill the unborn child. She was subjected to forced naso-gastric feeding to keep the fetus alive until it could be delivered. She agreed to a caesarian section at about 25 / 26 weeks.
This is 2014 in a developed European nation.
And this is under their "liberal" new law, introduced in 2014 after the death, in 2012, of Savita Halappanavar.
The Catholic church spent considerable effort to prevent contraception being made available in Ireland. This delayed the availability of contraception for years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contraception_in_the_Republic_...
This cruelty is a direct result of Catholic teachings.