I think it is unfair to slag off the whole of the Catholic Church as women-hating. Also wickedstepmum, the story you gave amounts to rape, if the woman was paralysed and gave birth to 6 subsequent children, this was not consensual sex (or perhaps it was, how are we to know?) and the Church does not condone rape. You cannot blame the church for what went on in that relationship.
The Church gives guidelines, it is up to you whether or not you follow them. I am a practising catholic, yet I use contraception and I was not a virgin when I married. I see these as my choices, yet I respect the Church for their views too, they are entitled to them. No-one can force you to accept them however.
Now I really don't want to get into a debate about the rights and wrongs of the Catholic Church. But as far as giving up your life for your unborn child, well as far as anyone knows, the woman had cancer and was refusing treatment, she wasn't committing suicide. If her cancer was that advanced, chances are she would have died sooner or later anyway. Maybe she just wanted to give her unborn baby the best chance in life. Comapare this to the story of the woman who performed a caesarean on herself when her baby got into difficulties. She too, had another 5 children I think. She thought she was going to die, but she was determined to get her baby out and save it's life. Was she wrong too? Were her actions selfish in possibly denying her other children a mother? Or was she acting out of motherly instinct? She survived and so did her child, so happy ending there.
You know, this smacks very much of people judging others. We do not know what was going through that poor woman's mind. We do not know how much she might have agonised over that decision and under what circumstances. Yet we think we have the right to condemn her. I think not.
As for the Church, you can think it woman-hating, and bigotist and all the rest. But my experiences tell me differently and the Church doesn't need me to defend it.