Less than a century ago, it was not uncommon to see Catholic families with 8 - 10 children. These days, the average Catholic family in the U.S. has two children (http://cara.georgetown.edu/MarriageReport.pdf), mirroring the birth rate of non-Catholics.  What happened to shrink the size of the average Catholic family?  Studies regarding the use of contraceptives suggest that between roughly 75% (http://epublications.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1025&context=nursing_fac)  and 98% of Catholic women (http://www.guttmacher.org/media/nr/2011/04/13/index.html) have used birth control at some point during their reproductive years.  The fall from 8-child families to 2-child families seems to legitimize the results of these studies, unless we are to believe that there is something magical in the tap water Catholic women are drinking.

If anywhere from 75% - 98% of Catholic women (and by default, their husbands) use birth control, that constitutes a huge majority.  If such a large majority of Catholics reject church teaching about this issue, can it still be considered a Catholic belief at all?  Why should U.S. citizens - Catholic or not - be subject to the demands of the church regarding healthcare providers and birth control when it is clear that even most Catholics reject church laws about birth control?  If most of the church's followers reject it, is it even really still a Catholic belief at all?