Acceptable uses of birth control in the Catholic Church - health

[ryecroft]

I have yet to find a deffinate answer to this delima - I have had Bishops and Priests give me completely different answeres. I am Roman Catholic - I will have been married 9 years this Tuesday. My husband and I do not have children. Currently I am on birth control - the last time I was off BC, I wound up getting transfusions for loss of blood. I have been pregnant multiple times and have no trouble getting pregnant but I also have loin pain hematuria syndrome with stones (kidney disease) and when I get pregnant if the pregnancy last more than 3 months, I go hydronephrotic in some cases, wind up in horrible pain and my kidneys stop working as well as they can making me very ill - I have been in a situation of having to make the choice wether to continue with a pregnancy that probably would not make it and would leave me very ill if not all together dead - I don’t want to have to ever go through that decision again. What is the teaching regarding someone who will not only hurt a fetus from the medications taken to deal with pain and illness as well as becoming much more ill from getting pregnant. I’m also told I need to be on the BC because of it’s effect on decreasing the ovarian cyts as well as multiple fibroid tumors present. I am hoping that if my body is not taxed too badly that I might be able to try again with Doctor’s approval and help. NFP is NOT an option(does NOT work for me) as I have NEVER been regular and again can wind up loosing too much blood not only from menses but also from the loss I always have from my kidneys. I’m hoping that if I don’t get pregnant and really watch myself, my doctor might eventually give me the go ahead to try again. fI really have a hard time believing that I am commiting a sin using artificial contreception. I can’t seem to find anything deffinate regarding this. Thanks - feel free to message me.

 

[ForwardProgress]

I would say you have a valid medical reason to use a hormonal control (birth control pill). The sterility is an unavoidable side effect. IF you had no medical problems while not on the bcp, and just wanted to avoid conception for selfish reasons, I would say that is possible grave matter and should be brought forth in the sacrament of reconcilliation for pastoral advice.

 

[bbentrup]

There are theoretically acceptable cases where birth control is licit. However beyond that I doubt we can be of much help to you. What you need to do is find out the truth. Get your doctor and your priest or good canon lawyer to meet up with you to discuss everything, and the question should be settled once and for all. Short of that, you’ll probably have to ask them individually and hope you get the result right.