Birth Control and Abstinance

[Aleii]

here is another quote by Fr. Serpa to help clarify. This post refers to a person whose spouse is using non-medical-use birth control against their wishes.

Hi,

You need to know that the Church does allow you to engage in sexual relations with a spouse who is using birth control. The dissenting spouse must be the one who is using it and not you. Also you must continue to educate and encourage the spouse according to the Church’s teachings on this matter.

I encourage you to read and have your wife read “Good News About Sex and Marriage” by Christopher West. It’s available through shopcatholic.com or by phone 888 291 8000.

Fr. Vincent Serpa, O.P.

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=135215&highlight=pill+abstinence

Below is another apologist’s quote saying the same thing.

So long as your wife knows of your opposition, so long as you are not actively contracepting yourself (e.g., using a condom), and so long as you are continuing to pray for her conversion and educate her (at appropriate times) about the moral problem of birth control, you are doing all that is required of you. You need not abstain from marital relations with her in order to receive the Eucharist.

You cannot “stop” your wife from contracepting if she is adamant about doing so. Even God does not “stop” us from sinning because he respects our free will, even though our sins grieve him deeply.

If your wife is open to information on birth control from a Protestant perspective, I recommend a couple of the books listed below. The Vatican document and Catholic resources are for your further research on the subject.

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=70098&highlight=wife+condom

 

[Aleii]

Below is an apologist’s quote about the morning after pill in terms of rape, if this also helps answer the earlier posted question.

Because rape is a forcible sexual assault on a woman, moral theologians have argued that it is permissible for a woman to defend herself against a potential conception when she has been raped. These theologians contend that she may licitly receive those treatments that would prevent conception from occurring, but that no treatment that would remove or destroy the fertilized egg or would prevent implantation of a fertilized egg would be morally licit. In short, the assertion is that a woman who has suffered rape may seek to prevent conception, but she cannot abort an already-conceived child.

Recommended reading:

Emergency Contraception and Rape: A Catholic Perspective
by the Massachusetts Catholic Conference

Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services
by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

The “Morning After” Pill by John B. Shea, M.D.

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=25127

 

[mattheus09]

Below is an apologist’s quote about the morning after pill in terms of rape, if this also helps answer the earlier posted question.

You are wrong. Read these articles. airmaria.com/2007/10/09/father-peter-damian-fehlner-std-ways-in-on-plan-b-in-connecticut/
airmaria.com/2007/10/20/father-peter-damian-fehlner-std-weighs-in-on-plan-b-in-connecticut-continued/

 

[Aleii]

You are wrong. Read these articles. airmaria.com/2007/10/09/father-peter-damian-fehlner-std-ways-in-on-plan-b-in-connecticut/
airmaria.com/2007/10/20/father-peter-damian-fehlner-std-weighs-in-on-plan-b-in-connecticut-continued/

You know, not once have I offered an opinion here; I have only quoted apologists from this very site to try to help clear up confusion of the issues. I have been quoting all/large chunks of surrounding text as well as giving the link, so you can not say I have been quoting these out of context either.

It is not for me to determine whether the priest you quoted is correct, or whether the USCCB is.

I look forward to hearing Fr. Serpa’s reply to your query.

 

[peary1]

I have been an an orthodox Catholic Priest that if a women chose to use the pill she would have to abstain from relations because, not only of the possible aborting effect, but also because of the contraceptive effect. He said double effect would only apply if the pill were used to save the life of the woman because the “good effect must be equal to or greater than the bad effect”. I have heard other people say that this is not true. Is what the priest said in accordance with Catholic teaching?

**It’s according to Orthodox belief, for the most part. Ethically, it sounds right too, as far as the Church is concerned. The Church has never stated that being on the pill for medical reasons is wrong. He is quite correct in stating that the coupole would have to abstain from sex because of the reasons he stated. I am not sure as to what he is saying with regard to the “double effect”. That confuses me.

 

[seekerz]

**It’s according to Orthodox belief, for the most part. Ethically, it sounds right too, as far as the Church is concerned. The Church has never stated that being on the pill *for medical reasons ***is wrong. He is quite correct in stating that the coupole would have to abstain from sex because of the reasons he stated. I am not sure as to what he is saying with regard to the “double effect”. That confuses me.

How confusing can it get? The Catholic Church allows people to use the pill when necessary for medical reasons and does not require abstinence.

There is no sound evidence that the rate of abortions on the pill is greater than the natural rate of abortions i.e. the risk of abortion on the pill is mainly theoretical. In that case, why make things harder for people than they have to be?

If a couple feels more comfortable abstaining, that’s their choice and vice versa. Those who throw abstinence around as the solution to just about every reproductive dilemma seem never to have read the admonition to spouses not to keep themselves from each other except for limited periods. Like everything else in the Bible, there’s a reason for this warning.

 

[Annette0723]

I have tortured myself over this issue as I am about to be married and take the pill for health reasons (saw an NFP only doctor who could not help me). But I did contact the National Catholic Bioethics Center and was advised that the current state of the evidence is that the combined birth control pill is not an abortifacient and therefore it is morally permissible to take it for necessary health reasons. The evidence is not absolute, but in their opinion there is a “reasonable conviction based on the best scientific evidence.” Double effect would not apply. But the scientific evidence now indicates that the bad effect is very unlikely and perhaps non-existent. They have advised me to continue to check on a regular basis to see if more studies have been done on this subject.
So I’ve decided to go with this. One of the replies I got from them suggested that while it is not required, those of a tender conscience could also try to practice NFP (which is obviously difficult since the pill obscures those signs). We might pick a part of the month to abstain because I really believe NFP is good for a marriage and I’m sorry we will be missing out on that. Hope this helps.

 

[Marc_Aupiais]

I have tortured myself over this issue as I am about to be married and take the pill for health reasons (saw an NFP only doctor who could not help me). But I did contact the National Catholic Bioethics Center and was advised that the current state of the evidence is that the combined birth control pill is not an abortifacient and therefore it is morally permissible to take it for necessary health reasons. The evidence is not absolute, but in their opinion there is a “reasonable conviction based on the best scientific evidence.” Double effect would not apply. But the scientific evidence now indicates that the bad effect is very unlikely and perhaps non-existent. They have advised me to continue to check on a regular basis to see if more studies have been done on this subject.
So I’ve decided to go with this. One of the replies I got from them suggested that while it is not required, those of a tender conscience could also try to practice NFP (which is obviously difficult since the pill obscures those signs). We might pick a part of the month to abstain because I really believe NFP is good for a marriage and I’m sorry we will be missing out on that. Hope this helps.

Helped allot, with gaining knowledge, it does seem a tender issue, but I enjoy your method (p.s. the poster who suggested NFP for tender consciences was me, but I enjoy your method, and did not know that research). I am glad I am not in the given situation.