Birth control

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SwizzleStick said:
Hubby and I use NFP, as do many other couples on CAF. You are not alone in following Church teachings.
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My wife and I have been married for 8 years and have 4 children. She stopped using the pill when she enrolled in RCIA and we were married the week after she was Baptized on the Easter Vigil.
 
Be careful. There are many, many small families fully in line with Catholic teaching, yet have one or two children. There may be a problem with fertility or like me, shouldn’t have more children.

I understand I’m one of those with two children who don’t believe in BC. It’s just harder to tell ones position when one has fewer children.
 
Angelstar said:
I didn’t think Natural Family Planning was a bad thing. In fact, I thought it was encouraged as opposed to birth control.
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The whole reason why BC is evil is because one is subordinating the primary purpose of marriage and the marital act (the begetting of children and furthering of God’s Church) to the secondary purposes (mutual self-giving, pleasure, etc…).
It doesn’t use anything artificial to prevent a pregnancy and its my understanding that its practiced with the acceptance of a pregnancy should it happen inspite of efforts to space pregnancies apart.
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I don’t think God really cares if one uses natural or artificial means to reject His will and the gifts he wants to give. I think rejecting His Will is evil no matter how one does it.
Not only can we judge by our cycles when we are least likely to become pregnant, we also are able to judge by our cycles when we are most likely to become pregnant. So we can use NFP in both ways.
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I agree, to use it to help get kids is not wrong since one is trying to beget children and further God’s Church. This means that one is subjecting themselves to God’s will in a more proactive way.
 
Angelstar said:
I think its a good thing for women to know their cycles. If anything should be out of the norm, then its all the sooner that we know to seek medical care. Not only can we judge by our cycles when we are least likely to become pregnant, we also are able to judge by our cycles when we are most likely to become pregnant. So we can use NFP in both ways.
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That having been said, please be careful with sweeping generalizations. There are many married women who cannot predict their cycles due to such things as PCOS, which may make conception much, much more difficult, or result in that surprise blessing because they were told they would are most likely infertile.

Also, be charitable to those who have been put on hormones (such as the pill) due to medical reasons outside of birth control.

A woman in both instances I have mentioned is not sinning.
 
Miserissima,

Does the Church allow a married woman to use birth control pills for medical reasons? I am asking because I have read that BC pills are abortifacients, and we know live begins at conception. Therefore, how could taking such a risk be allowed? I do not mean to judge anyone on here. I just want to know what the Church teaches in this regard. Thanks.
 
SourGrape said:
Miserissima,

Does the Church allow a married woman to use birth control pills for medical reasons? I am asking because I have read that BC pills are abortifacients, and we know live begins at conception. Therefore, how could taking such a risk be allowed? I do not mean to judge anyone on here. I just want to know what the Church teaches in this regard. Thanks.
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Absolutely. Father Serpa has reiterated this on Catholic Answers Live a lot.

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Humane Vitae
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  1. The Church, on the contrary, does not at all consider illicit the use of those therapeutic means truly necessary to cure diseases of the organism, even if an impediment to procreation, which may be foreseen, should result therefore, provided such impediment is not, for whatever motive, directly willed. **
Also, check out the many threads in AAA, such as this particular one:

**
Recommended Reading:
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Is it o.k. to take birth control pills for health reasons?
Is it okay to follow my doctors advice?
**
 
SourGrape said:
Fr. Hogan states that NFP doctors have told him that “there is almost no medical condition for which the pill is the only effective treatment.”
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I’ll take direct references from what the Church has published (such as Humane Vitae) over the word-of-mouth editorials from anyone, including a priest, any day.
 
Yes, but as Fr. Hogan from EWTN pointed out, a married woman taking the pill for medical reasons should then try her best to not engage in the marital act when she is fertile so as to avoid as much as possible aborting a baby. I also read on EWTN from an NFP consultant that using the pill to treat polycystic ovary syndrome is not the best treatment for a woman and, in fact, can worsen her problem or cause more.

Here’s the link I’m referring to:
ewtn.com/vexperts/showresult.asp?RecNum=311754&Forums=0&Experts=0&Days=2002&Author=&Keyword=birth+control+pills&pgnu=1&groupnum=0&record_bookmark=21&ORDER_BY_TXT=ORDER+BY+ReplyDate+DESC&start_at=

I am just so weary about condoning the use of the pill for any sexually active woman since it can indeed abort a new life.
 
Isaac_Jogues said:
I agree with everyone here, Birth Control/Natural Family Planning are very evil under any circumstances
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I hope you aren’t meaning to say my choice was evil. I delayed taking synthetic hormones (which were marketed as an “oral contraceptive” or “birth control”, but it was never my intention to control my having a baby). Then, my problem got SO HORRIBLY worse. So, the doctor said to take synthetic hormones.

My problem is sooo much more under control, even now that the synthetic hormones have completely passed out of my bloodstream. My life has improved because the synthetic hormones (BC) got my condition under control.

I do agree that people should not be using synthetic hormones as contraceptives. Same with condoms, diaphragms, Plan B, etc.
 
LynnGM said:
I hope you aren’t meaning to say my choice was evil. I delayed taking synthetic hormones (which were marketed as an “oral contraceptive” or “birth control”, but it was never my intention to control my having a baby). Then, my problem got SO HORRIBLY worse. So, the doctor said to take synthetic hormones.

My problem is sooo much more under control, even now that the synthetic hormones have completely passed out of my bloodstream. My life has improved because the synthetic hormones (BC) got my condition under control.

I do agree that people should not be using synthetic hormones as contraceptives. Same with condoms, diaphragms, Plan B, etc.
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He isn’t just saying that Birth Control pills are evil, but so is NFP.

His take is that you should have as many children as you can. If it is bad for you, you know, could kill you, you have two choices. You can abstain forever or you can get pregnant and die. :rolleyes:
 
Hi SourGrape,

I just re-read my last post and sincerely apologize if I sounded brusque in my answer.

In Christ,
Mis
 
SourGrape said:
Hi Walter,

You are not alone…

Just a side note: All BC, excluding condoms, are abortificants.
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What a wonderful relationship with God that you and your husband have. My wife and I have been married much longer and we are much older but don’t nearly have the relationship you and your hausband have. It’s very sad and tough To overcome but we are trying.
 
Walter,

It’s a blessing and a gift from our Lord. Trust me, without Him, I am as horrid a sinner as they come and I know that from my own history. My husband and I are both converts.

Keep praying. Keep hope! Our Lord is with you.
 
LynnGM said:
Well, as someone who took BC for a year and a half as a LAST RESORT to a health problem, I will share my story. My husband and I, who were engaged at the time, sought the advice of three priest. We did were very careful about having intercourse, and just didn’t do the “act” all that much while we were married and I was on BC. Or, for me, hormone regulation.

(Last week, the lady in front of me at the pharmacy purchased Plan B. I nearly cried. We prayed for her and her baby. )
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I’m in the same boat. I literally cannot function without it, but have been told by my priest (who is very orthodox and a Norbertine) that it is fine under principle of double effect. I had always assumed for whatever reason that I could never marry because of it, and so right after I started dating for the first time since high school. I’ve met an awesome man, and we are courting seriously and have even discussed marriage a little bit. He knows of my situation (ie will never be able to give him biological children, but he is very very open to adoption, as am I)

My confessor and I look at it as a blessing in disguise because I feel called to adopt slightly older children who will not as easily get homes.
 
Skatepixie,

Thanks for your honesty. 🙂 I will leep you in my thoughts and prayers. Adoption is a blessing to parents and children. 😃
 
LynnGM said:
Skatepixie,

Thanks for your honesty. 🙂 I will leep you in my thoughts and prayers. Adoption is a blessing to parents and children. 😃
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And thank you for your prayers. I believe in honesty because you never know when someone else might be in the same situation but afraid to talk or whatever.
 
CountryMom27 said:
Yes, and when your husband insists on it and you don’t want to.
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You kinda have to be one the same page on the BC issue to be happily married. How do you handle his eagerness?

This brings up another issue for those who didn’t engage in premarital sex. The BC issue never came up before marriage; rather it came up only after my wife decided that the risk of an unhealthy baby was too great at her age and 2 kids were enough… At first BC to me was an invitation for more intimacy which in time became unwelcomed to her. That’s when I realize that I (we) was (were) being selfish and I realized and believed BC was the cause of the problem. Any one else experience something similar?
 
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