Can I date a non-Catholic on birth control?

[ValPal]

Your next paragraph doesn’t make any sense. Are you saying that a woman practicing NFP will have a miscarriage when a baby is created “by accident?” No, she will get pregnant, since there is nothing changing the condition of her uterus to make it unfriendly to implantation.

I recommend you familiarize yourself with breakthrough ovulation. Basically, an egg is released off-cycle, and if fertilized doesn’t implant because of the unfriendly environment in the uterus. The same exact thing occurs when an egg is released when one is on the pill. The hormones that are in birth control pills simply cause the body to recreate the infertile period.

By the way, my source for my statistics actually comes from a Catholic study that was posted here on the forum. That wasn’t the point of the study, but it was interesting that the data posted demonstrated that non-implantation due to breakthrough ovulation was slightly higher when using NFP.

 

[SonCatcher]

It’s not my position; it’s a reiteration of the Church’s position.

Do you have a source for your assertion?

There is a logical difference between the two different reasons for non-implantation:

Non-implantation due to contraceptive use results in unjust, preventable death. This is unjust because the death was a result of the contraceptive user’s intent to not accept a child. Non-implantation that is totally unintended (because the couple are being open to life) is an accidental, unpreventable death.

When someone dies a preventable death, those who could have prevented it bear at least some moral guilt (even if they are immune to legal guilt). When someone dies an unpreventable death, no one bears any moral guilt.

 

[mtbender]

anyone hear of the principle of double effect?

Maybe once or twice…

And under that principle, would irregular periods (the case in the OP) meet the conditions? More specifically condition 4?

I am no M.D… but it doesn’t seem it would.

 

[ValPal]

Do you have a source for your assertion?

I’m not sure which assertation you are referring to. If it regards the use of hormones for medical purposes, I’ve already cited it in post #11.

There is a logical difference between the two different reasons for non-implantation

I understand all that all to well. I’ll refrain from the discussing the logical inconsistencies since that it not the point of this post.

 

[SonCatcher]

I’m not sure which assertation you are referring to. If it regards the use of hormones for medical purposes, I’ve already cited it in post #11.

I understand all that all to well. I’ll refrain from the discussing the logical inconsistencies since that it not the point of this post.

Sorry. I forgot that the premise of this thread was involving a presumptively licit use of hormones (though the OP was uncertain of that). You were responding to an objection to your post #29.

If we limit ourselves to licit use of hormones, you are, of course, correct.

 

[Listener]

If couples have to abstain when the wife is on the pill for medical reasons, then it follows that they would have to abstain if she takes almost any other pill. Have you ever read those sheets that come with prescription drugs? An amazing number of them say, “If you’re pregnant or may become pregnant, talk to your doctor before taking this medication.”

There are many drugs out there that could cause problems with a fertilized egg. Also, it is a well-known fact that pregnant women shouldn’t drink alcohol.

So it seems to me, following this logic, that a woman practicing NFP shouldn’t drink alcohol. She might have ovulated at the wrong time, and maybe the alcohol would harm the fertilized egg that is trying to attach.

If you read Father Serpa’s answers in the “Ask an Apologist” section, it is okay for a wife to take the pill for medical reasons, and she is not required to abstain.