Catholic Teachings On Birth Control?

[Protestant101]

Hello Everyone

I think I understand the Catholic teachings on abortion now; but this has led me to ask something else. What do Catholics teach about birth control and why?

From a nursing/medical point of view, I have always thought it to be a good idea, depending on what we are talking about.

I understand so far that Catholics, atleast officially, do not support it. Is this true? Why?

 

[sidbrown]

Hello Everyone

I think I understand the Catholic teachings on abortion now; but this has led me to ask something else. What do Catholics teach about birth control and why?

From a nursing/medical point of view, I have always thought it to be a good idea, depending on what we are talking about.

I understand so far that Catholics, atleast officially, do not support it. Is this true? Why?

I think that Catholic teaching is the artificial birth control is a grave offense against God. If you commit the sin of artificial birth control with sufficient reflection and full consent of the will, and you do not repent, you could end up in eternal damnation in hell.

 

[thistle]

Hello Everyone

I think I understand the Catholic teachings on abortion now; but this has led me to ask something else. What do Catholics teach about birth control and why?

From a nursing/medical point of view, I have always thought it to be a good idea, depending on what we are talking about.

I understand so far that Catholics, atleast officially, do not support it. Is this true? Why?

catholic.com/library/Birth_Control.asp
catholic.com/thisrock/1996/9601frs.asp

 

[Protestant101]

catholic.com/library/Birth_Control.asp
catholic.com/thisrock/1996/9601frs.asp

Thankyou for these links; I appreciate the speedy reply!

I have to say after reading about the Catholic position on birth control; I am quite surprised. The basic tenets of same seem very harsh and unecessary. I don’t really understand right now why the Catholic teaching on this subject is the way it is.
I understand that many people use birth control to avoid other Christian principles of chastity, morality, and decency; but the Catholic belief on birth control seems pretty harsh. Why is it so wrong to have planned parent-hood, or to have birth control for other, medical reasons?

 

[Jermosh]

Thankyou for these links; I appreciate the speedy reply!

I have to say after reading about the Catholic position on birth control; I am quite surprised. The basic tenets of same seem very harsh and unecessary. I don’t really understand right now why the Catholic teaching on this subject is the way it is.
I understand that many people use birth control to avoid other Christian principles of chastity, morality, and decency; but the Catholic belief on birth control seems pretty harsh. Why is it so wrong to have planned parent-hood, or to have birth control for other, medical reasons?

Because the Church is True North, they are the moral compass that we should all attempt to align to. But very few do and we venture off course, but the Church is there again to align us at anytime.

Will God varie culpibility for useing ABCs? Not sure, it depends on the intent, and state of the individual, but the act is grave according to the True Compass.

 

[rep140]

I have to say after reading about the Catholic position on birth control; I am quite surprised. The basic tenets of same seem very harsh and unecessary. I don’t really understand right now why the Catholic teaching on this subject is the way it is.
I understand that many people use birth control to avoid other Christian principles of chastity, morality, and decency; but the Catholic belief on birth control seems pretty harsh. Why is it so wrong to have planned parent-hood, or to have birth control for other, medical reasons?

Most Catholics feel the same way. That’s probably why I have often heard priests preach about the evils of abortion, but never contraception.

 

[laomath]

Let me first say that although I have always been Catholic, I once had a real problem with the Church’s teaching on artificial birth control. I thought it was old, celebate men in Rome who didn’t have any understanding of what sex was about, so why should they tell me about my sex life?

However, something compelled me to find out WHY the Church teaches what it does, and slowly I opened my heart to the teaching of the Church.

Now, there are practical reasons to avoid artificial birth control as well as theological reasons. I will be happy to go into the practical reasons, but they are not the reasons the Church teaches against it, so I"ll stick to theological reasons.

There are lots of great resources on this, so I"ll try to keep it short.

Basically, when you give your self in marriage, you are giving yourself to your spouse in a way parallel to the way Christ gave Himself to the Church. (Why else would Christ be called the Bridegroom and we the Bride?) Christ’s love is ALWAYS free, total, faithful and fruitful (life-giving). When you give yourself to another in marriage, your vows are to love that person freely, totally, faithfully and fruitfully. When using contraception, you are not giving yourself to your spouse totally. You are keeping your fertility to yourself. Also, you are not giving yourself fruitfully, either. Christ’s love is always life-giving, not just sometimes. The marriage act is also life-giving and its our job to make sure we are not the ones who render it sterile - or break the life-giving component of the act.

In addition, contrary to popular belief, the Church is not down on sex. In fact, the reason its against artificial birth control (ABC) is because its so for sex. When we have sex, God is allowing us to participate in the most holy thing I can imagine - the forming of a new human being made in His image. When we use ABC, we are telling God that we don’t want to be a part of that. We are telling Him we know more than He knows and we are shutting him out of the one thing that separates our relationship with our spouse from our relationship with everyone else. If we want God to be a part of our daily lives, finances, etc, every part of our lives, why would we not want him in the act that defines our marriage?

I love this teaching. As I said, I was not always that way, but when I learned that the Church had a reason for this teaching, I learned that maybe she has a reason for other teachings as well.

 

[bpbasilphx]

\Why is it so wrong to have planned parent-hood, or to have birth control for other, medical reasons?\

**There is less to the organization Planned Parenthood and its founder Margaret Sanger than meets the eye.

Lev Bronstein, known to history as Leon Trotsky, met Sanger, and found her repulsive, even though they shared many of the same ideas.

Will this do for starters?**

 

[jbuttrey]

The leading catholic spokeswomen Janet Smith quoted abc leads to 50 percent divorce rates and having or wanting to have children is the number one factor in no divorce.

My personal opinion and experience is in line with this. I am 60 and came into the church to fight abc but found much more.

To be vulgar abc is a form of prostitution or slavery - chemical birth control is sacrificing the womans health for a lie of sexual freedom which finally destroys the marrige. Why, because the sexual act loses one of its main purposes and leads to disinterest and subconsciously the partners become interested in finding other partners where children might be a possibility.

 

[JohnCS]

If we purposely try to take the life-creating effects out of sex, then we change it from a beautiful God given gift into a self gratification pleasure hunt. Self gratification by it self is selfish. Using God’s gift for selfish reasons is a sin.

 

[Texas_Roofer]

*Union and Procreation
12. This particular doctrine, often expounded by the magisterium of the Church, is based on the inseparable connection, established by God, which man on his own initiative may not break, between the unitive significance and the procreative significance which are both inherent to the marriage act.

The reason is that the fundamental nature of the marriage act, while uniting husband and wife in the closest intimacy, also renders them capable of generating new life—and this as a result of laws written into the actual nature of man and of woman. And if each of these essential qualities, the unitive and the procreative, is preserved, the use of marriage fully retains its sense of true mutual love and its ordination to the supreme responsibility of parenthood to which man is called. We believe that our contemporaries are particularly capable of seeing that this teaching is in harmony with human reason.

…………It cannot be denied that in each case the married couple, for acceptable reasons, are both perfectly clear in their intention to avoid children and wish to make sure that none will result. But it is equally true that it is exclusively in the former case that husband and wife are ready to abstain from intercourse during the fertile period as often as for reasonable motives the birth of another child is not desirable. And when the infertile period recurs, they use their married intimacy to express their mutual love and safeguard their fidelity toward one another. In doing this they certainly give proof of a true and authentic love.

…Another effect that gives cause for alarm is that a man who grows accustomed to the use of contraceptive methods may forget the reverence due to a woman, and, disregarding her physical and emotional equilibrium, reduce her to being a mere instrument for the satisfaction of his own desires, no longer considering her as his partner whom he should surround with care and affection.*
Excerpts from PPVI 1968 HUMANAE VITAE vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae_en.html

There is a lot to the teaching so expect it to take a while, but you have to understand the concept that sexuality must remain bridled to obtain moral life. Unbridled sex will continue to lead to many moral deviations

hope that starts you off

 

[thistle]

Thankyou for these links; I appreciate the speedy reply!

I have to say after reading about the Catholic position on birth control; I am quite surprised. The basic tenets of same seem very harsh and unecessary. I don’t really understand right now why the Catholic teaching on this subject is the way it is.
I understand that many people use birth control to avoid other Christian principles of chastity, morality, and decency; but the Catholic belief on birth control seems pretty harsh. Why is it so wrong to have planned parent-hood, or to have birth control for other, medical reasons?

Planning can be done through NFP (natural family planning) which still leaves the couple open to life. Artificial birth control is forbidden.

You mention medical resaons but what do you mean? The use of condoms is forbidden to prevent disease. If husband or wife has a medical condition that can be passed to the other by sexual intercourse the answer is to abstain.

Women in certain circumstances can use the pill for medical reasons but not if the primary reason is to prevent pregnancy.

 

[chris_molter]

I think it’s important to point out that this is not a weird Catholic particularity. Or at least it wasn’t until the 1930s. ALL Christian churches and denominations forbade the use of birth control until the Anglicans did a 180.

 

[1ke]

Thankyou for these links; I appreciate the speedy reply!

I have to say after reading about the Catholic position on birth control; I am quite surprised. The basic tenets of same seem very harsh and unecessary. I don’t really understand right now why the Catholic teaching on this subject is the way it is.
I understand that many people use birth control to avoid other Christian principles of chastity, morality, and decency; but the Catholic belief on birth control seems pretty harsh. Why is it so wrong to have planned parent-hood, or to have birth control for other, medical reasons?

The Church teaches that couples who have a serious reason to avoid/postpone pregnancy may do so.

There are morals ways of spacing/avoiding and there are immoral ways. Just as there are moral ways of obtaining money (working) and immoral ways (stealing).

Abstaining periodically (natural family planning) or completely is the moral way to space/avoid. Contracepting or sterilizing oneself is the immoral way.

God designed intercourse to be both unitive and procreative. Each time the couple engages in the sexual act it must be the way in which God designed it-- unaltered. Contraception alters the act to attempt to sterilize it.

 

[PaulinVA]

P101 - the thing about the Church is that it has what I call an interlocking theology. All of the pieces fit together. By knowing what the Churches teaches about one thing, you can pretty much figure out what the position on another subject is.

As noted earlier, Christ is the Bridegroom to the Church, giving himself fully and totally in a life giving way. This mirrors the husband and wife. Just as Christ gives himself fully, so do the couple give themselves totally to each other. Rendering one person or both in the couple artificially infertile precludes the total giving, for something (fertility) is being held back.

If you believe this, theologically, then there can be no gay marriage (as an example), because it does not mirror Christ and the Church. There is no giving life, and there is no way to use the sexual facility correctly in a way that is order toward procreation.

The Catholic Church doesn’t just pick and choose what it wants to believe - it believes what has been passed down from the Apostles, and it all fits together.

 

[Rence]

Thankyou for these links; I appreciate the speedy reply!

I have to say after reading about the Catholic position on birth control; I am quite surprised. The basic tenets of same seem very harsh and unecessary. I don’t really understand right now why the Catholic teaching on this subject is the way it is.
I understand that many people use birth control to avoid other Christian principles of chastity, morality, and decency; but the Catholic belief on birth control seems pretty harsh. Why is it so wrong to have planned parent-hood, or to have birth control for other, medical reasons?

I hate answering these threads because people get so mean and nasty on them (and quite franky, unChristian) but I usually can’t resist answering someone with what I think is a legitimate question. So I’ll probably leave this thread after I answer you because I can’t stand the bickering in these threads. But here goes my answer because I didn’t see this covered (unless I missed it):

It is MOHO that the Catholic Church’s teaching about contraception is very harsh. But I do understand some of the reasons.

One of the most obvious is that many forms of ABC don’t just prevent conception, but lead to the destruction of a fertilized egg. The Catholic Church teaches that there is a soul involved from the moment of conception, and that a woman is pregnant at the moment of conception, which contradicts what the medical field teaches. The medical field generally teaches that a pregnancy isn’t a pregnancy until implantation. So it’s important that Catholics understand this distinction because in reading OC manufacturer’s literature, they will not understand the reasons why the Church forbids the use of OC. IMOHO, you need the whole picture to make an educated choice. So, some OC’s are better than others, but even with those that work best by preventing conception still might prevent implantation just by the nature of hormone actions on the body. Thus, the CC teaches that OC are a form of abortion and are very firm in their teaching. This concept I can understand.

I really don’t understand/agree with the rest of the rationales. And they don’t apply to me in my life anyway, so you won’t hear me whining about it too much. But I believe others have covered the other rationales for not using birth control in this thread so they should have answered your questions

 

[Red_Meg]

I used to take issue with this whole question, as well, and found some of the more traditional explanations regarding “unitive” and “procreative” to be unpersuasive.

One article that really did make a lot of sense to me, however, approached the issue from the “personalist” point of view, i.e. marital love as the act of giving oneself to one’s spouse. The formatting isn’t pretty, but it’s worth reading… By Fr. Cormac Burke, Married Love and Contraception.

Best,

Margaret