Condoms vs. abortions

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would you be opposed to the use of a condom if the woman would use abortion as birth control otherwise?

basically, if a woman (or couple) would abort the baby should pregnancy occur, would you rather them have used a condom to avoid the pregnancy (and eventual murder) in the first place?
 
I would rather they just not have sex. Condoms are not a perfect method to prevent pregnancies.

Matt
 
No. Doing wrong to prevent another wrong is still wrong. Therefore it is unacceptable.
 
That seems to be a tough question, but it isn’t. You left out the third option - abstention.

That should actually be the first option, because both the other two are mortal sins, assuming that the people meet the criteria of committing them with full knowledge and deliberate consent. (CCC 1857.)

And, of course, there is also another option for an unwanted baby than abortion: adoption.

We are way too fond of taking the easy way out. But in this case, it’s “play now, pay later.” Neither artificial birth control nor abortion are without consequences, both here in this world and in the next.
 
Ruthie said:
That seems to be a tough question, but it isn’t. You left out the third option - abstention.
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i didn’t leave it out as for the hypothetical couple we are talking about it is not an option. this is a secular couple who does not share your morality (or mine for that matter).

we are saying that sex IS going to take place. do you want to prevent pregnancy or murder?
 
davidv said:
No. Doing wrong to prevent another wrong is still wrong. Therefore it is unacceptable.
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so is voting for a pro-choice candidate who is less pro-choice than the other candidate still wrong? should you not vote in that case since either way you are voting for some one who supports evil?

i am not trying to be argumentative, but the two responses i’ve basically gotten are yours (cut and dry and saying no, which is answering the question) and the one saying they should just abstain which was not the question.
 
bengal_fan said:
would you be opposed to the use of a condom if the woman would use abortion as birth control otherwise?

basically, if a woman (or couple) would abort the baby should pregnancy occur, would you rather them have used a condom to avoid the pregnancy (and eventual murder) in the first place?
Click to expand...
Such a couple is not interested in my opinion. So I might as well stand for what is right: Abstain. Moreover, not every act of intercourse results in pregnancy.
 
Ruthie said:
And, of course, there is also another option for an unwanted baby than abortion: adoption.

We are way too fond of taking the easy way out. But in this case, it’s “play now, pay later.” Neither artificial birth control nor abortion are without consequences, both here in this world and in the next.
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again, it is NOT an option for this couple. they WILL either use an condom or get an abortion. so which would you rather see them do?
 
mercygate said:
Such a couple is not interested in my opinion. So I might as well stand for what is right: Abstain.
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no, but such couples exist in the world and therefore your opinion does matter in a practical sense.
 
bengal_fan said:
would you be opposed to the use of a condom if the woman would use abortion as birth control otherwise?

basically, if a woman (or couple) would abort the baby should pregnancy occur, would you rather them have used a condom to avoid the pregnancy (and eventual murder) in the first place?
Click to expand...
While a condom would in a sense be a “lesser evil,” neither of these actions can be recommended. It’s like asking, which should you put in your child’s soup for lunch: drain cleaner, or arsenic?

Hopefully your answer is “neither.”
 
“again, it is NOT an option for this couple. they WILL either use an condom or get an abortion. so which would you rather see them do?”

I would wish them to either abstain or have the baby. I can not wish them to sin. That in itself would be sinful. Read my sig line. Real love is not easy. If it were, then there was no need for the Passion, and we will all go right to Heaven when we die with no need to atone for our sins.
 
bengal_fan said:
so you view the prevention as pregnancy as the same as murder?
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In the sense that the method decribed to do so is a moral evil and moral evils are an offense against God, yes they are same, just not equal.
 
mercygate said:
Such a couple is not interested in my opinion. So I might as well stand for what is right: Abstain. Moreover, not every act of intercourse results in pregnancy.
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Quite right. The fact that someone disagrees with what is right is no reason to compromise what is right.

– Mark L. Chance.
 
N.B. the interesting statement our father among the saints, the great Church Doctor John Chrysostom made in A.D. 391 [Homilies on Romans 24]: “Why do you sow where the field is eager to destroy the fruit, where there are medicines of sterility [oral contraceptives], where there is murder before birth? You do not even let a harlot remain only a harlot, but you make her a murderess as well … Indeed, it is something worse than murder, and I do not know what to call it; for she does not kill what is formed but prevents its formation. What then? Do you condemn the gift of God and fight with his [natural] laws?…Yet such turpitude…the matter still seems indifferent to many men—even to many men having wives. In this indifference of the married men there is greater evil filth; for then poisons are prepared, not against the womb of a prostitute, but against your injured wife. Against her are these innumerable tricks.” Cited @ catholic.com/thisrock/2005/0509frs.asp.
 
jmcrae said:
While a condom would in a sense be a “lesser evil,” neither of these actions can be recommended. It’s like asking, which should you put in your child’s soup for lunch: drain cleaner, or arsenic?

Hopefully your answer is “neither.”
Click to expand...
👍
davidv said:
In the sense that the method decribed to do so is a moral evil and moral evils are an offense against God, yes they are same, just not equal.
Click to expand...
👍

I see two issues in the OPs question here:
  1. Which is worse, ABC or abortion.
  2. The avoidance of the third option, as has been mentioned,
    abstainance.
Nonetheless, this question has merit. In the real world, there are people who weigh only the first two options. Morally, they are both offensive to God. In terms of degree, as davidv points out, abortion takes the life of an innocent. Use of a condom, while a serious act of contraception, does not.

Only the Almighty knows whether or not the couple would have conceived or not, say, if the condom failed. They may have used it during a non-fertile period, which doesn’t mitigate the contraceptive aspect, but could certainly be an argument (not a ***valid ***one, methinks) for the condom use not really being contraceptive in the first place, since there would have been no conception anyway.
 
bengal_fan said:
no, but such couples exist in the world and therefore your opinion does matter in a practical sense.
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A couple threatening abortion if not permitted to use contraception uses their not-yet-concieved-child as a hostage. We probably can’t reason with hostageless-potential-hostage-takers, but we might protect the rest of society from them. Increased availability of contraception leads to an overall increase of sex outside of marriage because people think they can’t get pregnant; abortions follow when–surprise– condoms fails. This couple may plan to abort regardless, but there are other couples who would choose abstinance if they realized that sex can get a woman pregnant.
 
bengal_fan said:
i didn’t leave it out as for the hypothetical couple we are talking about it is not an option. this is a secular couple who does not share your morality (or mine for that matter).

we are saying that sex IS going to take place. do you want to prevent pregnancy or murder?
Click to expand...
Your hypothetical situation is looking for a moral decision when one cannot properly be made. It would be like asking if it is morally better to gouge someone’s eyes out or simply kill him.

Since both contraception and abortion are intrinsically evil, neither can be substituted as a moral good for any reason.

That argument is exactly what planned parenthood espouses. Kids are going to have sex anyway, so how can we best minimize the consequences. I teach an 8th grade religion class. I told the kids they should be insulted by a society that holds them in such low regard that they are perceived as being incapable of making desisions that serve their best interests. I asked, How many of you smoke cigarettes? No one raised their hands.

Well, if they are smart enough to avoid smoking, why are they so dumb when it comes to sex?

Getting back to your hypothetical problem, a good Catholic must reject both options and work to change the hearts of those that misuse their sexual gifts. prevent pregnancy or murder? How about preventing the heartbreak that comes with facing these complications?
 
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