Contraception and Rape?

[pumpkinbeast]

Ok you guys may not understand the situation.

There are large Catholic groups in Africa who, as good Catholics, won’t use condoms / contraception.

The problem is that AIDS is rampant. The rapes are one aspect but other aspects are protecting women in marriage because of the infidelity of their spouses… I’m not suggesting condoms are a cure all… and of course the “right” thing to do would be to tell them not fool around but there are strange cultural problems people are working through.

Anyway… it’s a bigger issue than this just. I’m not an expert though. When I saw this earlier today it just hit me as being inconsistent with the greater teachings. I can’t exactly put my finger on it but will keeping thinking when I have a chance.

Joe

Again, different issue. Now we’re talking about consensual sex between husband and wife. Unless they contracted it from their mother, these people, if ‘good Catholics’, would remain virgins until marriage, and then NOT cheat on their spouses, and thus not have AIDS. When people sin, there are consequences, and one of them is STDs/STIs. Sin is NEVER isolated, and so others are affected by their sin.
Condoms in this situation would reduce the chances of spreading AIDS, yes. But a husband and wife would be having sex many, many times over their lifetimes, and each time there is a CHANCE that the virus would get through. It would be, as a PP said, only a matter of time. Would a truly loving spouse want to subject their spouse to the risk of catching this deadly disease, just so they can have sex? I wouldn’t want to.
It’s an education and morality issue, not a condoms-needed one. I think that condoms might even make it worse, give people a false sense of security. Like you said, it is a big issue, and it’s going to take many years, decades, even, to resolve.

 

[chevalier]

Yes. The premise of the condom arguments is, “we’re gonna have sex anyway.”

 

[Just_Lurking]

Yup. But non-consensual marital intercourse doesn’t warrant contraception, while still dreadful.

I didn’t see anything in the USCCB statement that excluded marital rape from the types of rape for which contraception was allowed.

 

[ForwardProgress]

I think it is big time hypocritical. We are all told time and time again that the ends don’t justify the means, and that contraception via artificial means is intrinsically evil. Always wrong period. Granted, one can take a drug that has a contraceptive side effect for legit medical reasons, but after a rape, you would take such drug to prevent conception (contra-cept). How can this be licit?

I have all the compassion in the world for someone who has been raped, and the teaching makes common sense, but how we are preached to and brow beaten on contraception, and they allow this? Kinda like if they would allow condoms in Africa…

The Church itself has to be so careful, b/c one little change in something like this will cause a landslide effect in the area of sexual morality, where more and more stuff will be allowed because of one little chink in the armour.

 

[ForwardProgress]

Mainstream culture introduced birth control though, so if a woman takes birth control after being raped, let’s say, it won’t do anything if she is already pregnant from the rapist. This is why I’m confused.

Conception doesn’t happen instantly! It takes some time, and can take several days depending on which day of the cycle the woman is on…so if she hasn’t ovulated yet, the drugs will keep her from ovulating that cycle or delay it for days until the sperm die.

 

[baylee]

I think it is big time hypocritical. We are all told time and time again that the ends don’t justify the means, and that contraception via artificial means is intrinsically evil. Always wrong period. Granted, one can take a drug that has a contraceptive side effect for legit medical reasons, but after a rape, you would take such drug to prevent conception (contra-cept). How can this be licit?

I have all the compassion in the world for someone who has been raped, and the teaching makes common sense, but how we are preached to and brow beaten on contraception, and they allow this? Kinda like if they would allow condoms in Africa…

The Church itself has to be so careful, b/c one little change in something like this will cause a landslide effect in the area of sexual morality, where more and more stuff will be allowed because of one little chink in the armour.

I don’t see this as hypocritical or contradictory to Church teaching at all. The Church teaches no artificial contraception *within marriage * ( and no sex outside of marriage). During marriage, sexual acts are to be procreative and unitive. How is rape within marriage unitive? And if not unitive, why should we help it to be procreative? Are you suggesting that as long as the act happens between a husband and a wife that it’s okay?