I hate to post and run, but it took me a while to get through all the posts in this thread. On a personal note:
I used to be a Catholic who thought ABC was OK. I thought this for years. As I slowly learned more and more, however, my heart started to change, thank God.
My marriage is now an NFP marriage and we do not look at a period of abstinence as a denial of one another. In fact, it’s quite the opposite - it’s an act of self-giving love. When we do abstain (and only for good reason) I well up with love for my husband because I see how much he respects me and I, in turn, have an enormous amount of respect for him. He is an incredible, incredible man. He wasn’t even Catholic when we started using NFP, but he was, by the grace of God, all for it. I was using the pill at the time, and I think all the ill health effects that hormone-based ABC can result in worried him.
Throwing away my birth control pills was, strangely, one of the hardest things I have ever done. BUT, when someone on a message board said to me, “You are in danger of losing your soul,” I knew they were right, so I tossed them out. I am so, so glad I did. I actually feel physically better now that I am not on them and my marriage is stronger than ever.