Is Birth Control Valid in certain circumstances?

[youoldbum]

We are veering way off the OP, so this will be my last post, but I do want to note that it isn’t just “some Catholic theologians.” The USCCB statement makes it clear that there is room for use of hormone therapy to delay/derail ovulation.

I think the question the PAL is answering, is “Can I use the morning-after pill? It is advertised as preventing pregnancy by delaying ovulation and messing up the sperm, so is it a legitimate ‘treatment’ in case of rape?” and the PAL is saying, “No, the advertising isn’t true-- it works primarily by preventing implantation, so it’s the same as a very early abortion and isn’t ever acceptable.”

The USCCB comes along a little bit later and says, “Yes, that’s the primary mechanism, which is awful and not okay and never acceptable for a Catholic, but now we know a bit more-- if very carefully timed to be used before ovulation could possibly have occurred, then a woman can dodge the abortive effects and prevent ovulation, which is a licit way of preventing pregnancy in the case of rape.”

So I’m going with the bishops. I think we have room to legitimately disagree here. It would be nice to see further (name removed by moderator)ut from the PAL which acknowledges the timing issue.

The USCCB has no teaching authority or permission from Rome to interpret or establish any norms on faith and morals. This is very confusing for most US Catholics. You are not “safe” from the consequences of sin, simply because you want to defer to someone else who “said it was ok”.

stopmandatumabuse.com/drupal/USCCBAuthority

(FTR, were I to be raped and know that I was fertile and had a couple days before I ovulated, I would use the hormone therapy. Were I on my peak day, when a) I would be most likely to conceive, but b)would be within hours of ovulation and therefore out of the safe window, I would not use the hormone therapy. It is always my desire to be obedient to the Church.)

 

[youoldbum]

The USCCB has no teaching authority or permission from Rome to interpret or establish any norms on faith and morals. This is very confusing for most US Catholics. You are not “safe” from the consequences of sin, simply because you want to defer to someone else who “said it was ok”.

stopmandatumabuse.com/drupal/USCCBAuthority

 

[Question12345]

Sorry to use an inappropriate posting style, but it is extremely frustrating to me that people like those on this site as well as people I know, are willing to hand over all their personal decisions to doctrine. I know someone who is 50 years old, poor, moved here form Mexico, can barely afford the two kids she has, cleans houses for a living, wants to please her husband, but is Catholic so won’t use birth control. She has miscarried several times and is pregnant again. Does this make ANY sense?
P.S. at your suggestion, I went to the Creighton Model (NaPRO) website and there is only information about Getting pregnant – not not getting pregnant. God (not a church, but God himself) has given every woman reproductive rights, the right to control her own body with her own brain.

 

[Chrono13]

Sorry to use an inappropriate posting style, it is extremely frustrating to me that people like those on this site as well as people I know, are willing to hand over all their personal decisions to doctrine. I know someone who is 50 years old, poor, moved here form Mexico, can barely afford the two kids she has, cleans houses for a living, wants to please her husband, but is Catholic so won’t use birth control. She has miscarried several times and is pregnant again. Does this make ANY sense?

For Roman Catholics, using birth control is morally unacceptable. While I have an issue with this prohibition (on theological basis) I have utmost respect to those who suffer because of their beliefs. This someone who is 50, to me is a true believer and has proven the solidness of her belief. I know she doesn’t have much from my praise, but many things can be learned from her heroism.

 

[Question12345]

Really? What kind of heroism do you display in your life?
I think you may be confusing heroism with submission.

 

[SwizzleStick]

Sorry to use an inappropriate posting style, but it is extremely frustrating to me that people like those on this site as well as people I know, are willing to hand over all their personal decisions to doctrine. I know someone who is 50 years old, poor, moved here form Mexico, can barely afford the two kids she has, cleans houses for a living, wants to please her husband, but is Catholic so won’t use birth control. She has miscarried several times and is pregnant again. Does this make ANY sense?
P.S. at your suggestion, I went to the Creighton Model (NaPRO) website and there is only information about Getting pregnant – not not getting pregnant. God (not a church, but God himself) has given every woman reproductive rights, the right to control her own body with her own brain.

What would make sense is for the woman and her husband to practice NFP to avoid, since it appears they have serious motives for doing that.

Natural Family Planning - Serious Motives
ewtn.com/expert/expertfaqframe.asp?source=/vexperts/conference.htm

As far as going to the Creighton Model site and not seeing anything about avoidance, I suggest you look again. It is certainly there. In fact, I’ll post a couple of excerpts from the site.

“…The CrMS relies upon the standardized observation and charting of biological markers that are essential to a woman’s health and fertility. These 'biomarkers” tell the couple when they are naturally fertile and infertile, allowing the couple to use the system either to achieve or to avoid pregnancy. These biomarkers also telegraph abnormalities in a woman’s health. The CrMS allows a woman to unravel the mysteries of the menstrual cycle…
…
…
…In the CrMS, fertility is observed as a part of health, not disease. It is a system that is specifically not a natural contraceptive. Rather, it is a true method of family planning . . . a method that can be used in two ways, to achieve, as well as, avoid pregnancy. These principles make this system distinctly different from contraception, artificial or natural."…

Above excerpted from home page: creightonmodel.com/

"Effectiveness of the System

The effectiveness of the Creighton Model System has been extensively studied and a meta-analysis of the system incorporating the data from five separate studies into a composite which includes 1,876 couples over 17,130 couple months of use has been published. These studies all utilizing life-table analysis and an objective assessment of pregnancies, reported the range of the method-effectiveness to avoid pregnancy at the 12th ordinal month to be 98.7 to 99.8 (with the five-study composite 99.5). The use-effectiveness to avoid pregnancy for the same time period ranged from 94.6 to 97.9 and was shown to continually improve over the 14 years of the studies (the five-study composite was 96.8) (Table 15-28). "…

Above excerpted from: creightonmodel.com/effectiveness.htm

As far controlling her own body and reproductive rights with her brain, learning NFP gives a woman the abiity to do exactly that without using chemicals or other artificial means.

 

[Chrono13]

Really? What kind of heroism do you display in your life?
I think you may be confusing heroism with submission.

I am irrelevant. I simply praised a woman which stands behind her belief. If she believes that submission is important, and is ready to suffer for that submission, she indeed is a heroine of her faith.

 

[Question12345]

Is the birth control info (er, ah whatever we allowed to call it) in Spanish?
RE; “I’m irrelevant”) It is interesting that you’re fine with a woman suffering to prop up a doctrine – doctrine first, people last?

 

[SwizzleStick]

Is it in Spanish?

It would be helpful for you to use the quote feature so we know who your posts address and what you are talking about. Of course that doesn’t apply if a general comment to everyone is being added to the discussion so that anyone can answer. It isn’t clear to me (and maybe others) who you are addressing and what you are talking about with “Is it in Spanish?” above.

 

[Chrono13]

What would make sense is for the woman and her husband to practice NFP to avoid, since it appears they have serious motives for doing that.

Natural Family Planning - Serious Motives
ewtn.com/expert/expertfaqframe.asp?source=/vexperts/conference.htm

As far as going to Creighton site and not seeing anything about avoidance, I suggest you look again. It is certainly there. In fact, I’ll post a couple of excerpts from the site.

“…The CrMS relies upon the standardized observation and charting of biological markers that are essential to a woman’s health and fertility. These 'biomarkers” tell the couple when they are naturally fertile and infertile, allowing the couple to use the system either to achieve or to avoid pregnancy. These biomarkers also telegraph abnormalities in a woman’s health. The CrMS allows a woman to unravel the mysteries of the menstrual cycle…
…
…
…In the CrMS, fertility is observed as a part of health, not disease. It is a system that is specifically not a natural contraceptive. Rather, it is a true method of family planning . . . a method that can be used in two ways, to achieve, as well as, avoid pregnancy. These principles make this system distinctly different from contraception, artificial or natural."…

Above excerpted from home page: creightonmodel.com/

"Effectiveness of the System

The effectiveness of the Creighton Model System has been extensively studied and a meta-analysis of the system incorporating the data from five separate studies into a composite which includes 1,876 couples over 17,130 couple months of use has been published. These studies all utilizing life-table analysis and an objective assessment of pregnancies, reported the range of the method-effectiveness to avoid pregnancy at the 12th ordinal month to be 98.7 to 99.8 (with the five-study composite 99.5). The use-effectiveness to avoid pregnancy for the same time period ranged from 94.6 to 97.9 and was shown to continually improve over the 14 years of the studies (the five-study composite was 96.8) (Table 15-28). "…

Above excerpted from: creightonmodel.com/effectiveness.htm

As far controlling her own body and reproductive rights with her brain, learning NFP gives a woman the abiity to do exactly that without using chemicals or other artificial means.

Is this a good thread to counter these claims?

 

[SwizzleStick]

Is this a good thread to counter these claims?

Sorry, it isn’t clear to me what you mean. But, NFP is very effective in preventing pregnancy when used properly if a couple has serious motives to avoid pregnancy. Of course, abstinence is the only 100% effective method if one wants to avoid passing on a genetic disease and that might be a serious consideration for a couple. Other options include taking a chance and having a child or children of their own, choosing a Josephite marriage, choosing adoption, choosing a vocation to the single life or maybe even considering that they might be called to a religious life.

 

[Chrono13]

Is the birth control info (er, ah whatever we allowed to call it) in Spanish?
RE; “I’m irrelevant”) It is interesting that you’re fine with a woman suffering to prop up a doctrine – doctrine first, people last?

If you wish my confession, I have suffered much less then that woman in life.

 

[Question12345]

It would be helpful for you to use the quote feature so we know who your posts address and what you are talking about. Of course that doesn’t apply if a general comment to everyone is being added to the discussion so that anyone can answer.

 

[Chrono13]

Sorry, it isn’t clear to me what you mean. But, NFP is very effective in preventing pregnancy when used properly if a couple has serious motives to avoid pregnancy. Of course, abstinence is the only 100% effective method if one wants to avoid passing on a genetic disease and that might be a serious consideration for a couple. Other options include a Josephite marriage, adoption if they want children, a vocation to the single life or to the religious life.

Theologically, it is completely ineffective. Couple using NFP will have no less children then those who don’t use it- since they are both open to life, and allow God to lead their lives.

 

[Question12345]

ok – thought I had to come up with a Bible quote to use this feature – which actually being raised in a Christian family I can do. However, we read the Bible and were encouraged to contemplate ideas and think for ourselves – not memorize and follow lists of rules made up by someone who said they talked to God and then told us what he thought (and yes in the Catholic Church it is always a HE) thought. We even got to have a personal discussion/relationship with God, which I encourage others to do.

 

[Chrono13]

ok – thought I had to come up with a Bible quote to use this feature – which actually being raised in a Christian family I can do. However, we read the Bible and were encouraged to contemplate ideas and think for ourselves – not memorize and follow lists of rules made up by someone who said they talked to God and then told us what he thought (and yes in the Catholic Church it is always a HE) thought. We even got to have a personal discussion/relationship with God, which I encourage others to do.

If Mexican woman’s decision was a product of her personal relation with God, we can’t blame Pope for her suffering.

 

[Deputywife]

Ok, so while we’re on the topic of birth control…

I have polycystic ovary sydrome (PCOS for short). Due to this, I can not have children. Because PCOS causes a hormone imbalance, my doctor prescribed birth control pills to regulate this imbalance.

Is it still wrong to take the birth control pills? In my case it’s NOT to prevent conception, but to help regulate hormone levels.

(name removed by moderator)ut please??

 

[SwizzleStick]

Ok, so while we’re on the topic of birth control…

I have polycystic ovary sydrome (PCOS for short). Due to this, I can not have children. Because PCOS causes a hormone imbalance, my doctor prescribed birth control pills to regulate this imbalance.

Is it still wrong to take the birth control pills? In my case it’s NOT to prevent conception, but to help regulate hormone levels.

(name removed by moderator)ut please??

It is morally acceptable to use hormone therapy to treat some medical conditions, but not to prevent conception. I suggest you speak with your confessor for guidance and also seek out the counsel of a good NFP doctor.

 

[Chrono13]

Ok, so while we’re on the topic of birth control…

I have polycystic ovary sydrome (PCOS for short). Due to this, I can not have children. Because PCOS causes a hormone imbalance, my doctor prescribed birth control pills to regulate this imbalance.

Is it still wrong to take the birth control pills? In my case it’s NOT to prevent conception, but to help regulate hormone levels.

(name removed by moderator)ut please??

I have read more then one answer on similar questions.

You will be allowed to use these medications, since they are not used to prevent conception. Intention is what counts. But you should report your situation to priest.

 

[SwizzleStick]

…and were encouraged to contemplate ideas and think for ourselves – not memorize and follow lists of rules made up by someone who said they talked to God and then told us what he thought (and yes in the Catholic Church it is always a HE) thought. We even got to have a personal discussion/relationship with God, which I encourage others to do.

This thread isn’t the place for the above post, but please feel free to post it elsewhere.

You apparently don’t know much about Catholicism. Stick around, ask questions, read, learn.