"Morning After" Pill — German Cardinal's position

  • Thread starter Thread starter CutlerB
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
C

CutlerB

Guest
Dear community,

there is a debate going on here in Germany about a case of a probably raped woman being denied treatment in two Catholic hospitals. The reason given for this, though it seems like a misunderstanding, was the possible dispensing of the so called “Morning after” Pill.

Now, the German Cardinal Joachim Meisner of the Archdiocese of Cologne says that he no longer rejects the dispensing of this pill to rape victims. I will translate a section of an article from the German site “katholisch.de”, the official news source of the German Bishops’ Conference. Sorry for the rather poor-quality translation, the German article is quite complicated to translate.
Dispensation of a drug (Präparat) that prevents the already fertilised egg-cell from implantation is ‘still not defensible’, because one would actively take away the grounds necessary for it to live, Meisner continues. The Archbishop of Cologne spoke these things in a discussion with experts, during which it became clear that the term ‘morning after pill’ could mean different types of drugs with different principles of operation. After the case of a probably raped woman, who had been rejected at two Catholic hospitals in December last year, Meisner had first emphasised that the ‘morning after pill’ was not acceptable, even in cases of rape.
Click to expand...
The article goes on to say:
Catholic teaching allows pills to prevent pregnancy only in cases of ‘criminal fertilisation’, the Archdiocese states.
Click to expand...
Now, I look for your help, as I am unsure about what Catholic teaching is exactly on contraception. That’s the one topic (next to Euthanasia) that I haven’t looked too deep into yet, but from what I’ve heard about the position, the Cardinal seems to be saying something contrary to Church teaching.

I came across section 14 of Humanae Vitae, which contains a sentence that seems to specifically rule out any such pill. Am I understanding it correctly?

Thank you for your help.

PS: I’m visiting the priest of the nearest Catholic parish this evening to talk about my conversion. 🙂
 
Pontifical Academy for Life said

the absolute unlawfulness of abortifacient procedures also applies to distributing, prescribing and taking the morning-after pill. All who, whether sharing the intention or not, directly co-operate with this procedure are also morally responsible for it

Pill only works to stop ovulation 1/2 the time. Fertilization may happen after the pill has been administered, and an abortion would happen because the pill also weakens the lining of the uterus making the implantation of the egg not possible. Study by Dr Chris Kahlenborn discovered that

Only test to determine whether conception has occurred with 100% accuracy can be done 1 or 2 weeks have sexual intercourse has taken place but that means if the woman is discovered to be pregnant and is given the morning after pill that would be an abortificant and if she is not pregnant there is no need for the pill
 
CutlerB said:
Dear community,

there is a debate going on here in Germany about a case of a probably raped woman being denied treatment in two Catholic hospitals. The reason given for this, though it seems like a misunderstanding, was the possible dispensing of the so called “Morning after” Pill.

Now, the German Cardinal Joachim Meisner of the Archdiocese of Cologne says that he no longer rejects the dispensing of this pill to rape victims. I will translate a section of an article from the German site “katholisch.de”, the official news source of the German Bishops’ Conference. Sorry for the rather poor-quality translation, the German article is quite complicated to translate.

The article goes on to say:

Now, I look for your help, as I am unsure about what Catholic teaching is exactly on contraception. That’s the one topic (next to Euthanasia) that I haven’t looked too deep into yet, but from what I’ve heard about the position, the Cardinal seems to be saying something contrary to Church teaching.

I came across section 14 of Humanae Vitae, which contains a sentence that seems to specifically rule out any such pill. Am I understanding it correctly?

Thank you for your help.

PS: I’m visiting the priest of the nearest Catholic parish this evening to talk about my conversion. 🙂
Click to expand...
Hallo,

If you are on Facebook, you could follow the discussion there. An article on Kath.net seems to suggest that the only 2 variants of the pill (“elleOne” and “PiDaNa”) availabe in Germany could lead to abortion and should therefore not be used in Catholic hospitals.
kath.net/detail.php?id=39940

Archdiocese of Berlin also rejects the pill: katholisch.de/de/katholisch/themen/news/page_news.php?id=8778
 
In the case of sexual assault, a woman may repel the unjust aggressor or withhold herself from him so as not to conceive. This is not the same as consenting to a sexual act, especially between married people, and deliberately frustrating the possibility of new life. However, sexual assault does not justify abortion, because one is not repelling an unjust aggressor, but a separate innocent person.

This is from the US Catholic Bishops Conference:

A woman who has been raped should be able to defend herself from a potential conception and receive treatments to suppress ovulation and incapacitate sperm. If conception has occurred, however, a Catholic hospital will not dispense drugs to interfere with implantation of a newly conceived human embryo.2
old.usccb.org/prolife/issues/abortion/ecfact.shtml

Which cites the following:

A female who has been raped should be able to defend herself against a potential conception from the sexual assault. If, after appropriate testing, there is no evidence that conception has occurred already, she may be treated with medications that would prevent ovulation, sperm capacitation, or fertilization. It is not permissible, however, to initiate or to recommend treatments that have as their purpose or direct effect the removal, destruction, or interference with the implantation of a fertilized ovum.
old.usccb.org/bishops/directives.shtml
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top