Question re: withdrawal (unusual situation)

[Maghi_D]

If a husband uses the withdrawal method with his wife during marital relations, but she doesn’t realise it until after the fact, is the wife guilty of mortal sin and does she need to mention this in Confession?

My understanding is that the wife would not need to confess this sin, as she is not culpable.

Take into account the following circumstances:

The wife would have told him not to withdraw if she had realised what was going on. By the time she realised it, it was obviously too late.

The husband doesn’t normally use the withdrawl method - he tells the wife afterwards that he did so this time because she is pregnant and he was afraid of harming the baby.

The husband doesn’t know Church teaching on this matter, as he is a non-practising Catholic, although he would likely not care even if he knew. The wife hasn’t brought it up with him because it had never been an issue.

 

[Gordon_Sims]

The wife would not be culpable, but why on earth would he think it would harm the baby?

 

[paperwight66]

The wife would not be culpable, but why on earth would he think it would harm the baby?

It depends how near the date she is. Sex can start labour.

 

[silicasandra]

It depends how near the date she is. Sex can start labour.

That’s true - my midwife suggested it as a natural induction method when my son went past 41 weeks. And it worked!

Still, for most of pregnancy sex is perfectly safe. I was really glad that my husband attended childbirth classes and my prenatal checkups because he had some weird opinions on the subject. (And I never convinced him to read the baby books.)

 

[Moore11]

If a husband uses the withdrawal method with his wife during marital relations, but she doesn’t realise it until after the fact, is the wife guilty of mortal sin and does she need to mention this in Confession?

My understanding is that the wife would not need to confess this sin, as she is not culpable.

Take into account the following circumstances:

The wife would have told him not to withdraw if she had realised what was going on. By the time she realised it, it was obviously too late.

The husband doesn’t normally use the withdrawl method - he tells the wife afterwards that he did so this time because she is pregnant and he was afraid of harming the baby.

The husband doesn’t know Church teaching on this matter, as he is a non-practising Catholic, although he would likely not care even if he knew. The wife hasn’t brought it up with him because it had never been an issue.

The wife is not culpable.
The husband should be told Church teaching regardless of weather he is Catholic or not as he is married to a Catholic and should respect the beliefs of the spouse.
The husband should be instructed in apparent ignorance of sexual science. And they should talk to a doctor so he can be educated.

 

[silicasandra]

**It is my understanding that female orgasm can induce labor, it seems the original poster was talking about her husband’s orgasm and I am not sure if that is the case. **
Either way the wife is not in a state of mortal sin but the couple should have a serious talk about their beleifs and about church teaching but do this outside of the bedroom so no one is embarassed or put “on the spot” during an intimate moment. God bless.

According to my midwife, while the physical activity of sex itself can start labor (which would include female orgasm since that usually involves a spasming of the necessary muscles), there is a chemical in semen that can also have that effect (which would speak directly to the OP). I think it’s unlikely that this is specifically what the husband is thinking of, since there are (apparently) a lot of men out there who have really strange ideas about sex and pregnancy. If the cervix has not dilated, and the amniotic sac has not broken, the semen isn’t going to get to the baby anyhow.

Of course, withdrawal is an immoral activity regardless, so it doesn’t really matter.