Use of the pill for medical reasons

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teresas1979

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There was a question to AAA about this, but I did not find the answer clarified the many questions which can arise from this.

I understand that the Church condones the use of the contraceptive pill for medical reasons. However, any sexual relations you may have whilst taking the pill would be artificially preventing conception. Does this mean that while you are taking the contraceptive pill sexual relations must cease? Would sexual relations which *cannot *result in procreation always be deemed sinful? What if the pill needs to be taken long term? Is the fact that the pill is not 100% effective contraception sufficient to allow sexual relations to continue while taking the contraceptive pill? Are there any important points I have missed? ? Sorry if these questions seem a bit jumbled, I am very confused about this.
 
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teresas1979:
There was a question to AAA about this, but I did not find the answer clarified the many questions which can arise from this.

I understand that the Church condones the use of the contraceptive pill for medical reasons. However, any sexual relations you may have whilst taking the pill would be artificially preventing conception. Does this mean that while you are taking the contraceptive pill sexual relations must cease? Would sexual relations which *cannot *result in procreation always be deemed sinful? What if the pill needs to be taken long term? Is the fact that the pill is not 100% effective contraception sufficient to allow sexual relations to continue while taking the contraceptive pill? Are there any important points I have missed? ? Sorry if these questions seem a bit jumbled, I am very confused about this.
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This question was asked on ewtn.com The answer was that if a young girl or any woman who is not sexually active takes the pill for a medical reason it is ok although she should be cautious of the side effects and see if there is something more healthier she could do.

If this woman gets married and begins to have sex then she should cease takeing the pill. The reason being because now it can hinder her from procreating. And the pill thins the uterine lineing and a fertilized egg will have a hard time implanting itself because of this and an abortion can happen without many women even knowing it so I am assuming that if you were on the pill for medical reasons you shouldn’t be having sex.

I will look for that question and answer and see if I can find it for you. Dont quote me on anything I said cause I can most certainly be wrong. I am learning new things everyday that I had no clue about. I will try to find proof.

God Bless, Kerri
 
The moral concept that applies here is the two-fold effect (see Hayes, Hayes, Kelly and Drummond: Catholicism and Ethics; CR Publications, 1997), which essentially states that there is a difference between performing a good act that has good and evil consequences, and performing an evil act in order for good to result.

Four conditions apply:

1.The act itself must be at least morally neutral
2.The good effect must not come about from any evil effect, but from the good action itself
3. The good must be willed, and the evil merely allowed or tolerated.
4.The good effect must be at least equivalent in importance to the evil effect.

Given all of this, if a woman is single (and obviously chaste), then the Pill is acceptable (as a therapeutic device not used in preventing pregnancy, it is at worst morally neutral). Once she is married, condition #4 is then violated (since the Pill acts as an abortifacient, its evil effect far outweighs any good that may come from its use) and she then has to stop using the Pill.

Obviosuly, if this woman is using the Pill ostensibly for therapy, but is also then having intercourse (in or out of marriage) and relying on the Pill to prevent pregnancy, she is then committing a sin and the Pill is not to be used.

So, one thing a woman needs to examine is if the pill is acting as a near occasion of sin (tempting one towards sexual activity outside of marriage). If this is present, then the Pill needs to be avoided.
 
i come from a family where the women have crazy hormones. my doctor prescribed contraceptive pills for me. i think in my case they kinda do the opposite of what they’re supposed to.

it still sucks that i have to take 'em, though:(

“are you on the pill?”

yes.

aaarrrgggghhhhhhhh!!!
 
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antiaphrodite:
i come from a family where the women have crazy hormones. my doctor prescribed contraceptive pills for me. i think in my case they kinda do the opposite of what they’re supposed to.

it still sucks that i have to take 'em, though:(
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Please consider checking out the Pope Paul VI institute. I just went to a talk with two graduates and they are now finding different ways to treat hormone issues. I was told by one of the doctors that the pill has only two official FDA approved uses, contraception and achne. Other than that there are better more natural ways to put your hormones in balance. The hormones used in the pill are not natural ones. Unfortunately, the doctors are not widely scattered around the country.

popepaulvi.com/

You can look for NFP only doctors here:
omsoul.com/nfpdocs.php
Doctors that do the Creighton method should generally be through the Pope Paul VI institute! Support these guys! We have one in South Denver that my wife and I will be seeing soon, even though it is a long drive for us!

I pray you will find a better answer!

John
 
Many feel that condition number 4 of the double effect is violated when a married woman takes the pill for therapeutic reasons. Fr. Vincent Serpa disagrees that a woman would have to abstain during fertile times or cease taking the pill as noted here:

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=4618

So it is not absolutely clear cut that a married woman must stop taking the pill for therapeutic reasons.

God bless!
 
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yochumjy:
Please consider checking out the Pope Paul VI institute. I just went to a talk with two graduates and they are now finding different ways to treat hormone issues. I was told by one of the doctors that the pill has only two official FDA approved uses, contraception and achne. Other than that there are better more natural ways to put your hormones in balance. The hormones used in the pill are not natural ones. Unfortunately, the doctors are not widely scattered around the country.

popepaulvi.com/

You can look for NFP only doctors here:
omsoul.com/nfpdocs.php
Doctors that do the Creighton method should generally be through the Pope Paul VI institute! Support these guys! We have one in South Denver that my wife and I will be seeing soon, even though it is a long drive for us!

I pray you will find a better answer!

John
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thank you john! :blessyou: so do i.
 
Many feel that condition number 4 of the double effect is violated when a married woman takes the pill for therapeutic reasons. Fr. Vincent Serpa disagrees that a woman would have to abstain during fertile times or cease taking the pill as noted here:

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=4618

So it is not absolutely clear cut that a married woman must stop taking the pill for therapeutic reasons.
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Well, he IS a priest. Here is his post.
The use of the pill for medical reasons may cause an UNintended miscarriage. Women often have unintended miscarriages—sometimes without even knowing it. It is only miscarriages that are INTENDED that the Church considers immoral. The Church never allows the pill to be used as an abortifacient. But it does allow the use of the pill for medical reasons with the possiblity of producing an unintended miscarriage—without obliging the couple to abstain from sexual relations during that time.
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All of that being said, I would have to talk with/challenge him on the notion of how one has an “unintended miscarriage” when the woman knows she is taking a medication that causes an abortion. It seems to me that is one knows the Pill can cause an abortion, then the woman cannot claim that any consequent “miscarriage” is “unintended”. Fr. Serpa is correct in that the two-fold effect does apply, in a literal sense.

However, IMHO, the woman at a bare minimum is compelled to pursue alternative means of medication, to exhaust all options.

I wonder if the Paul VI Institute would not also recommend to the woman that she still abstain during her fertile period, in the event that the Pill is the only therapeutic option.
 
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demolitionman65:
I wonder if the Paul VI Institute would not also recommend to the woman that she still abstain during her fertile period, in the event that the Pill is the only therapeutic option.
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Based on what I heard at the talk, the Pope Paul VI institute is more likely to give hormone therapy using natural type hormones than to give the pill, which does not have natural type hormones. The doctor claimed the type of hormone given is very important… That said, I don’t know about the price…

John
 
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yochumjy:
Doctors that do the Creighton method should generally be through the Pope Paul VI institute! Support these guys! We have one in South Denver that my wife and I will be seeing soon, even though it is a long drive for us!
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Hopefully there will be another. Please pray for him and his family. He is having a difficult time at his current location and it’s hard to start a private practice. I presume you will be seeing Dr. Anselmi. Kudos. I refer many couples to him.
 
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Rascal:
Hopefully there will be another. Please pray for him and his family. He is having a difficult time at his current location and it’s hard to start a private practice. I presume you will be seeing Dr. Anselmi. Kudos. I refer many couples to him.
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Yes, although we are looking to do the creighton method for 2 cycles to make sure he can help us in the best possible way. I heard that there might be an interested Dr up in the Greeley area…but after talking and hearing Dr. Anselmi talk, I feel pretty comfortable with him.

John
 
You should do your very best to find an alternate acceptable treatment *however *if we assume that taking the pill is the best or most reasonable treatment, and that the underlying problem is serious, then it is acceptable. The idea is that the contraceptive effect is an unintended side-effect or consequence of the medication that you are taking for another purpose. Even its potential abortifacient effect falls under this principle – but clearly, the medical problem must be severe enough to justify its use in the first place.

There are many medications that can cause temporary or permanent sterility, as well as others that can be abortifacient. Just think of cancer treatments, or anti-malaria drugs and the like.

So, it may be that it is reasonable for you to take the pill, but there are usually better alternatives, and you should definitely explore those more fully.
 
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antiaphrodite:
i come from a family where the women have crazy hormones. my doctor prescribed contraceptive pills for me. i think in my case they kinda do the opposite of what they’re supposed to.

it still sucks that i have to take 'em, though:(

“are you on the pill?”

yes.

aaarrrgggghhhhhhhh!!!
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My sister-in-law has that problem. While on the pill, she’s as sweet as honey, when off the pill, she’s more ornery than a hive full of angry killer bees!

When she and her husband was attempting to conceive and she got off the pill, she regularily flew into ungovernable rages and literary trashed their home breaking everything in sight. She says that without the pill, she would be guilty of child & husband abuse because she wouldn’t be able to control her temper.

Morally speaking, is she better off on the pill even though it prevents fertilization during the sex act or be off the pill and be physically abusive to her husband & child because she can’t control her temper?
 
Thank you everyone for some excellent answers. I am not even engaged yet but wanted to clarify the sexual relations aspect of the pill as I have never fully understood the church’s position.

There have been some answers concerning the Paul VI Institute but I can only find details for the US. Does anyone know if there is a similar thing in the UK? I would like to not take the pill anyway as it increases chances of fertility problems in the future. As someone else pointed out, the hormones are not natural and I would much prefer a natural treatment. Unfortunately, doctors here are keen to put us on the pill for any kind of women’s troubles (one of the problems with the NHS)…
 
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Ham1:
Many feel that condition number 4 of the double effect is violated when a married woman takes the pill for therapeutic reasons. Fr. Vincent Serpa disagrees that a woman would have to abstain during fertile times or cease taking the pill as noted here:

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=4618

So it is not absolutely clear cut that a married woman must stop taking the pill for therapeutic reasons.

God bless!
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This very issue was discussed in a previous thread, and the astute poster requested feedback from Fr. Serpa regarding the correct application of Double Effect. No disposition has been posted as of yet. See this post: Re: birth control not used for contraception.
 
Sorry to bump this one back up and thank you for some wonderful answers. A friend I know from another board has now told me that contraception is NOT a mortal sin :confused:

Please help! I will attach the evidence she provided as part of her email. Thanks:

Birth control is sin - absolutely - but according to the tenants of
catechism as well as Vatican 2 it is not “mortal” sin in nature.

Here is the actual text on mortal sin from the catechism. 🙂

IV. THE GRAVITY OF SIN: MORTAL AND VENIAL SIN

1854 through 1876

She posted these to me in full but they will take up too much room and are easily found online.
 
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teresas1979:
Sorry to bump this one back up and thank you for some wonderful answers. A friend I know from another board has now told me that contraception is NOT a mortal sin :confused:

Please help! I will attach the evidence she provided as part of her email. Thanks:

Birth control is sin - absolutely - but according to the tenants of
catechism as well as Vatican 2 it is not “mortal” sin in nature.

Here is the actual text on mortal sin from the catechism. 🙂

IV. THE GRAVITY OF SIN: MORTAL AND VENIAL SIN

1854 through 1876

She posted these to me in full but they will take up too much room and are easily found online.
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You can tell your friend to take from the Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph #1857 and couple that with paragraph #2370 and connect the dots, and given the conditions for mortal sin are present, the sin is mortal. If this confuses her, give her the quote from our current Pontiff. If she still is unconvinced, direct her to an orthodox priest confessor.
**1857 For a sin to be mortal, three conditions must together be met: "Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent." (CCC)
2370 Periodic continence, that is, the methods of birth regulation based on self-observation and the use of infertile periods, is in conformity with the objective criteria of morality.158 These methods respect the bodies of the spouses, encourage tenderness between them, and favor the education of an authentic freedom. In contrast, “every action which, whether in anticipation of the conjugal act, or in its accomplishment, or in the development of its natural consequences, proposes, whether as an end or as a means, to render procreation impossible” is intrinsically evil. (Catechism of the Catholic Church)******
“Contraception is to be judged so profoundly unlawful as to be never, for any reason, justified.* To think or to say the contrary is equal to maintaining that in human life, situations may arise in which it is lawful not to recognize God as God*.” (Pope John Paul II L’Osservatore Romano, October, 10, 1983)
 
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