Weening off contraception?

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If a priest tells a couple its okay to “ween off” contraception, is this correct? The Vadamecum of Confessors talks about a gradual improvement of changing ones life, but does this justify couples using contraception to continue using it as long as they try to ween off it later on?
 
Jesus said that if our right hand offends we should cut it off, if our eye causes sin it should be plucked out because it was better to go to heaven blind and lame than to go to hell.

Sin is poison. Why on earth would one want to be weaned from it? Spit that sin out of your life and be done with it.
 
There might be some medical reason for weaning off of the pill. If that’s the case then I think it’s okay. However, the couple should abstain until the pill is no longer in effect in order to avoid a chemical abortion.
 
StThomasMore1 said:
If a priest tells a couple its okay to “ween off” contraception, is this correct? The Vadamecum of Confessors talks about a gradual improvement of changing ones life, but does this justify couples using contraception to continue using it as long as they try to ween off it later on?
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I’m sure the priest, even if he used the term weening off means “NOW” – not it’s okay as long as you intend to wean off “later on.”

The only exception I can see would be [possibly] the pill. In that case, the full compliment of pills would be taken to end that hormonal cycle, and not start another regiment or month. I’m not a doctor so I can’t say whether one should stop ABC just cold - mid cycle. But that should be clarified by the priest if it is ABC that we are talking about – and the physician.

I’m sure he did not mean to wean off condoms at some future time, by using them now and when you decide then you can stop using them.

I have not read the book.
 
Since we don’t know exactly what was meant then we can only guess but when it comes to adjusting hormones I have a feeling that the priest was saying to defer to the doctor if the doctor felt weening was necessary. I know the case of not stopping the pill midcycle was mentioned as this could cause serious problems. Also the same may be true to injections and implantations. But I think this is way above my pay grade and should be left to a doctor and priest or Catholic bioethicist.
 
Well this person is stating that “gradual improvement” is a “loophole” to continue using contraception and stopping it when you feel ready(basically that when the Vademecum talks about gradual improvement it means its okay to continue using contraception until the couple is ready to go off). Stated that priests told him this. And that they are not in mortal sin if their priest tells them its okay to continue using as long as they ween off later on because of culpability issues.
 
StThomasMore1 said:
Well this person is stating that “gradual improvement” is a “loophole” to continue using contraception and stopping it when you feel ready(basically that when the Vademecum talks about gradual improvement it means its okay to continue using contraception until the couple is ready to go off). Stated that priests told him this. And that they are not in mortal sin if their priest tells them its okay to continue using as long as they ween off later on because of culpability issues.
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In the first place none of us were in the Confessional hearing what was said so everything is hearsay and speculation.

However talking generally if a person confesses a mortal sin and is told by a priest to stop mortally sinning over a period then the penitent is still in a state of mortal sin if he continues the same mortal sin. There is no reduced culpability because the priest told him it was okay to continue sinning but cut down and eventually stop. That is nonsense.
 
StThomasMore1 said:
If a priest tells a couple its okay to “ween off” contraception, is this correct? The Vadamecum of Confessors talks about a gradual improvement of changing ones life, but does this justify couples using contraception to continue using it as long as they try to ween off it later on?
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Ask him, and then seek a second opinion from another priest.
 
I looked it up. This is what the Vatican says, as a guide for confessors on conjugal matters:
  1. The pastoral “law of gradualness”, not to be confused with the “gradualness of the law” which would tend to diminish the demands it places on us, consists of requiring a decisive break with sin together with a progressive path towards total union with the will of God and with his loving demands.43
This sounds to me like the penitent must be ready to break with the sin, not in the future, but ready at the time of confession to make that break with honest intentions…

Read that it is not to be construed as “gradualness of the law” in that you can gradually, at some later time, decide to wean off contraception. Read #11 and #12 too. The person must be actively seeking to change his/her behaviors – this is not a license to continue until he/she decides at some later time to stop using contraception.

Of course, the priest cannot wihhold absolution by a insisting upon an affirmation that it will never happen again. However, if the couple continues – new sin results each time, for which confession is necessary. The priest may suspect that – but it’s not for him to guess as to when the couple will finally realize that they must stop the sinful behavior. He should also examine why they are not open to children that they have resorted to contraception.

But no, they cannot decide to wean themselves off, and select the timing of gradualness. The Church expects that each good confession is met with a good and honest attempt each time not to repeat the sin of contraception, while realizing that many will fail. However, if one confesses with the intention that they will not be stopping, or not make any real attempts to stop the sin, have they made a good confession? One cannot lie to the priest.

I think the person misunderstood gradualness as his/her choice to decide.

They should recheck with the priest or another priest since only the penitent knows the circumstances.

Vademecum for Confessors
 
Allegra said:
There might be some medical reason for weaning off of the pill. If that’s the case then I think it’s okay. However, the couple should abstain until the pill is no longer in effect in order to avoid a chemical abortion.
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Despite what some may say, no one knows exactly how long that takes. Some people get prego very quickly after dropping the pill, while other’s are suffering its effects for years.

As for the OP, as already mentioned, don’t “ween” off it, just go cold turkey. Catholics who want to be in good standing with God need to get that rubbish out of their life right NOW.
 
StThomasMore1 said:
If a priest tells a couple its okay to “ween off” contraception, is this correct? The Vadamecum of Confessors talks about a gradual improvement of changing ones life, but does this justify couples using contraception to continue using it as long as they try to ween off it later on?
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I find it odd that one would not listen to one’s confessor, nor ask for clarification from that confessor, but would instead come here and post on a message board and take answers from perfect strangers instead.

How odd.
 
True story: a married couple I know was invited to an all day NFP seminar and knew pretty much nothing about it before-hand. They told me this was the conversation on the way home:

husband: “This was very interesting and informative. May be we can do some more research. If it pans out we can work on implementing this into our marriage within the next 6 months.”

wife: “I’m going off the pill tomorrow.”

husband: “AHHHH!”

And she never took another birth control pill. She didn’t mention any bad effects of it.
 
Birth control pills are not medicine, they take a functioning part of the body and force it to malfunction.
 
hannajomar said:
True story: a married couple I know was invited to an all day NFP seminar and knew pretty much nothing about it before-hand. They told me this was the conversation on the way home:

husband: “This was very interesting and informative. May be we can do some more research. If it pans out we can work on implementing this into our marriage within the next 6 months.”

wife: “I’m going off the pill tomorrow.”

husband: “AHHHH!”

And she never took another birth control pill. She didn’t mention any bad effects of it.
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true story: a friend was taking “the pill” for medical reasons and decided to stop “cold turkey” resulting in even more problems. BC pills are hormones and like any medication should not be discontinued without consulting a physician. Yes millions of women stop on their own all of a sudden all the time with no problems.But why risk it.
 
hannajomar said:
True story: a married couple I know was invited to an all day NFP seminar and knew pretty much nothing about it before-hand. They told me this was the conversation on the way home:

husband: “This was very interesting and informative. May be we can do some more research. If it pans out we can work on implementing this into our marriage within the next 6 months.”

wife: “I’m going off the pill tomorrow.”

husband: “AHHHH!”

And she never took another birth control pill. She didn’t mention any bad effects of it.
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HA! Good one! 😃
 
StThomasMore1 said:
If a priest tells a couple its okay to “ween off” contraception, is this correct? The Vadamecum of Confessors talks about a gradual improvement of changing ones life, but does this justify couples using contraception to continue using it as long as they try to ween off it later on?
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I talked to 3 different priest regarding the same thing. I explained my situation (I am Catholic, my husband is not) and I was wanting to get off ABC much to my husbands dismay. All 3 of them told me to wean myself off of it…something like 30 days. I agreed and allowed my husband to used protection that same week.

However, I sobbed afterwards. It felt so wrong.😦 After that, we never used it again… 🙂 😉 👍
 
The thing about “weening off” the pill is that as you’re weening off it, it no longer becomes a form of birth control. This is why they tell you if you miss a pill to use a back up method of birth control. My doctor doesn’t prescribe the Pill for birth control purposes. She will only prescribe it in a dose that will not prevent pregnancy, and she warns patients not to try to use it as a method of birth control.

One also shouldn’t have to “ween off” the pill for more than three weeks, as the fourth week is simply a placebo anyway.
 
I was told by a Creighton model instructor in an introductory session that if a couple is going to use NFP and schedule the two-week followup, the woman should stop the Pill cold turkey that very day.

I wonder if there is a difference between the one-type pill, which doesn’t really fake a cycle, and then bleeding isn’t a period so much as break-through bleeding permitted to happen once a month, vs the kind of pills where the hormone types/levels change and one has to be really careful which color pill gets taken which day.

When I was engaged, my OB put me on a one-type pill and told me I could extend or shorten a cycle to make sure my “period” didn’t happen on my honeymoon.
 
raaucoin said:
true story: a friend was taking “the pill” for medical reasons and decided to stop “cold turkey” resulting in even more problems. BC pills are hormones and like any medication should not be discontinued without consulting a physician. Yes millions of women stop on their own all of a sudden all the time with no problems.But why risk it.
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My friend wasn’t taking the pill for medical reasons. In fact, she was taking it for the sole purpose of making her body malfunction by becoming infertile. The point I was making is that when my friend’s eyes opened, she saw her sin as it was. She was separating herself and her marriage from being in union with God. As soon as she saw that Truth, she felt no need to ween off of that sin. She had no desire for that sin because her desire for God was more. She talks about this event as when she became free.

I’m not a doctor and I’m not giving anyone medical advice.
 
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