To start off, this is a question, not an argument.
I don’t understand the Church’s problem with contraception.
That’s because the Church does not have a problem with contraception. It is you who have a problem with the Church. Begin by examining your own fidelity to Catholicism, not Catholicism’s fidelity to you.
As long as it is used by a married couple, I do not see the harm.
What you and I see is irrelevant to God. God does not make laws based on our opinions. He is not an elected official and we are not his constituents. He builds laws into everything that he creates, including the sexual act. There are two laws the govern conception, meiosis and fertilization. Man did not create those laws. However, where there is a law, there is a lawgiver. Any action contrary to the law of the lawgiver is evil.
I have seen the issue come up on posts here and some of the things I have heard sound a bit strange to me, including some of the positions held I read in the ask the apologist section. Some of the posts I have read from this site have said a women cannot use contraception even if a pregnancy would kill her or if a health condition made it impossible for a fetus to survive anyway.
Just because it sounds strange to you, does not make it wrong. However, it is good to try to understand. Asking an apologist is a good start.
Let’s take your first point. Can a woman use contraception if there is the possibility that a pregnancy can kill her? The answer is NO she can not.
Why? There are many things in life that can potentially kill us, yet we don’t refrain from them by violating the law of God. We find other means. More people died as a result of AIDS and STDs than as a result of pregnancy. One would think that common sense would prevail and one would avoid that which would potentially put one at risk for AIDS or STDs. Yet, we circumvent with condoms. In other words, rather than avoiding that which may kill us, we find a way around natural law rather than work with it. Natural law is given to us by the law giver with the expectation that we comply, not as a challenge to see how many ways we can find around it.
Examine the term “contra - ception” short for “against conception”. It is a means used to allow us to engage in sexual activity at any time, while blocking the natural consequences of intercourse. In short, it is a means to be sexually active without consequences. In a dictionary, this is the definition of irresponsibility. If I eliminate the consequences, then I have no obligation to act responsibly. That’s a grave evil.
If we begin to eliminate consequences for our actions, we create an irresponsible existence. In that case, we deviate from the original plan of creation. God created man in his image and likeness. God is not an irresponsible being. We he irresponsible, he would not have become human in order to save that which he created. We have no moral right to be anything other than the image and likeness of God, responsible.
Also, why is “natural family planning” ok? The ultimate goal is the same as contraception.
The ultimate goal is not the same. Whoever told you this is gravely flawed. Even the language is different. Observe.
Natural: you are not interfering with nature. Abstaining from sex is not an interference with nature. I’m celibate. Am I interfering with nature? Mary and Joseph were celibate, as was Jesus. Was that unnatural? In this case, the couple is celibate for a few days a month.
While sex is a natural activity among animals, not having sex is not unnatural. Here lays the problem. Society has lied to us. It has turned sex into a need, just as one needs oxygen, water and nourishment. The fact is that less people die from celibacy than from sexual activity. Celibacy does not put you at risk for AIDS and other STDs. Celibate Catholic and Buddhist religious have the longest lifespan among all human beings on earth.
Family Planning: The reason for abstaining from sex is planning, not contraception. You are not acting against conception. You can’t act against conception, if you’re not involved in sexual activity. It is obvious that if you’re not involved in sexual activity there is no possibility of conception. To act against something, you must be involved in an act that normally leads to conception and you manipulate the circumstances so that you can engage in the act, without the end result, as we said before. In this case, you’re not engaging in the act that leads to conception. You’re choosing when you engage in sexual activity. That’s called planning. Your making that choice for the good of your family. Hence, it’s called family planning.
You know that there is remote chance of pregnancy in NFP, but you are prepared to take the consequences, even if that may be a high risk pregnancy. You are a responsible human being as is your Creator.
In addition, no medical doctor can guarantee that a woman will die if she becomes pregnant. At best, he can say that the risk is higher under certain circumstances. He is basing this information on statistics. We all know that statistics are not fool proof. Statistics can be very flawed when the method of research is not correct, the sample population is not representative of the norm, your sample population is not randomized, your math is flawed or when you deliberately skew the charts by eliminating those numbers that conflict with what you’re trying to sell to the general public. The US Government is the most famous for doing this. It invented corrupt statistical analysis. Read the writings of Albert Einstein. He charges the US Government with corruption his mathematical statistics to create the atom bomb. Read the writings of Marget Sengal,the founder of Planned Parenthood. She corrupts statistics to justify killing Negros by attrition.
Lastly, is there a problem with a woman (married and sexually active) taking the pill for health reasons?
A person, any person, can take any prescribed medication for a medical reason. This is a moral good. Pregnancy is not a disease. Therefore, taking medication to contracept, is a moral evil. The ends are evil.
Taking the same medication to regulate your cycle, to treat a polycystic ovary or other medical problems that interfere with normal healthy functions is a legitimate use. One must take the necessary precautions as one would with any other medication. The prolonged use of any medication can have side-effects You need to consult your physician or nurse practitioner.
If you want more information, my community deal in this kind of issue. You can go to our website and write to us. Just go to the vocations section and we will be happy to answer your questions.
www.franciscansoflife.org . You can also go to
usccb.org and click on family life. There is also
www.sistersoflife.org or your local diocese has an office for family life.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, FFV
