Contraception from a Catholic Prospective
For those interested in understanding issues from the Catholic prospective, the following paragraphs contain a short description. The paragraphs only contain short quotes from relevant web pages along with a link to the source. The page links are included so interested people can go to the source for additional detail.
Contraception's effect on:
1. Contraception and Catholic Spirituality
1.1
Teaching from the Catechism of the Catholic
Church
http://www.kofc.org/un/catechism/index.action
Paragraph
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.
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.”
1.2
Teaching from Pope John Paul II's EVANGELIUM
VITAE,
March
25, 1995
http://www.ewtn.com/library/ENCYC/JP2EVANG.HTM
Paragraph
13:
“ … It
is frequently asserted that contraception, if made safe and available
to all, is the most effective remedy against abortion. The Catholic
Church is then accused of actually promoting abortion, because she
obstinately continues to teach the moral unlawfulness of
contraception. When looked at carefully, this objection is clearly
unfounded. It may be that many people use contraception with a view
to excluding the subsequent temptation of abortion. But the negative
values inherent in the "contraceptive mentality"--which is
very different from responsible parenthood, lived in respect for the
full truth of the conjugal act--are such that they in fact strengthen
this temptation when an unwanted life is conceived. Indeed, the
pro-abortion culture is especially strong precisely where the
Church's teaching on contraception is rejected. Certainly, from the
moral point of view contraception and abortion are specifically
different evils: the former contradicts the full truth of the sexual
act as the proper expression of conjugal love, while the latter
destroys the life of a human being; the former is opposed to the
virtue of chastity in marriage, the latter is opposed to the virtue
of justice and directly violates the divine commandment "You
shall not kill."
“But despite their differences of nature and moral gravity, contraception and abortion are often closely connected, as fruits of the same tree. It is true that in many cases contraception and even abortion are practiced under the pressure of real life difficulties, which nonetheless can never exonerate from striving to observe God's law fully. Still, in very many other instances such practices are rooted in a hedonistic mentality unwilling to accept responsibility in matters of sexuality, and they imply a self-centered concept of freedom, which regards procreation as an obstacle to personal fulfillment. The life which could result from a sexual encounter thus becomes an enemy to be avoided at all costs, and abortion becomes the only possible decisive response to failed contraception.”
“The close connection which exists, in mentality, between the practice of contraception and that of abortion is becoming increasingly obvious. It is being demonstrated in an alarming way by the development of chemical products, intrauterine devices and vaccines which, distributed with the same ease as contraceptives, really act as abortifacients in the very early stages of the development of the life of the new human being.”
1.3 Contraception and Faith
From
http://www.catholic-pages.com/morality/fatal.asp
Contraception:Fatal
to the Faith: By
Fr. John Hardon
“This
must seem like a strange title, "Contraception: Fatal to
the faith." What does the title mean? Does it mean that to
believe in contraception is contrary to the faith? Or does it mean
that-Christian believers may not practice contraception? Or does it
mean that those who practice contraception are in danger of losing
their faith?
1.4 Contraception and God's Plan
From
http://www.omsoul.com/pamview.php?idnum=152
Marriage:
A Communion of Life and Love:
A
Pastoral Letter by Bishop Victor Galeon
“In
order to counter the silence surrounding the Church’s
teaching
in this area, as your bishop, I ask that the following guidelines be
implemented in our diocese: ...”
1.5
From United States Conference of
Catholic Bishops
http://www.usccb.org/prolife/materials/birthcontrol.shtml
http://www.usccb.org/laity/marriage/MarriedLove.pdf
Married
Love and the Gift of Life
In
an engaging question and answer format, the bishops explain Church
teachings on conjugal love and responsible parenthood and the methods
of natural family planning which support those teachings.
http://www.usccb.org/prolife/programs/rlp/97rlpbru.shtml
The
Contraceptive Revolution and Its Fruits: By
John T. Bruchalski, M.D., FACOG
“Revolutions
take time. Successful revolutions are nothing less than defining
processes that transform our understanding of life itself.
“
….
“Catalogues some of the poisonous
fruits of the sexual revolution—sexually-transmitted diseases
(STDs), side-effects of contraceptives, and the STDs 'of the soul,'
while also revealing the beauty and wisdom of the Church's teaching.
“
http://www.usccb.org/prolife/programs/rlp/96rlpful.shtml
Chastity:
Its Place in the Gospel of Life:
By
Rose Fuller
"Evangelium
Vitae upholds the dignity of human life at all stages. We can show
our reverence for this gift of life by honoring the truth about human
sexuality. Chastity–both for married couples and single
persons–speaks a language of authentic love and gives glory
to
God."
2.
Contraception and Divorce
From
http://www.omsoul.com/pdfs/DivorceandGraph.pdf
“When
use of the contraceptive pill saturated US society during the years
1960 through 1980, there was an increase in the US divorce rate that
followed the increase in pill use with remarkable conformity. Various
social scientists have concluded that this is no coincidence. This
document includes a graph of the US divorce rate from 1880 to 2002
and a table of historical events of these times that shed some light
on the story the graph tells. “
3.
Contraception and Cohabitation
From
http://ratzingerthewise.blogspot.com/2008/10/benedict-xvi-and-contraception.html
"...
Benedict
XVI sees issues like contraception, cohabitation and same sex
marriage as signs of a deeper problem. Once God is forgotten, Man and
the institutions God created to fulfill and nourish his soul become
meaningless.
"
From
http://www.physiciansforlife.org/content/view/42/2/
“The
number of cohabiting couples has increased from just over half a
million in 1970 to 4.2 million in 1998, and that over 50% of
marriages today are preceded by cohabitation.”
“A recent
study by pollster John Zogby found that general acceptance of the
practice is increasing, with 56% of Americans thinking it is
acceptable for an engaged couple prior to marriage."
4. Contraception and Homosexuality
From
http://www.noroomforcontraception.com/Articles/Contraception-Homosexuality-010.htm
5. Contraception and Abortion
From
http://www.goodmorals.org/smith4.htm
The
Connection between Contraception and Abortion:
By Janet Smith
“With
some contraceptives there is not only a link with abortion there is
an identity. Some contraceptives are abortifacients; they
work
by causing early term abortions. The IUD seems to prevent a
fertilized egg — a new little human being — from
implanting in the uterine wall. The pill does not always stop
ovulation but sometimes prevents implantation of the growing
embryo.
And, of course, the new RU 486 pill works altogether by aborting a
new fetus, a new baby. Although some in the pro-life movement
occasional speak out against the contraceptives that are
abortifacients most generally steer clear of the issue of
contraception.
From
http://www.usccb.org/prolife/programs/rlp/Schu05.shtml
Contraception
and Abortion: The Underlying Link
This
article explores the links between contraception and abortion;
anthropological, physiological, sociological, and the contraceptive
mentality in contrast to the Church's teaching on marriage and John
Paul II's, theology of the body.
From
http://www.firstthings.com/article/2009/07/her-choice-her-problem
Her
Choice, Her Problem - How
Abortion Empowers Men:
by Richard Stith
“I
recall a law student who would admit when pressed, 'I’m in
favor of keeping abortion legal because I don’t like using
condoms.' “
6. Contraception and Sexually Transmitted Diseases
From
http://www.cdc.gov/stdconference/2008/press/release-11march2008.htm
Nationally
Representative CDC Study Finds 1 in 4 Teenage Girls Has a Sexually
Transmitted Disease
“Today’s data demonstrate the
significant health risk STDs pose to millions of young women in this
country every year,” said Kevin Fenton, M.D., director of
CDC’s
National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention.
7. Contraception and Culture
From
http://www.janetsmith.excerptsofinri.com/
Birth
Control - The Pill - Why use contracepton?
:
By Janet Smith
"Contraception
is such an accepted fixture in our culture and medical practice that
a serious challenge is indeed rare. In Contraception: Why Not, Prof
Smith provokes her audience to give serious consideration to
questions regarding the relationship between contraception, divorce,
abortion, poverty, and other social ills."
From
http://www.usccb.org/prolife/programs/rlp/99rlweed.shtml
The
Current National Picture On Teen Pregnancy:
By
Stan
E. Weed
Dr.
Weed argues that the current drops in teen pregnancy rates are due to
increased abstinence among teens and not to the use of "more and
better contraceptives" as pro-contraception sexuality education
"experts" are claiming.
From
http://www.newoxfordreview.org/article.jsp?did=0909-kainz
Contraception
& Logical Consistency:
By Howard P. Kainz
“Recent
statistics indicate that contraception is widely practiced, even by
up to 80 percent of Catholics, in spite of its clear and constant
condemnation by the Magisterium of the Catholic Church. Does this
figure include practicing
Catholics?
“
From
http://theedithsteinfoundation.com
“Inspired
by the deep psychological intuitions of the great feminist
transcultural heroine and Saint, Edith Stein, Dr. Pedulla for the
first time began to suspect contraception as the most important and
overlooked factor in a host of medical and social conditions
afflicting the modern woman. “
From
http://www.physiciansforlife.org/content/view/975/36/
From
Physicians For Life:
Sexual Activity, Condoms,
Contraceptive Use, STDs: What We Know Now
From
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2007/jun/13/20070613-113138-2070r/
“A
federal report issued before today's expected House Appropriations
Committee vote on abstinence-education funding says the curricula for
comprehensive sex education overwhelming push condoms and downplay
abstinence. “
From
http://www.amazon.com/Unprotected-Psychiatrist-Political-Correctness-Profession/dp/1595230254/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1209061956&sr=1-2
Terrific
discussion of how political correctness is endangering the health of
our young adults.
The
author of this book is a psychiatrist at a university health clinic.
She has written the book anonymously because she is still working and
what she has to say is politically unacceptable to the current mental
health establishment. If she stated this openly she would risk her
career.
From
http://www.noroomforcontraception.com/index.php
Welcome
ABCNEWS.COM Readers!
“There
are many pitfalls to being sexually active while attending
college.”
“Why
put your education and future at risk? Contraception isn't
perfect, so why rely on it to protect yourself?”
Antidote to Contraception
From
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15472a.htm
Virtue:
“Intellectual
virtue may be defined as a habit perfecting the intellect
to
elicit with
readiness acts that are good in reference to their proper object,
namely, truth.
“
From
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03637d.htm
Chastity:
“Chastity
is the virtue which excludes or moderates the indulgence of the
sexual appetite.
It is a form of the virtue of temperance, which controls according to
right reason
the
desire for and use of those things which afford the greatest sensual
pleasures. “
Alternative to Contraception
Natural Family Planning
|
Billings Ovulation Method The Couple to Couple League Family of
the Americas Foundation
|
Creighton Model Fertility Care System Northwest Family Services, Inc. Marquette
University Institute for NFP |
For
a list of local programs
The Diocesan Development
Program for Natural Family Planning
Secretariat for Pro-Life
Activities
National Conference of Catholic Bishops
3211 4th
St., N.E.
Washington, D.C. 20017
202-541-3240/3070
Website:
www.usccb.org/prolife/issues/nfp/coordinators.shtml