Can you explain something re. Catholicism and birth control for me?

Question

This:

"In the catholic faith birth control pills or any form of contraception is not allowed because life starts a t conception(meeting of the woman's egg cell and the man's sperm)."

was part of an answer I saw recently.

But, that's not related to what happens. "Most birth control pills are "combination pills" containing a combination of the hormones estrogen and progesterone to prevent ovulation (the release of an egg during the monthly cycle). A woman cannot get pregnant if she doesn't ovulate because there is no egg to be fertilized." -- http://www.kidshealth.org/teen/sexual_health/contraception/contraception_birth.html

Can anybody offer a better explanation for the rationale behind the prohibition on the pill? Just curious...

"Many contraceptives are abortifacents..."
"A woman is only fertile three days out of every month..."

1 Oh, dear.
2 But, that does explain some things.

Answer 1

because it does not allow one to "be fruitful and multiply"

Answer 2

Using contraceptives (many of which are abortifacients - expells a fertilized egg) is someone playing God. God created our bodies in a particular way for reproduction and share in God's role of creation of a creature that is made in His image. Human beings have a unique relationship with God, in that, not even angels are made in God's image. So, when we interfere, obstruct, or murder because we cannot refrain from sex, we are disrespecting God's creation. A woman is fertile only 3 days out of every month.

Biblically, there was a man named Onan in the OT who "spilt his seed upon the ground" and God struck him dead. This is God's message to us not interfere with His creative process involving human reproduction.

BTW, contraceptive use was illegal before the 1930's because many states recognized the Biblical texts reject the evil of contaceptive use. It was Margaret Sanger who pushed for it to become legal. The reason why she pushed for legalizing it is because she believed in superior and inferior people. The problem, in her mind, was the inferior people bred like rabbits. She wanted to put contraceptives in the water supply to inhibit the breeding of inferior races. I read a book about her written by a Jewish woman. I cannot recall the name of the book but it was highly informative about the evil of contaceptives.

Finally, please remember that these are just not Catholic beliefs. Ukranian, Russian Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, and Eastern Orthodox denomenations believe contaceptive use is wrong as well. There are other denomenations as well and not just the Catholic faith.

Answer 3

I thought the reasons Catholics don't approve of contraception is because they assume 1) only married people have sex, and it is 2) the duty of married couple to have and raise all the good Catholic babies that God grants them, so therefore it would be immoral to try and refuse any baby that God is trying to send you.

Orthodox Jews feel the same way - there's a bit in the Bible about how you shouldn't prevent the man's sperm from a woman's egg, but it assumes you are a married couple, and leaves open all sorts of loopholes (does it mean that condoms are a sin, but the pill is okay? what about withdrawal?)
So regardless of when conception/fertilization occurs, some people could argue that anything that prevents you from having lots of kids is bad (assuming you are married and childbearing does not endanger your health).

But given the much lower mortality rate of the modern era, this Biblical coercion has lost much of its original purpose. You don't have to have a dozen kids to make sure one survives.

Answer 4

First of all, most forms of so-called "birth control" do not prevent ovulation. They prevent implantation of the embryo in the endometrium, and thereby cause the death of a human being in the early stages of his/her life. Condoms and diaphrams of course do not have this effect, but virtually all chemical methods do. Therefore, to use such a method is to risk causing an early abortion.

The second reason God's Church forbids artificial means of birth control is that sexual union has two essential purposes, which cannot be separated, that is to say, intercourse cannot be used exclusively for one purpose, to the exclusion of the other. The two purposes of sex are described as the unitive purpose and the procreative purpose. First, for the bringing together, growth in relationship, and mutual pleasure of the couple; and second, for the procreation of children. The Church does not teach that "sex is just for procreation". That approach would be just as disordered as the idea that "sex is just for pleasure". To use artificial means of blocking the possibility of God giving new life, in spite of what His holy will for us might be, is to reduce something essentially sacred to the status of a mere toy or game.
.

Answer 5

That's a standard "Planned Parenthood" answer, but the fact is that the Pill does not prevent pregnancy 100%. In fact, 60% of women who have abortions were on the Pill when they got pregnant.
The Pill, also in failing to prevent pregnancy, can allow an egg to be fertilized (thus beginning a new life), but prevent its implantation by changing the lining of the uterus, thus causing a very early abortion.

Answer 6

Human love, particularly erotic love, is supposed to mirror the love of the Trinity (IE. God). God's love is free, total, faithful and fruitful. Any one of these aspects can be tampered with. Sex can be purchased on the corner, partners can withhold feelings or have affairs, and finally contraception can be used. However, if any of these four aspects of God's love is missing from the sexual act, it becomes something less than love. It is not quite the real thing. This only leads to confusion and sorrow.

This website explains it a bit better

http://www.christopherwest.com/article4.asp

Answer 7

Catholicism has done enough damage in this world.check history books please.
so their teachings of such intricate things like a woman's reproductive system should not come over their lips.I consider myself a christian but do not need man made rules or a religion to tell me ,how and what.GOD gave you this remarkable ability to think. Do so with care and stop listening to a bunch of men sitting on thrones with mink coats and fat diamond rings.
I dint think Jesus had mink coats, diamond rings and ovulation probably wasn't part of his sermon either.Not sure if this is the explanation you were locking for.Since we are all led to believe that science and religion don't mix.

oh- and father K.I do believe this is the right place to discuss such questions and matters, that is what Yahoos intention is,after all.Not complicated at all as you can see.But I certainly appreciate you open mind.

p.s.never been a catholic just an observer

Answer 8

The Catholic church draws much of their anti-birth control rhetoric from a single line in the bible. "Go forth and seed the earth". By interfering with this we are defying gods command.

This by the way is the same group of people who burned to death a million people from the line "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live".

Note that many of these lines are from Leviticus. This chapter also sanctions slavery, allows for the sale of your daughters, and calls both shellfish and homosexuality an abomination.

I am waiting for Catholics to start attacking lobster joints.

Answer 9

It's really too deep of a subject for here....

Suffice it to say that Roman Catholic (please remember....not ALL Catholics are of the "Roman" variety) doctrine on sex is that ALL sexual intercourse is for procreation.

By taking the pill (says Roman doctrine) - it keeps that from happening....ergo in the marital sex act, the partners are not fully giving of themselves to the other vis a vis God's "plan" for marriage.

There's a lot more to it than that, but that's their basic teaching on the matter.

P.S. I did not say that I agree with that...that's the teaching.

Answer 10

HOW SOME TYPES OF BIRTH CONTROL CAN CAUSE ABORTION WITHOUT YOUR KNOWLEDGE, ALONG WITH INFORMATION ABOUT NON-HORMONAL BARRIER BIRTH CONTROL METHODS THAT ARE JUST AS EFFECTIVE
http://abort73.com/HTML/II-D-2-types.html

Also, if religious or moral reasons for staying off of hormonal/abortifacient birth control methods doesn't convince you, maybe the fact that they cause CANCER will;

Here are a few links if you'd like to learn more about the Big Announcement on Friday December 15th that, WITHOUT A DOUBT, Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) causes breast cancer. Since the time when women were discouraged from taking HRT back in 2001-2002, breast cancer rates have sharply dropped by an unprecedented 7%! In the scientific community, this is a bombshell proof positive of the connection. Note that breast cancer rates originally started increasing rapidly when birth control pills and now other forms of hormonal birth control began to be widely used. Hormonal birth control methods contain the SAME hormones that are also the most widely used in HRT (estrogen and progestin). Hormonal birth control methods include; The Pill, The Mini-Pill, The Patch, some types of IUDs, Nuva Ring, Depo Shots, and Nor-Plant. They all administer the same hormones by different delivery methods. Hormone levels in HRT are actually lower than levels found in hormonal birth control methods. Consider that on top of the fact that hormonal birth control methods are used by young healthy women with already normal levels of naturally occurring hormones. They’re getting MASSIVE dosages, even with the more modern low-dose pills being used.

How long will we have to wait before the medical community admits to women that hormonal birth control methods are just as dangerous as HRT? I have a feeling that it will be much longer, as hormonal birth control is considered to be the "holy grail" of "women's reproductive freedom". Never mind that women are dying of breast cancer at alarmingly increasing rates since 1974, around the time when landmark cases were decided and BC pills began to be more widely used. Thirty years later, we are reaping the "benefits" of artificial hormones that are used to suppress and tinker with the natural processes of the female body.

The female bodily functions of ovulation, pregnancy and menopause ARE NOT ILLNESSES. Medications should only be taken when it's absolutely necessary to prevent or cure ILLNESS, and then ONLY if the benefit outweighs the risks. If you have a medical condition that your doctor wants to treat with hormones, make sure to do YOUR research and challenge his or her opinion. Get a second or even a third opinion. Explore alternative treatments. Doctors are not infallible and in the end, only YOU can determine the best course of action with regard to your health. Only after you’ve exhausted your other options, if it is apparent that hormones are the only treatment that makes sense, then by all means, DO IT.

If you must practice birth control and cannot try abstinence; condoms, diaphragms, or cervical caps used correctly with plenty of spermicide gel or foam, are STATISTICALLY JUST AS EFFECTIVE as hormonal birth control. Condoms also decrease your chances of contracting an STD and they don't work by preventing implantation of a fertilized egg, like hormonal birth control does. If you are pro-life and believe that life begins at conception, this last point should be of particular interest to you. Abortifacient types of birth control also include non-hormonal types of IUDs, which work exclusively by preventing implantation of a fertilized egg…they don’t even ATTEMPT to stop ovulation and subsequent fertilization…and they can cause uterine perforations and other complications. Even if you DON’T have any moral objection to the abortifacient birth control methods, at least stop using hormonal birth control and IUDs for the sake of your own health!

HOW HORMONE REPLACEMENT THERAPY AND HORMONAL BIRTH CONTROL METHODS HAVE NOW DEFINITELY BEEN SHOWN TO CAUSE CANCER
http://healthlink.mcw.edu/article/1025191125.html
http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/12/15/gupta.breast.cancer/
ALTERNATIVES TO HORMONE REPLACEMENT THERAPY
http://www.womentowomen.com/bioidentical-hrt/index.asp?id=1&campaignno=getoffhrt&adgroup=adgroup2&keywords=hormone+replacement+therapy
http://www.power-surge.com
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF BIRTH CONTROL AND HOW IT IS ANTI-WOMAN
http://www.the-edith-stein-foundation.com/articles.asp?col=2

Answer 11

In response to your final question, it is BECAUSE that IS the stand of the Vatican... at least for now, as we speak.

And don't forget that the Pope "is infallible..."

Peace be with you.