Catholic view of contraception?

Question

Do you have something enlightening to add to the following quote from H. L Menchen?

It is now quite lawful for a Catholic woman to avoid pregnancy by a resort to mathematics, though she is still forbidden to resort to physics or chemistry. -- H L Mencken

Answer 1

Actually Mr Menchen is just about correct.

Catholics allow natural birth control (which might use some mathematics) but not artificial birth control that messes with a woman's body through physics or chemistry.

Judeo-Christian tradition has taught for thousands of years:
1. Single people should be celibate.
2. Married people should be faithful to each other (adultery is wrong).
3. Married couples should welcome God's gift of children and, therefore, artificial birth control is against the will of God.

Here is the United States Conference of Catholic Bishop's website on Natural Family Planning: http://www.usccb.org/prolife/issues/nfp/

With love in Christ.

Answer 2

He's mistaken. A Catholic couple (i.e, MAN and WOMAN together, not one person in the marriage making decisions unilaterally that affect both of them) can seek to avoid/delay pregnancy only if they have a grave reason for doing so (financial, health, etc.) by using methods of observation of the woman's natural signs of ovulation.

So it involves only a tiny bit of math and mostly natural physiology and natural body chemistry, with a bit of physics thrown if the couple is observing body temps.

Learning about fertility awareness is not only helpful in either avoiding or achieving pregnancy, it also builds cooperation/communication/mutual respect between the couple AND helps the woman maintain her health because she can see problems that require treatment -- including ovarian cancer -- at the earliest possible stages, when treatment is most effective. Everyone should learn about this, even non-Catholics.

Answer 3

God put in place the fertility of man and woman. He made woman's fertility cyclical for a reason- so that every marital encounter would not result in pregnancy.

He put in place a way to naturally regulate and space births- it is what HE designed. A couple using Natural Family Planning COOPERATES with God in the creation of their family. Yes, many couples find NFP a highly successful way to ACHIEVE pregnancy. Above all, an NFP couple welcomes ANY pregnancy- even one THEY did not plan- as a gift from God.

Resorting to "physics and chemistry" to avoid pregnacy is an act against God. The couple who resorts to them to avoid what theit bodies are designed to do are destroying their marriage- if they are even married in the first place. HORMONAL CONTRACEPTIVES CAUSE ABORTIONS. IT IS ONE OF THE MAIN WAYS THEY WORK! And women who find chemical contraception has failed are more likely to have an abortion.

Name one drug besides hormonal contraception that is designed to take a healthy woman's body and STOP it from doing what a healthy body does?

Answer 4

Mencken had a point. But the Church's position is not just wrong -- it is criminally stupid: people DIE from practicing it. H. sapiens is one of few species in which the female is sexually receptive when not fertile; all these are characterized by a long time between birth and maturity, and the evolutionary value of sex to keep the family unit together is obvious to anyone other than the Church. Fortunately, a significant population of Catholics (as well as everyone else) considers the Church's teaching in this to be nonsense and ignores it.

Answer 5

And Mr, Sanders statement is ludicris. The Billings Ovaulation method is safe and effective. Can you cite me an instance where someone died? I don't think you can, because your'e making this up.

Answer 6

Yes, here are some enlightening links:

Answer 7

mathematics can help you get pregnant.

1 sperm + 1 egg + 9 months= 1 baby

easy!

Answer 8

Devil Devil!!! *holds fingers in a cross shape).....

seriously though It's very bad to them...