What is it with the catholic church and birth control?

Question

So according to the catholic church it's ok to use maths as a means to prevent pregnancy but not chemistry or physics. Does anybody know why? I don't get it. Why would God have problem with preventing pregnancy in one way but not in another or why would he/she have a problem with it at all? I mean sex isn't purely for reproduction, is it? If so why can women only get pregnant for a few days each month? Where is the biblical reference for these teachings? Tell me what you know!

Answer 1

The Church teaching on birth control comes from the understanding that God is the author of life. His very first command to humanity was "be fruitful and multiply." Sex is a gift from God, a sacred and holy act of giving yourself completely to another person. God doesn't need us to make people for him, he allows us to participate in creation with him.



The Church has always taught that to purposely use sex for the physical pleasure while removing the procreative aspect, is a sin. Likewise using sex to procreate while removing the aspect of love and self giving is also a sin. In other words to work outside of God's design, perverts our sexuality and misuses it.



God created sex to be unitive and procreative, not to be selfish and/or sterile. So when we purposely cause sex to be sterile, we have altered the design and used it in a way God did not intend.



The Church does not teach that every sexual union must result in a pregnancy, or that a couple must be always trying to get pregnant. Many non-Catholics (and some Catholics) tend to think this, but this has never been so. God created us so that women can only get pregnant a few days a month, so all the other days of the month when she is not fertile, she and her husband can still enjoy sex even though they cannot get pregnant...that is by God's design.



Couples are expected to plan their families with the understanding that God is to be included in their decision. If they have a good reason to avoid pregnancy, such as financial, emotional, psychological, etc. they can abstain from sex on the fertile days of the month. Abstinence is not the same as purposefully causing the sex act to be sterile.



According to statistics, the average married couple has sex twice a week. If a couple wanted to avoid pregnancy through abstinence, but still have sex every day they could, they would have sex at twice the national average. We all abstain from sex regularly for many reasons, I don't know of any married couple who has sex every day. Abstinence is part of marriage because emotions, exhaustion, etc. all play a part in our sexual expression.



Natural Family Planning is 99% effective in planning your family, when followed properly.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6375261.stm



To correct some misconceptions, the Church does not teach that every sperm is a life, or sacred. That is a Monty Python skit that seems to have become accepted as Catholic teaching for some silly reason. But the Church does not teach that. It isn't about the sperm it's about the misuse of God's gift of our sexuality and being open to his expression of love to us through children. New life.



Also, the Church has never taught that every sexual act must result in a child. This is another huge misconception, that just seems to never die. Sex is an expression of our love for each other. It is the giving of yourself to another person, completely, holding nothing back, not even your fertility.



So the Church teaches that we must be open to life. That when we have sex it must always be open to unitiing us as husband and wife, and be open to the gift of a child. This doesn't mean we always have to have a child, just that we cannot change sex and make it artificially sterile, so as to remove the procreative aspect.



TCouples who are sterile through not fault of their own, can still enjoy sex as a way to express their love and committment to each other. Their sexual act is still open to life because they have done nothing purposefully to make it sterile. We know from the Bible that God can and does bless previously childless couples with children.



So you are correct, sex isn't only for reproduction it is also the expression of married love and committment. Couples do not need to always be trying to get pregnant but they cannot purposefully change the sexual act in order to prevent pregnancy.



I hope that makes sense. Here are some links that may say it more clearly:



http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article4541181.ece

http://www.catholic.com/library/Birth_Control.asp

http://thecatholicletter.com/birth-control-abortion-article-subjects-40/100-the-catholic-birth-control-a-sex-faq#6

http://www.memoryhole.net/kyle/2005/08/natural_family_planning.html

http://www.scripturecatholic.com/contraception.html



Also here is a link to the Couple to Couple League, which helps couples understand and use NFP.

http://www.ccli.org/



ADDED: Overpopulation is often cited as a reason for birth control. While that sounds like a fix, in reality it isn't. In reality there are many areas in which they have an underpopulation problem, and the projected numbers are even worse. France is currently paying couples to have children. America is depopulating (not talking about immigrants) at the current rate of reproduction. Japan has a big problem as well.



http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2161708/posts

http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=11004

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2161708/posts

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_decline

http://www.worldpress.org/Asia/1979.cfm

http://www.japanesestudies.org.uk/discussionpapers/Chapple.html

Answer 2

I am not a Roman Catholic, but I will answer why I object and teach against the use of pharmacological birth control.



Most forms of birth control that are perscribed by a physician work in one of three ways. First, they can prevent ovulation (which is the most common form of operation). Second, they can thicken the cervical mucous in such a way that the passage of semen is decreased or halted. If these were the only ways that the pill, IUD's, and other pharmacutical forms of birth control worked, I think the discussion could be different. The problem is that there is a third way that such forms of contraception work.



In the third method, the uterine lining is so thinned that the fertilized egg is unable to implant in the uterus, causing the fertilized egg to pass through just as any other period.



Because Roman Catholics (and many other Christians) believe that life begins at the moment of conception, it is this third method that is inherently present with hormonal birth control that we find objectionable. It is, in effect, an abortion. A human being, created in the image and likeness of God has been lost because of the effects of a pill that an individual willingly took. Sadly, most women are not made aware of this side effect before electing to use such contraceptives.



Because it is sinful to take an innocent life, this is viewed as a serious transgression. The problem is, of course, that the Churches that discourage the use of contraceptives (particularlly the Pill and other hormonal forms) don't bother telling people this.



Finally, while various Church bodies who discourage contraception may encourage Natural Family Planning (i.e., the 'maths' I think you were referring to), they all do believe that an openess to life is essential. Being married and refusing to have children and using NFP to accomplish that may be a bit higher on moral standing (due to no abortive side effects) than using NFP, but refusing to accept the gift of a child is equally questionable and presents a unique moral quandry that is beyond the scope of this answer.



Hope this was helpful.

Answer 3

The first thing you have to keep in mind is that the Catholic Church teaches us that having children is GOOD. It's the most powerful way in which we were created in the image of God the Creator. We can procreate (i.e. create new human lives) pretty much at will.



Rejecting this ability is always wrong, whether you use math, chemistry or physics. The only way a married Catholic couple can intentionally prevent pregnancy is to cooperate with God's design when they have a serious reason for doing so. You see, God made us women cyclical. We can't get pregnant every day of the month -- only certain days. God also gave each woman a unique set of signs that she can follow to figure out when she's in that likely-to-get-pregnant window of a few days. The couple then can either choose to have sex or not have sex according to the information they have before them. When it comes to NOT having a baby, their reason has to be important enough to give us sex a couple times a month. This can be financial issues, health problems, relationship problems, etc., but it can't be, "I don't think kids should have to share a bedroom" or "I need my ME time" or "I like my fancy car and my fancy house and my designer wardrobe and I can't have that with kids."



There really isn't any math involved. It's tracking signs and charting them, but it's not like you actively add this and that and divide by six and then you can have sex without getting pregnant.



ALL forms of active intervention that actually turn the act of sex into an infertile act are forbidden. The sex act should be fertile. Sometimes it's not because one or both spouses has a medical problem. And every month there are days when it's not because the woman isn't ovulating. But the people aren't CAUSING the sex act to be infertile in either case. It's just the way it is. The pill, the patch, condoms, etc. are taking ACTION and purposefully trying to turn an healthy, fertile act into an infertile act.



It's the difference between your lawn getting wet because it rains or your lawn getting wet because you get out a hose and water it. Or the difference between a person dying from natural causes or dying because you hold a pillow over their head. Action vs. Inaction. You can't take ACTION to make the sex act infertile. But when it is infertile, you can accept it and roll with it.



There are other things to consider. Artificial birth control contributes to the poor health of women. Just read the side effects on a pack of birth control pills. It actually SHORTENS YOUR LIFE. What kind of man would expect his wife to shorten her life so that he can have as much sex as he wants without the responsibility of fatherhood? What kind of woman willfully shortens her life for a guy who wants that? And yes, the FDC okayed it, but they've always okayed drugs that wind up killing people. In fact, the FDC started chicken pox vaccines and took away certain arthritis drugs because people were dying of chicken pox and the drug side effects, but more women die from the side effects of the Pill EVERY YEAR than both of those combined, and the government and society look the other way. Because it's so darn important to have sex without babies.



Certain forms of artificial birth control also destroy human life. Even the manufacturers admit that one of the three ways the Pill works is by preventing a fertilized egg from implanting in the side of the uterus. They'll say, "That's not an abortion because there was no pregnancy because the egg didn't implant." But because Catholics believe -- and the science agrees with us! -- that a new, unique human being is formed from the minute the sperm fertilizes the egg, we are talking about destroying a human being.

Answer 4

Many years ago a Secretary of Agriculture named Earl Butz was forced to apologize after he answered a question about the Pope and the catholic church's stance on birth control in the face of out-of-control population growth. He said, in an exaggerated Italian accent, "He no playa the game, he no maka the rules." While I deplore the offensive racial remarks he made later that forced his resignation, I'm with him on this. Leave the decision on birth control to the people who have to feed clothe and educate the kids. We outgrew that whole "be fruitful and multiply" thing a long, long time ago.



And Paul, birth control pills prevent ovulation so they do most certainly prevent conception.

Answer 5

In addition to the fact that chemical means of "birth control" do not prevent conception, but prevent implantation of the enbryo, thereby causing an early abortion, Catholics take their wedding vows seriously. Those vows include accepting children from God. There is nothing innately immoral about choosing to refrain from sexual activity at certain times of the month. There is something immoral about setting up physical barriers to God's will after taking a solemn vow to be open to His will.

Answer 6

Gen 1:28, 9:1,7; 35:11 - from the beginning, the Lord commands us to be fruitful ("fertile") and multiply. A husband and wife fulfill God's plan for marriage in the bringing forth of new life, for God is life itself.



Gen. 28:3 - Isaac's prayer over Jacob shows that fertility and procreation are considered blessings from God.



Gen. 38:8-10 - Onan is killed by God for practicing contraception (in this case, withdrawal) and spilling his semen on the ground.



Gen. 38:11-26 - Judah, like Onan, also rejected God's command to keep up the family lineage, but he was not killed.



Deut. 25:7-10 - the penalty for refusing to keep up a family lineage is not death, like Onan received. Onan was killed for wasting seed.



Gen. 38:9 - also, the author's usage of the graphic word "seed," which is very uncharacteristic for Hebrew writing, further highlights the reason for Onan's death.



Exodus 23:25-26; Deut. 7:13-14 - God promises blessings which include no miscarriages or barrenness. Children are blessings from God, and married couples must always be open to God's plan for new life with every act of marital intimacy.



Lev.18:22-23;20:13 - wasting seed with non-generative sexual acts warrants death. Many Protestant churches, which have all strayed from the Catholic Church, reject this fundamental truth (few Protestants and Catholics realize that contraception was condemned by all of Christianity - and other religions - until the Anglican church permitted it in certain cases at the Lambeth conference in 1930. This opened the floodgates of error).



Lev. 21:17,20 - crushed testicles are called a defect and a blemish before God. God reveals that deliberate sterilization and any other methods which prevent conception are intrinsically evil.



Deut. 23:1 - whoever has crushed testicles or is castrated cannot enter the assembly. Contraception is objectively sinful and contrary, not only to God's Revelation, but the moral and natural law.



Deut. 25:11-12 - there is punishment for potential damage to the testicles, for such damage puts new life at risk. It, of course, follows that vasectomies, which are done with willful consent, are gravely contrary to the natural law.



1 Chron. 25:5 - God exalts His people by blessing them with many children. When married couples contracept, they are declaring "not your will God, but my will be done."



Psalm 127:3-5 - children are a gift of favor from God and blessed is a full quiver. Married couples must always be open to God's precious gift of life. Contraception, which shows a disregard for human life, has lead to the great evils of abortion, euthanasia, and infanticide.



Hosea 9:11; Jer. 18:21 - God punishes Israel by preventing pregnancy. Contraception is a curse, and married couples who use contraception are putting themselves under the same curse.



Mal. 2:14 - marriage is not a contract (which is a mere exchange of property or services). It is a covenant, which means a supernatural exchange of persons. Just as God is three in one, so are a husband and wife, who become one flesh and bring forth new life, three in one. Marital love is a reflection of the Blessed Trinity.



Mal. 2:15 - What does God desire? Godly offspring. What is contraception? A deliberate act against God's will. With contraception, a couple declares, "God may want an eternal being created with our union, but we say no." Contraception is a grave act of selfishness.



Matt. 19:5-6 - Jesus said a husband and wife shall become one. They are no longer two, but one, just as God is three persons, yet one. The expression of authentic marital love reintegrates our bodies and souls to God, and restores us to our original virginal state (perfect integration of body and soul) before God.



Matt. 19:6; Eph. 5:31 - contraception prevents God's ability to "join" together. Just as Christ's love for the Church is selfless and sacrificial, and a husband and wife reflect this union, so a husband and wife's love for each other must also be selfless and sacrificial. This means being open to new life.



Acts 5:1-11 - Ananias and Sapphira were slain because they withheld part of a gift. Fertility is a gift from God and cannot be withheld.



Rom.1:26-27 - sexual acts without the possibility of procreation is sinful. Self-giving love is life-giving love, or the love is a lie. The unitive and procreative elements of marital love can never be divided, or the marital love is also divided, and God is left out of the marriage.



1 Cor. 6:19-20 - the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit; thus, we must glorify God in our bodies by being open to His will.



1 Cor. 7:5 - this verse supports the practice of natural family planning ("NFP"). Married couples should not refuse each other except perhaps by agreement for a season, naturally.



Gal. 6:7-8 - God is not mocked for what a man sows. If to the flesh, corruption. If to the Spirit, eternal life.



Eph. 5:25 - Paul instructs husbands to love their

Answer 7

It all stems from the medieval belief that semen contained tiny little human beings so they had the idea that any kind of sex, including masturbation, that wasn't procreative was wasting human souls.



They still don't seem to have caught up with modern science and dropped the dogma though.

Answer 8

Yet they don't object to using fertility drugs, which theoretically would also interfere in what they believe to be God's plan. Go figure.

Answer 9

Please read Humanae Vitae. It is a short document that explains it well.

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae_en.html