Contraception - Why do Catholics say it's wrong

There are a lot of misconceptions about why the Catholic church teaches against using birth control but I find that few understand about this and even some priests do not understand it.

I'm going to take the usual questions one by one:

1. Why shouldn't we use the birth control pill?  First of all, there are many health reasons to not use it. The pill greatly raises the risk for heart attack, stroke, thrombosis and breast cancer and not just if you are older.  Since the advent of the pill, even the so called "safe" low dose pill, we have seen heart disease and strokes in women in their 20's and 30's!  Secondly, the way the pill works is that it prevents a fertilized egg from implanting. Yes, it does stop ovulation but not all the time. The woman on the pill ovulates LESS, she does NOT stop ovulating totally.  About 25% of the time, her eggs DO get fertilized and if this happens, the pill prevents the new conception from implanting in the womb. Instead it passes into the toilet and dies. This IS abortion because what was passed into the toilet was genetically a total new human being!  That's why they call the pill an abortifacient!

2. Why shouldn't we use barriers like condoms?  Again, there is the irritation factor for the woman and of course, the men feel a greatly reduced libido using these.  Those are definitely the safest type of birth control but they are not all that safe.  Other barriers like shields don't work but if an egg does get fertilized, the shield may be a problem. Shields can also cause irritation and raise the risk for uterine cancer etc as does any source of constant irritation internally.

OK, those are the physical reasons now let's look at the theology.  We are not supposed to say "no" to God. That is, Christians believe that each life, each pregnancy, is a planned Act of God so if a life results as a repercussion of a couple making love, that is God's Plan EVEN if it creates an unplanned pregnancy to unmarried people - we do not know why God plans things that we don't understand, but we know that we cannot understand much of God's plan and/or won't until we get to Heaven.

So does the Catholic church feel that we should do as the Duggers did and have umpteen kids?  No, actually the church does believe in family planning using Natural Family Planning which means abstinence for 7 days a month.  That isn't very much and the rest of the time, you can proceed totally naturally. Natural Family Planning is NOT the old method of rhythm and not dependent on having regular periods - it is done by observing bodily signs "down south" in order to tell exactly when you are ovulating!

Ironically, Natural Family Planning is now known to be much more effective than the pill in preventing pregnancy - the pill is only 60% effective but Natural Family Planning is 95% effective and actually used by many who are not Catholic or even Christian!

What, you might ask then, is the difference, between Natural Family Planning and contraception?  Good question. The differences are several.

First, you are not saying "NO way" to God - instead you are saying "I don't think I'm ready now" because by not doing anything artificial, you are opening the door to God overriding (I prayed that God would override my Natural Family Planning - I felt uncomfortable having another child because of a chronic illness but I knew if God overrode, it would be ok... unfortunately, God never DID override our Natural Family Planning).

Second, you are not mutilating your body or doing anything destructive to avoid pregnancy. Remember, our bodies are the "Temples of the Holy Spirit".

Third, of course, if an egg gets fertilized which we do believe is a planned Act of God, then it will get implanted and you will be blessed with another child, that is, although you let God know you don't think this is a good time for you to get pregnant, you are also saying "But Thy Will be done" that is, if He has planned another child for you, you leave the door open!

Fourth, Natural Family Planning is something done as a mutual decision of the man and the woman!  Since they are a couple, this is the way things should be!

Planned Parenthood estimates that 60% of abortions are due to failed artificial birth control i.e. if you have said "NO WAY" to God and He overrides, then you might want to terminate your baby.

Planned Parenthood also says that 80% or more of Catholic women are using artificial birth control. Why is this?  My feeling is, it's due to not knowing any better - that is if they knew that Natural Family Planning was not only a whole lot more effective than the pill  but also, it's not defying God's Will should He want to provide another child, and if they knew how easy Natural Family Planning was to learn and how wonderful it feels, and how risky to their health the pill is (some researchers say that the two most avoidable causes of breast cancer which is in epidemic in our society now - are abortion and the pill!), few women would want to continue using the pill.

Consider learning Natural Family Planning - it's better - way better for you, it will not raise your risk for heart attack, stroke, thrombosis and breast cancer and best of all, it does not lock the door to Divine Providence!  Win- win, yes?

The Bishop and the Hospital

In a controversial decision (at least according to the news services), Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted revoked his consent for St. Joseph’s Hospital to use the name Catholic because he cannot verify that the hospital will provide authentically Catholic health care in accord with the teachings of the Church.

Bishop launched a website to explain why.

His reasons are as follows:

• St. Joseph’s Hospital’s sanctioning and performing a direct abortion in late 2009,
and

• St. Joseph’s admitting to being in formal cooperation in abortions, sterilizations and contraceptive services administered through their Mercy Care Plan — a $2 billion endeavor covering about 368,000 of Arizona’s poor.

Let's talk about the first one because the second reason is a no brainer. NOTE: The Bishop never said that St Joseph's was not a good hospital or that you will not get good health care there. He merely wants to warn Catholics that it's no longer a Catholic hospital i.e. St Joseph's is not delivering care according to Catholic church teachings on life issues!

The concern of the doctors was not an immediate emergency with the lady with pulmonary hypertension (for whom the Sister approved an abortion) but rather that in a number of cases with this disorder, during childbirth, women have been observed going into respiratory shock leading to death a few days after delivery.

In other words, there was no medical emergency with the pregnancy but in the case of a high risk pregnancy, doctors will always suggest aborting the baby.

This is effectually saying that the mother's life is worth more than the baby's life. But the Catholic church disagrees. We do not rate one life as worth more than another, and we cannot sanction willful murder of one life to make life "less risky" for another human.

The bottom line may come from the Jesuit Spiritual Exercises which remind us that no immoral means justify any ends, even the best of ends.

As my Jesuit Spiritual advisor, Fr John Becker, would say in answer to ANY arguments in favor of abortion, "But it’s murder!"

It is interesting to note that when St Gianna Molla, a pediatrician was pregnant and developed a tumor, she was given the same advice by her doctors that the lady with pulmonary hypertension was given, to abort the child.

St Gianna told them whatever the case, save the baby. St Gianna developed septicemia after her delivery of a little girl (who is now, like her mother, a physician) and died about two weeks after delivery.

And now the church honors her AS St Gianna, a model for all of us. Her daughter whose life was saved by her mother's decision, was present when her mother was canonized by John Paul II.

Truly, as a mother, I would not want to buy my life with the life of my baby. If God wants me or the baby (or both) to live, He will allow it. If not, we, as Catholics do believe that His Divine Providence is a perfect plan.

That is why the Bishop decided what he did and I applaud his decision. He is courageous and standing up for Our Lord and what our church teaches.

If God wanted us to use artificial birth control ....

I keep wondering this - if God wanted us to use artificial birth control, why hasn't He helped us invent something which is both safe and effective? The family planning method which is safe and effective is "periodic abstinence" or "Billings Ovulation". And ironically, this is the method the Catholic Church recommends. You only have to abstain 5-7 days a month and the rest of the time, have a good time whenever you want. So why are 85% of Catholic Women using artificial birth control?

Natural Family Planning is one of the best kept secrets perhaps because no one makes a buck from it.

With the latest news of the study which found a significantly higher risk of both lung cancer and breast cancer in women taking pharmaceutical estrogen and progestin, perhaps Catholic women will have a change of heart.

I have personally observed young women on this medication to have severely crippling strokes and another friend on the medication who developed uterine cancer - she ended up dying in her early 60's with pancreatic cancer.

The Health Read News blog tells about the latest risks found in low dose birth control.