Is use of birth control always a mortal sin?

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Catholic Pages Forum : One Thread

I posted this question earlier, but I am not sure if it got through or not, since it's not in the new questions.

I read in Catholic Pages that use of any type of birth control (except NFP, for certain reasons) is a mortal sin. Yet when I was married (15 years ago) and went through Pre-Cana, I am sure we were told that the Church says this is a matter of private conscience (or something like that). The presenters said that the Pill and the IUD were never okay, because they prevented development of an already fertilized egg, but that such devices as diaphragm, foam, condom, were okay (not as preferred as NFP though) as long as the couple was open to creation of new life in their marriage. We have used the diaphragm for spacing between our children. We have 3 children. I had increasingly serious problems with pregnancies 2 and 3, and so we didn't really entertain the idea of further tries. Now I am 42, and am having more and more irregular monthly cycles. I never read or heard that this was a mortal sin, and I really would not want to continue this knowing now that it is a sin. But I do want to be sure this is right before I make changes that I know will be difficult for our marriage, my health, and the health of any children that may result. Please help!

-- Anonymous, June 10, 1998

Answers

RE:contraception

Patty, You were misled in your pre-cana instruction. The reason why NFP is acceptable and unnatural methods such as the diaphragm are not is that when using NFP you do not seperate the sexual act from having children. If you are trying to avoid having children with NFP you don't have sex. This is a sacrifice for the couple and an acknowledgement that when having sex it is up to God to decide if you get pregnant or not. Using artificial methods which allow you to continue to have sex but remove the ability to have children is basically saying to God that you are the master of your life and He is not. God bless. Ian Rutherford
The Catholic Liturgical Library

-- Anonymous, June 14, 1998

Also, the pill and IUD are abortificants - they cause early abortions. I was sick to my stomach when I found this out. Planned Parenthood never told me about it (pill) not allowing a fertilized ovum to implant.

Here are a couple other sites with info on the pill.

http://www.healthanswers.com/health_answers/aafp/birth_control /pill.htm

and

http://h-devil-www.mc.duke.edu/h-devil/contrac/pill.htm

Lisa

-- Anonymous, June 19, 1998


Moderation questions? read the FAQ