Today's Reading from Jeremiah

by **Joseph the Worker** » 31 Jan 2010 7:10 pm

The word of the LORD came to me, saying:
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I dedicated you,
a prophet to the nations I appointed you.

A lot of Protestants use this verse as the reason they are against abortion (and the one from the Responsorial Psalm today). Do you think it would also be a good way for them to look at birth control? After all, if abortion is wrong because (in their perspective, obviously we have the Church to guide us) God knows you before you are born, what is the logical consequence if he knows you before you are formed in the womb (conception)?

by **prairie** » 31 Jan 2010 11:55 pm

But we don't say it's wrong to use natural family planning, which allows parents to space children at their own discretion.

by **prairie** » 01 Feb 2010 12:07 am

Sorry, that was kind of cryptic.

I've been all over this issue. When we first married we were coc, middle class white Americans, so we used birth control. After some time we decided we should "let God plan our family", which is common among fundamentalists, and means that we didn't use bc or NFP because we thought it was wrong to have any part in planning our own family. Doctor says another baby will kill mom? Have faith! You can't afford the new car seats you'll need, much less the new car? Have faith!

The Church's position is somewhere between. I can't explain it at all, probably because I still view the issue from that fundamentalist lense, though I do accept the Church's teaching. No birth control, but NFP is OK.

by **mllevaleur** » 01 Feb 2010 10:49 am

For me, the argument I think might cause more confusion than anything else. It could easily be misunderstood as saying something along the lines of what mormons believe, that God created lots of souls that are waiting in Heaven to be born on earth.

The thing is, God having perfect knowledge of past, present, and future, knows us before we are born, yes. But, I think of that as meaning all of us who are born and will be born, he knows. Not that he sits around thinking of all the potential children that could be born if so-and-so didn't use contraception, or for that matter if that nice Catholic couple didn't choose to TTA that month, etc. Does that make sense? I also think it might give the mistaken idea that we think one should never avoid pregnancy (even licitly) for fear that we're thwarting a potential person God already "knows".

by **la bella vita** » 01 Feb 2010 11:35 am

This question is related, but a little off topic: what does Catholicism teach about women who are on birth control for medical reasons? I have a friend who went to a major Catholic university and she was able to get her prescription filled on campus, but with a special note from her doctor (she had ovarian cysts and needed it to control them). Is that the standard Catholic stance?

by **Joseph the Worker** » 01 Feb 2010 11:51 am

Good thinking by everyone! Prarie, I was mostly thinking about how to get Prots to think about it, not really on how we could defend our own teaching or thinking.

La Bella Vita:

The Church, on the contrary, does not at all consider illicit the use of those therapeutic means truly necessary to cure diseases of the organism, even if an impediment to procreation, which may be foreseen, should result therefore, provided such impediment is not, for whatever motive, directly willed.

So, I think there is a question of motive, a question of whether there is an alternative drug that would do the same thing, a question of necessity, and a question of whether or not she is married (if she isn't then its a moot point to discuss!)

by **mllevaleur** » 01 Feb 2010 5:22 pm

la bella vita wrote:This question is related, but a little off topic: what does Catholicism teach about women who are on birth control for medical reasons? I have a friend who went to a major Catholic university and she was able to get her prescription filled on campus, but with a special note from her doctor (she had ovarian cysts and needed it to control them). Is that the standard Catholic stance?

From a Catholic perspective: Yes, the Church does allow the use of BC pills and such for medical necessities, and there are valid uses for them, though they are typically MUCH more rare than most docs today often imply. As Joseph mentioned, the intent plays a big part here...as long as a person is not using them FOR their contraceptive effect, it may be allowable to use them for some other medical reason.

From a purely health-related perspective: BC Pills DO NOT FIX anything, they do not help, they are a mere bandaid on top of a festering wound. The only reason they "help" PCOS is because they make the body stop working as it should, shutting down and hiding the symptoms that are screaming, "SOMETHING IS WRONG!!" Rather than trying to slap a bandaid on it, it would be MUCH better for women's health in general if doctors actually tried to remedy the problem, find the root cause of PCOS to begin with. I've known too many ladies (mostly from the NFP board I belong to) who were put on the pill as a teen because of severe cramps or acne or PCOS, etc, and later realized their endometriosis or other issues were just getting worse, but they didn't realize it because their symptoms were being masked the whole time by the pill. That's not helping anything...there are people out there who are actually trying to find ways to fix the problem rather than cover it up, but it's frustrating that the pill is touted as such a miracle "cure" when all it is is a mask for the real problem.

/rant

Just one of my pet peeves in the modern medical world, carry on. :wink: