5.3 - Contraception

Embed Doc
Copy Link
Readcast
Collections

CommentGo Back

Download

Catholic Moral Decision-Making 5.3 – Contraception – Handout1

5.3

–

C

ONTRACEPTION

Talk Handout

I.

Humanae Vitae

On the Transmission of Life

by Pope Paul VI – July 25, 1968

A. Catholics were asking whether contraception could be permitted

(

Humanae vitae

, 3)

1) Could the intention of a less abundant but more rationalized fecundity transform a materiallysterilizing intervention into a licit and wise control of birth?



My intention to have fewer children for good reasons makes contraceptive acts OK, in fact, a wise decision.

2) Could the finality of procreation pertain to the ensemble of conjugal life, rather than to singleacts?



What matters is that I’m open to life as a whole… I shouldn’t have to worry about what I’m doing in a particular act of sexual union.

3) These questions were motivated by changes in society:

(

Humanae vitae

, 2)

1 - Rapid demographic development, fear of overpopulation2 - Proper education of large numbers of children3 - Role of women in society4 - Value of conjugal love in marriage, meaning of conjugal acts in relation to love5 - Progress in domination of the forces of nature: human body and procreation

B. Moral Principles governing Marriage

(

Humanae vitae

, 7-12)

“The problem of birth… is to be considered… in the light of an integral vision of man and of hisvocation…natural and supernatural.”

(

Humanae Vitae

, 7)

1) Marriage is designed by God for love “

God is love” (1 Jn 4:8)

- “God the Creator wisely and providently established marriage with the intent that He might achieve His owndesign of love through men.” (HV 8)- “By means of the reciprocal personal gift of self, proper and exclusive to them, husband and wife tend towardsthe communion of their beings in view of mutual personal perfection, to collaborate with God in the generationand education of new lives.” (HV 8)

2) Characteristics of Marital Love

(HV 9)

1)

Human

- flesh & spirit, more than emotion, act of the will, grows in daily life



union of hearts2)

Total

- special form of friendship, share everything, unselfish, receives all & gives all3)

Faithful

- shows faithfulness of God to His people, I will not abandon you, forsake you

4) Exclusive

- gift to one person to the exclusion of all others, you and you alone

5) Fruitful

- love goes beyond couple, destined to raise up new life, children supreme gift of marriage

C. Nature and Purpose of the Marriage Act

(

Humanae vitae,

11-12)

1) “Each and every marriage act must remain open to the transmission of life.”

(HV 11)“Not every conjugal act is followed by a new life. God has wisely disposed natural laws andrhythms of fecundity which, of themselves, cause a separation in the succesion of births.

2) Unitive and Procreative

“That teaching… is founded upon the inseparable connection, willed by God and unable to bebroken by man on his own initiative, between the two meanings of the conjugal act: the unitivemeaning and the procreative meaning.”

- These two meanings of the marital act are inscribed into the very being of man and woman.

Catholic Moral Decision-Making 5.3 – Contraception – Handout2- By safeguarding these essential aspects… the conjugal act preserves in its fullness the sense of true mutuallove and its ordination towards man’s most high calling to parenthood.” (HV 12)

1) Union - Love desires union. Love’s aim is unity: bring couple together, Two become one flesh.Conjugal Love involves the whole person: body, emotions, mind and will.2) Fruitfulness - covenant includes openness to new life, if the Lord blesses you with children.

“I will bless her [Sarah] and moreover, I will give you a son by her…she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.”

(Gen 15:16)

D. Contraception and sterilization are not morally permitted

(

Humanae vitae,

14)

“We…declare that the direct interruption of the generative process already begun, and, above all,directly willed and procured abortion, even if for therapeutic reasons, are to be absolutely excludedas licit means of regulating birth.”“Equally to be excluded, as the teaching authority of the Church has frequently declared, is directsterilization, whether perpetula or temporary, whether of the man or the woman.”Similarly excluded is every action with either in anticipation of the conjugal act, or in itsaccomplishment, or in the development of its natural consequences, proposes, whether as an end oras a means, to render procreation impossible.”

“The language of the body speaks a word in the sex act, which by its own essence means both mutual self-givingunion and openness to procreation. To contracept is to lie, to say one thing with the body and the opposite thingwith the contraceptive instrument. The body says: ‘Let there be new life’, while the instrument says: ‘Let this lifebe prevented.’” (Peter Kreeft,

Catholic Christianity

, 250)

E. Husband and wife are called to exercise

responsible parenthood

(

Humanae vitae,

10, 16)

1) This includes not having more children if you are unable to care for them

“With regard to physical, economic, psychological and social conditions, responsible parenthood is exercised bythose who prudently and generously decide to have more children, and by those who, for serious reasons and withdue respect to moral precepts, decide not to have additional children for either a certain or an indefinite period of time.” (

HV

, 10)

2) In such situations, recourse to infertile periods is permitted

(

Natural Family Planning

)

“If therefore there are well-grounded reasons for spacing births, arising from the physical or psychologicalcondition of husband or wife, or from external circumstances, the Church teaches that married people may thentake advantage of the natural cycles immanent in the reproductive system and engage in marital intercourse onlyduring those times that are infertile, thus controlling birth in a way which does not in the least offend the moralprinciples which We have just explained.” (

HV

, 16)



See Handout 5.4 –

NFP: The Facts

F. Predictions of Grave Consequences of Contraception

(

Humanae vitae,

17)

1) General lowering of morality in society

Perhaps morals of individuals hasn’t changed, but what is accepted in society HAS changed from 1950 to 1990.

2) Disregard for well-being of women by men

(physically & psychologically)

3) Governments would use contraception/family planning for coercion

Women want better pre-natal care, but what they get from the United Nations & Western countries in generalare programs which require distribution of contraceptives if you want to get the medical & economic aid.Online:http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae_en.html

Catholic Moral Decision-Making 5.3 – Contraception – Handout3

II. Common Objections

Objection:

I see no difference between contraception and natural family planning. Both have the samegoal, the only difference is in using different means, so they should be morally equivalent.

Response:

A general principle of ethics is that the ends

don’t

justify the means. In order for an action to bemorally acceptable BOTH the ends AND the means must be morally acceptable. The Sermon on theMount, doesn’t say that

only

bad motivation makes something a sin.

Ex.

Two people want to support their family. One gets a job the other robs abank. Same end, different means. One isacceptable, the other is not.

Ex.

Two people want to lose weight (same end). So, one of them goes on a diet, eats less (legitimate means). Theother continues to eat a lot and then induces vomiting (non-legitimate means).

Notice that in this second example, the person who eats and throws up is trying to get the pleasureaspect of the act of eating, while acting directly against the nutritive aspect of the act of eating. He isseparating the pleasure aspect from the nutrition aspect, both of which are designed to be united in theact of eating.In the same way, couples who are using contraceptives are trying to get the unitive aspect of the sexualact, while acting directly against the procreative aspect. they are separating the unitive and theprocreative aspects, both of which are designed to be united in the sexual act.

Two arguments against using contraception:1)

Procreative

- Contraception goes directly against the procreative meaning of the sexual act.Contraception attacks the fertility of the male or female, making them infertile. It treats thenatural gift of life and fertility as if they were not gifts, as if they were burdens or defects. NFPdoes not act directly against fertility, respecting the existing cycle of fertility built into thewoman.

2)

Unitive

- The sexual act is a renewal of the marriage covenant, which is a mutual exchange of persons “I am yours” and “You are mine”. Thus the sexual act is meant to be an act of total self-giving, giving everything that you’ve got to your spouse. When you are withholding yourfertility, you’re withholding something that belongs in this action, that actually belongsthere. To withhold it means that you’re not giving of yourself completely, and that you don’twant all of the other person. That’s what a condom or other contraceptive is, “I love you, but Idon’t want a very important part of yourself here, something that actually belongs in this act.”

of 00

Leave a Comment