The Catholic position on birth control and the government mandate

It is important to be clear that the Catholic Church is not opposed to couples limiting their number of children. In fact, the Church encourages couples in the direction of what is called "responsible parenthood." According to Catholic teaching, a husband and wife should thoughtfully and prayerfully take into account both their own welfare and that of their children when deciding on how many children to have.

Regarding the means to determine the number of children, the teaching of the Catholic Church states that artificial (condoms, diaphragms, intrauterine devices) and chemical (the "pill", foams, gels, patch) forms of birth control are morally wrong. Why? In the Church's long-standing conviction, sexual intercourse has written into its very nature a twofold meaning.

One is the unitive aspect that uses sex to deepen the love which a married couple has for each other. The second meaning is the procreative aspect through which a couple cooperates with God to create new life. Both of these aspects of marriage are found and supported in the Scriptures.

The Catholic Church believes in the inseparability of the procreative and unitive aspects of married love. Sexual intercourse is to express love and to be open to the transmission of life simultaneously. Artificial and chemical forms of birth control in Catholic Church teaching are morally wrong because they involve a direct attempt to remove the procreative aspect of sexual intercourse from its unitive aspect.

The Catholic Church only approves of natural forms of birth control, the best-known of which are the Natural Family Planning (NFP) of the Billings Method, Couple to Couple League, and more recently the Creighton Model Fertility Care System (CrMS) which uses NaProTechnology. (Natural Procreative Technology (www.naprotechnology.com). These are not the so-called rhythm method and are highly effective means (98 to 99 percent in CrMS) of natural birth control when properly practiced.

The Catholic Church believes that when couples use natural methods of birth control (charting fertility signs and abstaining from sexual intercourse at times) they are using the method God and nature has given them. In a world in which people are encouraged to go "natural" when it comes to what we put in our bodies, it seems incongruous why the "natural way" regarding fertility would not be held in high regard. In natural methods, birth control is a shared responsibility and not "the man's job" or "the woman's job."

One particular fact worth noting about the birth control pill is that it does not always prevent ovulation. In which case the pill either inhibits the movement of sperm into the uterus or prevents the fertilized egg from implanting in the uterus. If one understands the word "contraception" to mean "against conception," then by definition some pills and means of birth control on the market today should rightly be termed abortifacients instead of contraceptives because their intent is to work after fertilization has taken place.

So why is the Catholic Church against the recent health mandate of the Obama administration? Simply put, if an employee of a Catholic institution or affiliation wants coverage for contraception, abortifacients or sterilization directly from the insurer, the objecting employer (Catholic institution/affiliation) is forced to pay for it as a part of the employer's insurance plan. The funds to pay for that coverage would come from the premiums of the employer and fellow employees, even those who object in conscience. The Catholic Church is against this mandate both from the context of moral convictions and religious liberty.

Let me offer a simple analogy: If all Orthodox Jewish institutions were told that they must provide pork in their cafeterias as part of their menu, would we not see this as a violation of their religious and deeply held convictions? Jewish institutions certainly have the moral right not to serve pork even if some of their workers or employees are not Jews.

You may not agree with the Catholic Church's teaching on birth control, but the Catholic Church would defend the moral convictions of other Christians, Jews, etc. when it comes to religious liberty and conscience rights.

The Rev. David Hulshof is the pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in Cape Girardeau.