Dear Catholic Exchange,
My wife was put on birth control because she has a hormonal problem. The doctor said she would be at risk for cancer if she was taken off the birth control. Does this go against the Catholic Church’s teaching and is it a sin because it still works as a birth control? Thank you for listening.
T. Lucas
Dear Mr. Lucas,
Peace in Christ!
When Pope Paul VI wrote his encyclical Humane Vitae to teach about contraception, he included exceptional circumstances. Paragraph 15 refers to the question of “therapeutic means.” The Holy Father wrote:
“But the Church in no way regards as unlawful therapeutic means considered necessary to cure organic diseases, even though they also have a contraceptive effect, and this is foreseen — provided that this contraceptive effect is not directly intended for any motive whatsoever.”
The Pope is using a principle of moral reasoning called the “principle of double effect.” The principle of double effect applies when one performs an act, intending to bring about a good end, but a foreseen, unintended evil side-effect will result. Further, the good end intended must be proportionately equal or greater than the unintended evil side-effect. So you have a “double effect” resulting from an act — one good and one evil. The act that is the means to achieve the good end must not be, in itself, evil. One cannot do an intrinsically evil act under any circumstances and justify it on the basis that it has a good result. One may not do evil that good may come.
With the treatment of your wife’s “hormonal problem”, in light of the directive of Humane Vitae, the end intended is the relief of a condition. An unintended, but foreseen, consequence is the contraceptive effect, i.e., a potential conception is prevented.
In light of the principle of double effect and applying the teaching of Humane Vitae, it could be morally licit to use a contraceptive to treat the condition. The treatment of the illness could be proportionate to the unintended contraceptive side-effect.
There is one very important aspect to consider. One must ask if the contraceptive is also an abortifacient. If a conception is possible, the potential abortion of a human embryo is an evil side-effect that, many Catholic moralists hold, is not rightly proportionate to the good end intended. The pill in its common form is known to be abortifacient, so one must consider it, not merely a contraceptive, but also an abortifacient. There are other Catholic moralists who hold that because a resulting abortion is only potential and indirect (direct abortions are never morally permissible), using contraceptives with abortifacient properties legitimately falls under double effect and would, hence, be permissible.
There are a couple of institutions that specialize in just these sort of issues and exercise complete fidelity to the Magisterium in their work and research:
The Pope Paul VI Institute
6901 Mercy Road
Omaha, NE 68106-2604
Ph: 402-390-6600
Fax: 402-390-9851.
The Couple to Couple League
PO Box 111184
Cincinnati, OH 45211-1184
Ph: 513-471-2000
Fax: 513-557-2449.
Both of these fine organizations have years of experience. Each work closely with numerous medical professionals. That is to say, both of these organizations are sound on both moral and medical grounds. It could be that they are aware of medically sound alternatives to treat your wife’s condition. In addition to the contraceptive/abortifacient properties, the pill has potentially adverse side-effects that might be avoided by other means. It is often the case that other possible treatments are not offered, either because the doctor is not aware of them (they don’t teach everything in medical school) or because it is simply easier to distribute the pill.
United in the Faith,
Eric Stoutz
Information Specialist
Catholics United for the Faith
827 North Fourth Street
Steubenville, OH 43952
800-MY-FAITH (800-693-2484)
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