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[color=green:tg3hl7dy][b:tg3hl7dy]HV 15 States:[/b:tg3hl7dy]
15. On the other hand, the Church does not consider at all illicit the use of those therapeutic means necessary to cure bodily diseases, even if a foreseeable impediment to procreation should result there from provided such impediment is not directly intended for any motive whatsoever.[/color:tg3hl7dy]
Is contraceptives ever justified?
Humanae Vitae 15 makes an exception in cases of disease. It doesn’t clarify whether the disease has to be fatal or not but just that “the Church does not consider at all illicit the use of those therapeutic means”.
Granted, it does say only in cases where it “cures” and where there is no “motive whatsoever”.
So this would seem to leave out AIDS on the grounds that it does not “cure” and not necessarily because it leaves out the possibility of procreation. As the same paragraph says “even if a foreseeable impediment to procreation should result there from”.
So what if a form of contraceptive did cure AIDS? Would it then be allowed?
On another note I was pondering over the fact that using a condom isn’t always done with the intent to stop procreation or even because one lacks self control; maybe…..just maybe……they simply don’t want to get AIDS and still fulfill the unitive aspect of catholic sexuality. Just a thought…
This is probably right on the edge of catholic morality so I realize people have a tendency of getting hard cases and making them norms. So I want to make it clear that this isn’t in any way an attempt to find a loop hole to use contraceptives.
Victor, I think you have a good point, and this is a part of church teaching that isn’t talked about. The common understanding is that the church is against birth control of all forms no matter what, but Humanae Vitae would seem to indicate otherwise.
One has to ask, then, does using condoms to prevent the spread of AIDS in fact cure the disease? Should someone have to contract the disease in order to use a contraceptive to prevent its spread to another person? Seems kind of silly, right?
And even more poignant is your point about married couples – if one has HIV is it morally justifiable to give HIV to one’s spouse because of a prohibition on condoms? Or should the couple have to suffer a sexless marriage? There’s a lot of territory to be explored here.
All in all, I still affirm, with the church, that abstinence is the most effective way to erradicate disease. Places like Africa need a culture change to decrease and eliminate the number of rapes. Rampant sex isn’t cured with condoms, but with culture change, which is ultimately what the pope was advocating for when he said condoms are not effective in the fight against HIV.
"Jon":3b0eliqt wrote:Rampant sex isn’t cured with condoms, but with culture change, which is ultimately what the pope was advocating for when he said condoms are not effective in the fight against HIV.[/quote:3b0eliqt]
I heard somewere that condoms have 38% of being defective
[color=blue:1z83yxp5]Jon,
That’s pretty much how I see it as well. However, I often get the impression that this conversation isn’t necessarily welcomed with open arms. I get an emphatic “the Church has spoken, there is nothing more to talk about”……I find this type of reaction and thinking…really does more to hurt the Church. I mean……what in the world do catholics think occured in Councils? Do they think all bishops and priests agreed? For goodness sakes, there was a point in history when most bishops had it wrong. In some cases, bishops literally got into a physical altercation. People really do have a tendency of forgetting just how human catholics can get.
On another note, I do understand why the Church hesitates and drags it’s feet in hard cases like this. The world has seen that with abortion and we see it historically with contraception, with the Anglicans introducing a loophole for “hard cases” in 1930 and now virtually all Protestants seeing nothing wrong with it what-so-ever. This is precisely why the Church is so firm in her teachings: to prevent this sort of slippery slope mentality.[/color:1z83yxp5]
[color=blue:2hd7lnwq]It is to be noted that the Church (as far as I’m aware) has no “official” position on condoms/AIDS issue.[/color:2hd7lnwq]
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