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Possible Birth Defects Not a Moral Cause for Contraception

Question:

Can a couple use contraception if the wife is on a medication that states not to get pregnant due to possible harm to the baby?

Answer:

No, they cannot, because they would be directly willing contraception instead of tolerating it as a permissible side effect in seeking medical treatment of an actual malady. In his 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae, Pope Paul VI reaffirmed:

. . . it is never lawful, even for the gravest reasons, to do evil that good may come of it—in other words, to intend directly something which of its very nature contradicts the moral order, and which must therefore be judged unworthy of man, even though the intention is to protect or promote the welfare of an individual, of a family or of society in general (14; see the Catechism 2366-72).

Instead, if you want to avoid risking conceiving a child who may have birth defects, you would have to abstain from conjugal intimacy until such time as your wife is off this medication. At the same time every child, no what matter his or her defects, is a great gift from God.

Perhaps your wife could treat her condition with another medication. In that regard, we suggest you access the Catholic Medical Association to find and consult a good Catholic doctor in your area on this matter.

In the meantime, know that God will honor your faithfulness (see Philippians 4:13, John 8:31-32, 2 Corinthians 12:8-10).

Further, as noted above, you can in some cases use a medication that has an unintended contraceptive side effect. See this answer for information on the principle of double effect.

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