The Catholic Church's position is that it's against all birth control that it deems as artificial. That includes the birth control pill and condoms, and medical procedures such as vasectomy and sterilization.
Sterilization is forbidden in Catholic doctrine—but many doctors in systems affiliated with the Church believe the restriction runs counter to their patients' best interests.
Tubal sterilization remains one of the most commonly requested contraceptive methods in the United States. Catholic hospital policy prohibits all sterilizations, but this ban is not uniformly enforced.
The Catholic Church's opposition to contraception includes a prohibition on condoms. It believes that chastity should be the primary means of preventing the transmission of AIDS.
The Catholic position on contraception was formally explained and expressed by Pope Paul VI's Humanae vitae in 1968. Artificial contraception is considered intrinsically evil, but methods of natural family planning may be used, as they do not usurp the natural way of conception.
The Church's position was that only the use of the 'safe period' could be permitted as a form of contraception. The encyclical argued that the use of artificial birth control methods 'could open wide the way for marital infidelity and a general lowering of moral standards'.
The church disapproves direct sterilization because it separates unnaturally the dual purpose of the marital act, contradicts the nature of man and woman and their intimate relationship, and oversteps the dominion a person has over his or her generative faculties.
Pope Benedict XVI has said the use of condoms is acceptable in exceptional circumstances, according to a new book. He said condoms could reduce the risk of HIV infection, such as for a male prostitute, in a series of interviews given to a German journalist.
The answer on Viagra coverage is usually yes, Catholic leaders say. And they argue that's neither hypocritical nor sexist. Procreation is something the Catholic church encourages. And Viagra and other erectile dysfunction drugs can be of help.
The Vatican also opposed the United Nations's distribution of emergency contraception — sometimes known as Plan B or morning-after pills — to rape victims.
Indeed, Catholicism takes a pretty strong stance against IVF. The church prohibits any type of conception that takes place outside of “marital union,” which rules out the use of assisted reproductive technology. Another issue is cryopreservation of embryos, which presents numerous moral conundrums for Catholics.
In 1993, apparently using the word “mother” to refer to anyone who could become pregnant, the Vatican said hysterectomies are allowed if they address an “immediate serious threat to the life or health of the mother,” but not to prevent a future pregnancy that would pose a “danger to the mother.”
Artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization, and surrogate motherhood are immoral because they involve sexual acts that are procreative, but not unitive. And, rightful conception must respect the inseparability of the two meanings of the sexual act.
Roman Catholic Church
Pope Pius XII taught that circumcision is only "[morally] permissible if, in accordance with therapeutic principles, it prevents a disease that cannot be countered in any other way."
Most Christians believe that contraception may be used to limit the number of children born into a family as long as the method is not abortion. Those who believe marriage and sex are primarily about intimate, affectionate companionship believe that deliberate prevention is appropriate (1 Corinthians 10:23-33).
Between 1 and 26 percent of the millions of women who undergo the procedure subsequently experience regret (Division of Reproductive Health, CDC).
The Catholic Church “does not consider at all illicit” use of medical therapies to cure diseases “even if a foreseeable impediment to procreation should result there from—provided such impediment is not directly intended for any motive whatsoever.”15 It would be permissible to use birth control when the intent of the ...
Testosterone first? Before Viagra appeared on the scene in 1998 and transformed the treatment of erectile dysfunction, testosterone was an important medical therapy for it. Testosterone is central in the male sexual response, including the desire for sex and the mechanics of triggering an erection.
have low blood pressure (hypotension) have a rare inherited eye disease, such as retinitis pigmentosa. have sickle cell anaemia (an abnormality of red blood cells), leukaemia (cancer of blood cells) or multiple myeloma (cancer of bone marrow) have a deformity of your penis or Peyronie's disease (curved penis)
The Pope's Encyclical
He reaffirmed the Church's traditional teachings and classified the Pill as an artificial method of birth control. To go on the Pill or use any other contraceptive device would constitute nothing less than a mortal sin.
In a book published last month, Benedict said that although condoms were not “a real or moral solution,” in some cases, they might be used as “a first step in the direction of a moralization, a first assumption of responsibility.” He cited as an example a male prostitute who might use a condom so as not to spread ...
The new stance was staked out as the Vatican explained Pope Benedict XVI's comments on condoms and HIV in a book that came out Tuesday based on his interview with a German journalist. The Vatican still holds that condom use is immoral and that church doctrine forbidding artificial birth control remains unchanged.
The Catholic Church believes that IVF is never acceptable because it removes conception from the marital act and because it treats a baby as a product to be manipulated, violating the child's integrity as a human being with an immortal soul from the moment of conception (Donum Vitae 1987).
Its second sentence defines indirect sterilization: a procedure whose direct, that is, intended effect is to cure or alleviate a present and seri- ous pathology and whose indirect, only tolerated, effect is sterility.
For men and women who no longer want to have children, sterilization offers a permanent, safe, cost-effective and efficacious way to prevent unintended pregnancy. Male sterilization is less common than female sterilization, but both are nearly 100% effective at preventing pregnancy.