• How It Works

•      The modern-day birth control pill is made up of two types of artificial steroids that mimic the effects of naturally occurring hormones, estrogen and progesterone. These artificial hormones are formulated to act singularly or in combination, and may be taken by mouth, injected or placed beneath one’s skin. Their effectiveness relies on three mechanism: 1. Suppression of ovulation. 2. Impeding migration of sperm, and 3. Inhibiting implantation of the embryo in the uterus.
       The pill is very effective if used as directed. It can prevent or terminate (more on that later) pregnancy 98-99 percent of the time.
       So then, if it is so effective, why would I as a physician not prescribe it? Because I believe, as a Catholic Physician, I am called to address not just the patient’s body, but the personal unity of body, mind and soul.
  

  The Body

       The effects of artificial contraception can be devastating, depending on a woman’s genetic make-up, weight, length of time and type of contraceptive taken. Modern-day contraceptives have potent cardiovascular effects. A woman’s chances of suffering a heart attack, a stroke, or blood clots are increased significantly, even at the lowered dosages in use today as opposed to higher dosages given when the pill first came on the market over 40 years ago.
       Contraceptives also have a potent carcinogenic effect. They raise a woman’s chances of suffering cervical cancer, liver tumors and breast cancer. Contraceptives are linked to increased incidence of migraine headaches, vaginal infections, gallbladder disease, changes in vision and a host of other clinical problems, including death.
       Perhaps most sadly, all modern artificial contraceptives can cause early (chemical) abortions. They do this by making the lining of the womb hostile to the implantation and growth of the embryo. Thus, if ovulation occurs despite the contraceptive’s first mechanism (and this happens all too frequently), and the egg is fertilized, becoming a new human being, the contraceptive’s third mechanism acts to deny the embryo the home and nutrition it should receive in its mother’s womb. Therefore, an early abortion can occur during any given cycle and the woman would never know it because the embryo dies and is expelled from the body.
       Also, due to a contraceptive’s potency, the side effects will likely last much longer than their time in use, and may cause some women to be permanently infertile.
  

  The Mind

       The use of artificial contraception can lead to depression, even after one shot (in the case of Depo-Provera), worsen premenstrual syndrome, and suppress a woman’s sexual drive.
  

  The Soul

       The Catholic Church still teaches that deliberate sterilization (temporary or permanent) is a gravely immoral form of birth control. Man and woman were made to be co-creators with God in the making of new human life. Therefore, when one uses contraception it is wrong, not only because it violates the procreative meaning of the sexual act, but also because it violates the unitive act as well. The sexual act is meant by God to be ‘total self-giving’ and when marriage partners withhold their fertility from their spouses, they are not totally giving themselves. The Catholic Church’s challenge to us throughout the centuries has been not to separate the lovemaking and life creating aspects of the sexual act within marriage.

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