Personally Opposed but Supportive of Legal Access to Contraception?

Legalized contraception is pretty much an established fact in America, unfortunately, as has been for decades. So there really wouldn’t be an occasion in which Catholics would find themselves even asked to offer such support for legal access to contraception.

One might counter and say, “What about supporting legal access to contraception for those who work for Catholic entities?” Such support would be morally wrong.

In short, contraception is not authentic medical care. It treats no genuine medical problem, but rather treats a woman’s God-given gift of fertility as a malady to be “corrected” or controlled.

Consequently, the government should not coerce or otherwise violate the religious liberty of Catholic entities, forcing them to violate their consciences and offer inauthentic medical care. And Catholics shouldn’t support such government efforts.

When people choose to work for Catholic entities, they should understand that these entities are committed to advancing the mission of Jesus Christ and his Church, including in what they provide their employees re: medical coverage. And those employees who still desire contraception have various inexpensive legal alternatives of which they can choose to partake.

In conclusion, as Catholics, we should never offer support for legal access to contraception, even while recognizing it will likely remain part of the accepted fabric of American life. In this light, elected Catholic leaders in secular government may face passing large bills that include, as a small part, the continued legal funding of contraceptives. They can, in good conscience, vote for the good aspects of such bills while being morally opposed to the bad aspects. And they should never vocally offer a defense of legalized contraceptives. To the contrary, if asked, they should explain how contraception is not authentic medical care.

And Catholics who oversee healthcare benefits for secular entities can do their best to offer moral alternatives to contraception, such as training in NFP, given the various physical side effects to the Pill, for example, not to mention the moral fallout. And they can also offer to women non-abortifacient alternatives to treating various female medical issues, e.g., by covering related treatments offered by the Pope Paul VI Institute in Omaha, Nebraska.