The Couple to Couple League of Indianapolis

The Pill: Medical and Moral Contradictions



This Letter was writtten in response to Fr John Dietzen's Question Corner. It is a Nationally syndicated column which I read in the Criterion. The question and Fr Dietzen's response concern the morality of taking "the Pill" for medical reasons.

Subject: Fr John Dietzen Column, May 31, 2002

I believe Fr John Dietzen was at best “less than clear” in his answer to the woman concerned about the morality of taking the Birth Control Pill when it had been prescribed for “medical reasons”. As a teacher of natural family planning for the Couple to Couple League (CCL), we study all forms of contraception to educate couples taking our course on both the medical and moral contradictions to using the Birth Control Pill or “the Pill”. 

First, the medical contradictions of the Pill are many. It is unsafe and a woman has the duty to educate herself on its alternatives. Though there are several different forms of the Pill on the market, they generally fall into two types: “combination pills” which consist of progestin and estrogen and the “minipill” which are progestin only. These are strong hormones designed to make a woman’s body believe she is pregnant month after month. Some of the side effects from the Pill are blood clots, high blood pressure and various forms of cancer (especially breast cancer). Though Fr Dietzen correctly stated that the lower dosage pills or progestin-only pills reduce the chance of these side effects they do not eliminate them. Tragically, using numbers from the Alan Guttmacher Institute, CCL calculates there are almost 1090 “Pill” related deaths in the U.S. each year.

 The Pill was designed and approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use “in the prevention of pregnancy in women” only. It is often prescribed to regulate a woman’s cycles or for mild forms of endometriosis. These are “unapproved” or “experimental” uses of the Pill. CCL offers non-Pill alternatives in the form of diet and nutrition to treat both of these conditions.

 Secondly, I would like to state more clearly the moral contradictions to the Pill. Both forms of the Pill, the combination pill and the minipill, attempt to interrupt pregnancy in one of three methods: They

  1. suppress ovulation by interfering with hormones released by the pituary gland during the woman’s monthly cycle,
  2. cause changes in the cervical mucus to impede the migration of sperm and
  3. irritate the lining of the uterus so that if the first two actions fail and the woman does conceive, the new life will be unable to attach to the uterus and will die.

 If the pregnancy is interrupted by the action of method 3 it is because the Pill did not suppress the woman’s ovulation. Research has shown that ovulations occur in 2% to 10% of the cycles of woman taking the Pill. This is called “breakthrough ovulation”. The progestin-only minipill has a much weaker effect making breakthrough ovulation even more frequent. Let us be clear, this is a chemical abortion. “Abortion, the direct killing of an innocent human being, is always gravely immoral” (The Gospel of Life, no. 57).

 If you truly must take the Pill for medical reasons, you have a moral obligation to abstain from sexual relations during its use. For more information on the Pill or on Natural Family Planning contact the Couple to Couple League at 513-471-2000 or visit our website at www.ccli.org.

Michael and Ann Green

CCL of Indianapolis