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The Catechism of the Catholic Church specifies that all sex acts must be both unitive and procreative. [8] In addition to condemning use of artificial birth control as intrinsically evil, [9] non-procreative sex acts such as mutual masturbation and anal sex are ruled out as ways to avoid pregnancy. [10]
In addition, the church opposes in vitro fertilization because it might cause disposal of embryos; Catholics believe an embryo is an individual with a soul who must be treated as a such. [4] In addition, when it comes to the embryos, cryofreezing them for later use is frowned upon by the Catholic Church because it is considered immoral.
The Pontifical Commission on Birth Control was a committee within the Roman Curia tasked with analyzing the modern impact of birth control on the Roman Catholic Church. The disagreements within the commission ultimately led to the publication of the encyclical Humanae vitae .
Regardless of the Church's ideas about contraception, 99% of Catholics have used some type of contraception. About one quarter of Catholics use sterilization, 25% use hormonal birth control methods such as birth control pills and 15% have used a long-acting reversible form of birth control such as the IUD. [30]
[37] [38] Many NFP clinics and teaching organizations are associated with the Catholic Church, as well as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) [39] and some members of the Muslim faith. [40] Some fundamental Christians espouse Quiverfull theology, eschewing all forms of birth control, including natural family planning. [41]
The 1968 papal encyclical Humanae vitae is a reaffirmation of the Catholic Church's traditional view of marriage and marital relations, and a continued condemnation of artificial birth control. [120] The Church sees large families as a sign of God's blessing. "By its very nature the institution of marriage and married love is ordered to the ...
The Directives state that "whatever comes under control of the Catholic institution — whether by acquisition, governance, or management — must be operated in full accord with the moral teaching of the Catholic Church." [17] [19] The directives prohibit common reproductive health services.
The existence of artificial methods of birth control predates Christianity; the Catholic Church as well as all Christian denominations condemned artificial methods of birth control throughout their respective histories. This began to change in the 20th century when the Church of England became the first to accept the practice in 1930. [73]