Some of you may be following the progress of Ashlie’s pregnancy here.
Just as a summary, Ashlie gets severe vomiting and nausea when she is pregnant. She is currently pregnant now and has 50+ days to go! woo hoo! You can read her daily trials over on her blog.
Apparently Ashli received some comments after blogging that she wants a tubal ligation after this pregnancy. I sent her some info on tubal and vasectomy problems and urged her to consider the NFP alternative. (She is NOT Catholic). As she doesn’t have a comments section, I post the rest of my comments here.
OK, I am getting the catholic response regarding the tubal and I’m going to answer this once and for all by reprinting an email I just sent out to one of my readers who wrote to inform me that yes, tubal ligation is a “grave sin”.
Yes it is, but the culpability for that sin depends on other factors such as you must know it is a sin and choose to do it anyway freely. I’m sure there are many Catholics who get sterilization procedures who although are in grave error, are probably not in mortal sin because they simply haven’t been catechized properly on the topic. Their culpability would not then be as great, although they are still in error.
“you are saying that surgery to preserve the health of the Holy Spirit’s temple is a grave sin, God has not said this at all. Priests for life is not God.
Two points.
1. It is debatable whether or not sterilization surgery “preserves Health.” In
N fact both procedures carry certain health risks.
http://www.tubal.org/VGHPTS.htm
http://www.malereproduction.com/25_postvaspnsynd.html
2. We agree, Priests for Life are not God. They are well versed in pro-life and moral theology however.
i think that you are hurting and misleading people by your personal judgements that are not based at all on anything in the Bible.
That would be the sola scriptura argument again, but I certainly didn’t have time to investigate that in my E-mail in any depth. Basically, in a nutshell, Catholic Theology on the Contraception issue IS scriptural at least in part. I am wondering if Ashli if you mean a literal verse prohibiting sterilization? There is no such verbatim verse, but I’m sure we could agree that there is not a contraception mentality threaded throughout scripture.
you have thusfar failed to supply any Biblical evidence that tubal ligation is immoral. citing your own opinions as coming from the mouth of Christ might be a sin.
Here are some Catholic and Christian sources
http://www.catholicsource.net/abcbible.html
http://home.att.net/~nathan.wilson/brthcntl.htm
http://www.catholic.com/library/birth_control.asp
i think that God has never spoken more clearly in my life on how many biological children He wants me to have. even if nfp is 98% effective, tubal ligation is much more effective and therefore much more responsible.
NFP is 98% effective too if you take the time to be trained.
preserving my health so that i may continue to do the work that God intends for me is very moral.
Which is why I believe folks are asking you to look at a natural means as opposed to surgery which may not necessarily preserve your health!
God has given me a body that leads me to His perfect plan.
Then why alter it?
i am not catholic. i know that you all believe certain things that the Bible preaches against such as repetitious prayers and praying to saints, etc.
i follow the Bible; it is God’s unfailing word.
Unless you are a 1st century disciple reading the original Greek or the Hebrew, you are reading God’s unfailing word through someone else’s interpretation.
i think you are terribly misguided in your advice to me although i can understand why you give it;
It’s not misguided. I think there may be more to it though than you have researched for yourself.
it is what you have been taught and what you believe, and you fully believe it is for the sake of Christ.
Can’t speak for the Catholic she is commenting on, but I for one am self taught. Did my own research, came to my own conclusions, and they reiterated for me the correctness of the Catholic Church’s teaching.
Awright, you wacky catholics, let that be the end of it. As far as you’re concerned I’m going to my tubal damnation. Check and check; got it.
This Catholic wouldn’t presume to guess one way or the other if you are going to damnation. I do believe you’re opinion on elective sterilization vs. NFP is in serious error – medically, scientifically as well as theologically and think you should do more research and I hope you do.
Please feel free to leave a comment under the posting, or sign my Spiritbook (guestbook) and chat on the tag board at the bottom of the page.