Like a Natural Woman
Elizabeth Wirth
October 1, 2000
I always assumed I would go on the pill when I got married. The fact that I was a practicing and believing Catholic posed no contradiction. Certainly, I was aware of the Church's teaching about contraception, more or less-but I had never actually been taught it. I didn't know anyone who believed the doctrine, much less practiced it, and far from challenging my beliefs, no one had ever even brought up the subject. The only thing I knew was the statistic that approximately 90 percent of Catholics ignore the teaching. That, and the ubiquitous jokes: What do you call a woman on the rhythm method? Mommy.
Still, I'm the kind of person who hesitates before taking ibuprofen for a headache. Was I ready to take a drug every day, potentially for years, that would affect my entire reproductive system? Reading the list of potential side effects-depression, migraine headaches, loss of sex drive-and then meeting people who actually had experienced those side effects made me wonder even more. For the first time, I found myself open to what the Church might have to say about birth control. But when I started to question, I couldn't find anyone to give me a straight answer.
I decided that a good first step would be to ask a priest at the parish where we were to be married. Not being accustomed to discussing these issues with anyone, let alone a man whom I didn't really know, I nervously waited until the end of our meeting to bring up the subject. Finally, I asked if he could talk to me about the Church's teaching and give me any advice. He paused for several seconds and looked at me quizzically, as if he was trying to figure out if this was something I really wanted to know, or if I was only asking because I thought my Catholic mother could ...
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