Rethinking How We Apply the Church's Teaching on Birth Control

Episode 481 · September 1st, 2026 · 1 hr 15 mins

About this Episode

Luke brings up a topic he has been nervous to raise: does the way American Catholics apply the Church's teaching on birth control account for what happens to a person's freedom under real constraint? It's a good conversation. It's not heterodox (we promise). No need to send that email.

Gomer walks through his own family's case and then through what the Church actually says about grave matter, full knowledge, and consent of the will. The conversation runs long enough that the fellas decide to finish it next episode.

In This Episode:

  • Luke's caveats before the topic: not arguing the Church's teaching, not arguing Humanae Vitae, only asking what full consent looks like when someone's freedom is genuinely constrained
  • Gomer's own case—three miscarriages, an ectopic pregnancy that almost killed Shannon, the doctor's warning that another pregnancy could kill her, and the principle of totality that had to be satisfied before a hysterectomy could be recommended
  • The three conditions for mortal sin, and what pornography, hypersexualization, and monetary inflation do to knowledge and consent
  • Having a lot of kids as a measure of Catholic seriousness, the people who feel judged for three or four, and the practical questions about the pill, IUDs, and abstinence
  • Occasions of sin and why this became a two-part conversation

Resources Mentioned:

Chapters:

  • 00:00: Intro
  • 02:15: Rethinking the American Catholic approach to birth control
  • 04:59: Humanae Vitae, and what is not up for debate here
  • 07:53: Full consent, the unitive good, and when NFP does not work
  • 10:16: Gomer's story—miscarriages, an ectopic pregnancy, and the principle of totality
  • 16:49: What mortal sin requires, and growing up in a culture of death
  • 23:48: Settled teaching and where the Church is still exploring
  • 31:38: The pill, IUDs, and abstinence that wounds the marriage
  • 35:10: Psychological impairment, cultural conditioning, and mitigated guilt
  • 50:25: The alcoholic, the crack addict, and near occasions of sin
  • 01:01:09: IVF, the heroically moral choice, and postpartum realities
  • 01:07:40: Unitive and procreative—von Hildebrand, Wojtyła, and splitting the conversation

Produced by Saint Kolbe Studios

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