Most Catholic Women In Us Use Contraceptives

[the171]

now i know a few women who are on birth control for medical reasons.

[Archaeology cat]

[quote name='the171' timestamp='1304045473' post='2234443']
now i know a few women who are on birth control for medical reasons.
[/quote]
Unfortunately it's way over-prescribed. Unless they have a true hormonal issue, the pill isn't going to help, just mask things. Even with a hormonal issue it's probably best to have the hormones tailored to the problem. But unless you fight the doctor on it, the pill is often prescribed instead of looking at alternatives or trying to see what's really going on.

[Cherie]

[quote name='Archaeology cat' timestamp='1304058526' post='2234501']
Unfortunately it's way over-prescribed. Unless they have a true hormonal issue, the pill isn't going to help, just mask things. Even with a hormonal issue it's probably best to have the hormones tailored to the problem. But unless you fight the doctor on it, the pill is often prescribed instead of looking at alternatives or trying to see what's really going on.
[/quote]

Yes, it's unfortunate that women just trust their doctors implicitly. Besides being such an easy, "quick" fix, some pharmaceutical companies give doctors perks for putting their patient on the Pill. Who [i]wouldn't[/i] prescribe a medication in which they get a prize for doing so? But I think it's important for women to understand what the Pill actually does, and arm themselves with knowledge first. There very well may be more effective alternatives for treating their medical problem, but like you said, AC, it's something they'd have to FIGHT for! Which is a shame, but unfortunately true nowadays.

It just boggles my mind how going on birth control is just a given. Thankfully my ob/gyn office at least [i]offers[/i] NFP, but I'm just shocked how so many women talk about their birth control like they talk about a multivitamin, or even daily WATER intake. Practically EVERY woman, married or not (perhaps [i]especially not[/i] nowadays!) is on artificial birth control of some sort. Putting sex within the context of marriage is considered "old fashioned," period. Not something you're [i]supposed[/i] to do, not something that's even [i]good.[/i] Just uptight and old fashioned. I wonder what the percentage of WOMEN (not just Catholic women) on artificial birth control is. Just imagine how much of that stuff is found in our water supply ... ugh, don't want to think about it!

[dominicansoul]

we need to replace contraception with flogs....

[MagiDragon]

[quote name='Debra Little' timestamp='1303861950' post='2233670']
Is that really so bad? People can't afford big families anymore. Those other ways of avoiding pregnancy don't really
work very well.
[/quote]

I think the others have covered the first and the third sentences' errors reasonably well, so I'll stick with the second sentence.

When my wife and I were married, we had some financial concerns about having kids, but trusted that God would provide the means. We now have been married for a little under 4 years, and have 3 kids under 3. (By choice; Kayle was really upset the month we tried to conceive and didn't!) Shortly after getting married, I received a 25% pay raise, a year and a half later, I left for a different job 400 yards away from the first, and got a 40% pay increase there. We were a little cramped in our house with our 2 kids and one in the oven last year, but trusted that God would help us. The current result is that we found an enormous 4 bedroom house, on a beautiful lot, at a ridiculously low price, and everyone on our cul-de-sac goes to our church. (And they're almost too nice!) This is with my wife staying home and making amazing cost saving decisions.

It probably doesn't hurt that Kayle's parents paid for her college and I managed to pay for my own college as I went. And of course getting a degree that pays for itself is also a good idea. I'm a computer programmer. It also doesn't hurt that we live in one of the lowest cost of living cities in the English speaking world (Fort Wayne, Indiana), and the housing market here never fell more than a couple percent.

The most important things financially: don't spend money on things you don't need . . . figure out what your true hourly wage is after subtracting out taxes, food, insurance, gas and housing amortized over the time you work. (Don't forget to account for sleep and eating time required to support those hours of work!) After all is said and done, if your salary is 30k/year (~$15/hour), you probably only have about $1-$2 of discretionary spending per hour. Then ask yourself "Is that new game system and TV really worth 2 months of my life?" Chances are, it's not.

Remember, whoever said "A penny saved is a penny earned" didn't understand income taxes!

Peace,
Joe

[Ice_nine]

[quote name='CherieMadame' timestamp='1304078676' post='2234529']
Just imagine how much of that stuff is found in our water supply ... ugh, don't want to think about it!
[/quote]

Yeah I've hear that it might be causing genetic mutations in male fish that manifests it self in ambiguous sexual anatomy.

With all the sensationalism around the environment you would think this would be a great cause of concern.

[MithLuin]

It's only a matter of time before we recognize the environmental and health effects of doping everyone with hormones. It's not pretty.

On a positive note, I had the opportunity to share information about NFP with a co-worker this week. I just gave her the links to a couple of websites, but at least she knows it's out there now.