5. First, the RH Law goes against
our Catholic teachings.
6. a. By promoting contraception,
the RH Law violates the
Catechism of the Catholic
Church (“CCC”).
7. The CCC declares that the conjugal act
has a two-fold meaning: unitive (the
mutual self-giving of the spouses) and
procreative (an openness to the
transmission of life). No one may break
the inseparable connection which God
has established between these two
meanings of the conjugal act by
excluding one or the other of them.
(Secs. 2362-2367)
8. Therefore, every action – for example,
direct sterilization or contraception – is
intrinsically immoral which (either in
anticipation of the conjugal act, in its
accomplishment or in the development
of its natural consequences) proposes,
as an end or as a means, to hinder
procreation. (Secs. 2370-2372)
9. The CCC states that the regulation of
births, which is an aspect of responsible
parenthood and motherhood, is objectively
morally acceptable when it is pursued by
the spouses without external pressure,
when it is practiced not out of selfishness
but for serious reasons; and with methods
that conform to the objective criteria of
morality, that is, periodic continence and
use of the infertile periods. (2368-2369;
2399)
10. b. The RH Law cheapens the
human body by treating it as a
mere object, commodity or
thing.
11. The Catholic faith teaches us that
Man is a person, not an animal or
any other living things. He is
special because he is created in the
image and likeness of God.
12. The CCC commands that all the
baptized are called to live chastely in
keeping with their particular states of
life. Some profess virginity or
consecrated celibacy which enables
them to give themselves to God alone
with an undivided heart in a remarkable
manner. Others, if they are married live
in conjugal chastity, or if unmarried
practice chastity in continence.
13. Chastity means the positive
integration of sexuality within the
person. Sexuality becomes truly
human when it is integrated in a
correct way into the relationship of
one person to another. (CCC, secs.
2337-2338)
14. c. The RH Law trivializes sex,
reducing it to a mere
instinctive response to satisfy
one’s biological needs.
15. (i) Sex is the means by which
God shares with us His
creative power.
16. (ii) Sex is the physical fulfillment
of God’s desire that the Man
leave his father and mother and
be one with the woman so that
both shall become one flesh.
17. d. The RH Law devalues
marriage, by making
contraceptives readily
available for free to both
married and
unmarried people.
18. e. The RH Law removes love
from the sexual act.
19. Having partaken of God’s nature,
man is called to love and to self-
giving in the unity of body and
spirit.
20. In short, the sexual act is intended
by God to be a concrete expression
of love when done in the spirit of
self-giving.
22. Examples of Natural Law
1. Self-preservation (natural
inclination to live)
2. Procreation (natural
inclination to reproduce)
3. Knowledge (natural inclination
to learn)
4. Sociability (natural inclination
to love and seek affection)
23. “Contraceptives and birth control devices,
distributed even among the young because
of lack of stringent control, can lead to a
generation of young Filipinos uncaring
about the morality of instant sex and
irresponsible in their view about
pregnancies and the diseases that sexual
promiscuity can bring … For those already
married, contraceptives and birth control
devices of course offer greater opportunities
for sex outside of marriage, both for the
husband and the wife.
24. “The effects of these outside
opportunities on marriage may already
be with us. Perhaps, more than at any
other time, we have a record number
now of separated couples and wrecked
marriages, to the prejudice of the family
and the children caught in between.” (p.
39)
Examples of Natural Law
Self-preservation (natural inclination to live)
Procreation (natural inclination to reproduce)
Knowledge (natural inclination to learn)
Sociability (natural inclination to love and seek affection)