In the 1930 Lambreth Conference, the Anglican Church declared that artificial contraception was not considered sinful "where there was a clearly identified moral obligation to limit or avoid parenthood." In other words, it was left totally up to the consciences of the individuals involved. Within a relatively few years, every Protestant denomination had stopped condemning artificial contraception. Today, most promote it.

Genesis 1:27-28 says:

"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them. ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.'" (NIV)

In the sex act in marriage, the couple is complying with God's command and is performing an act of re-creation; with God's help they are creating a new life. Sexual activity using artificial contraception is a deliberate act to derive sexual pleasure (mutual masturbation) while avoiding the natural result of such activity (see the chapter titled "SIN"). It is an act of recreation rather than re-creation as it is ordered toward self rather than toward God. Within society at large since 1930, the divorce rate has steadily increased until it has reached approximately 50 percent of all marriages. Within marriages which consciously practice Natural Family Planning (NFP), the divorce rate is approximately 2 percent.

Recommended reading:
Catechism of the Catholic Church, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1994, paragraphs 1652, 2368, 2370
Meagher, Paul K. OP, O'Brien, Thomas C. & Aherne, Sister Consuelo M. SSJ, Encyclopedic Dictionary Of Religion, Corpus Publications, Washington, D.C., 1979, pages 905-910
Pope Paul VI, encyclical letter Humane Vitae, 29 July 1968

Q. Is there an alternate form of family planning, other than Natural Family Planning (NFP), that is approved by the Church for those who cannot, for medical reasons, practice NFP?

The only "approved" methods are NFP and abstinence; any form of artificial contraception is immoral because it frustrates the life-giving aspect of marital intercourse. Any medical condition which would necessitate the use of something other than NFP would dictate the practice of abstinence.

Q. Why does the Church oppose abortion?
Q. Does "the Pill" cause abortions?

The Fifth Commandment is "You shall not kill." Abortion is the act of killing an unborn child. From the very first moment of their existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person. You did not become a person the moment you were born, you became a person the instant you were conceived. This is most clearly pointed out in Luke 1:39-44:

"And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Judah; And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth. And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb. Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy." (KJV)

Mary has given her consent to become the mother of Our Lord and is less than seven days pregnant. She has gone to visit her cousin whom the angel has told her is six months pregnant. In this exchange of greetings between Mary and Elizabeth, we learn that an embryo has leaped for joy at the presence of a zygote (to use the terms some medical people use to avoid saying "baby"). These aren't simply lumps of tissue, as the abortionist would have you believe, but unborn human beings who have an effect on those around them.

Abortion has been condemned since the earliest writings of the Church. The Didache, a first century writing, says:

"You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not seduce boys. You shall not commit fornication. You shall not steal. You shall not practice magic. You shall not use potions. You shall not procure abortion, nor destroy a new-born child. You shall not covet your neighbor's goods. You shall not perjure yourself." (2,2-3)

Contraceptive drugs (including "the pill") act in three major ways: 1st, they prevent the release of the egg from the ovaries; 2nd, they thicken the mucus in the reproductive tract, making it more difficult for the sperm to reach the egg; and 3rd, should the egg manage to be released and fertilized, thus forming a new human being, they cause the wall of the uterus to prevent implantation, thus causing the new child to be aborted.

Recommended reading:
Catechism of the Catholic Church, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1994, paragraphs 2270-2275
Pope John Paul II, encyclical letter Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life), March 25, 1995
Drummey, James J., Catholic Replies, C. R. Publications, Norwood, MA 02062, 1995, pages 335-380

Q. Why can't our Priest tell people in the parish more about abortions, and that it should result in excommunication if Catholics vote for officials that are pro-choice?

I agree that more should be said about abortion and the Church penalties involved. On the other hand, it is fortunate also that the Church requires the homilist to address the readings for that particular day. This precludes him from talking, week after week, about whatever his favorite subject might be. There are several Sunday readings each year which afford an opportunity to address the issue of abortion.

Persons procuring a completed abortion, and all those involved in the deliberate and successful effort to bring about the completed abortion, are automatically excommunicated; provided that each person knew the Church's penalty for this action and went ahead with it anyway. Pope John Paul II says:

"The excommunication affects all those who commit this crime with knowledge of the penalty attached and thus includes those accomplices without whose help the crime would not have been committed. By this reiterated sanction, the Church makes clear that abortion is a most serious and dangerous crime, thus encouraging those who commit it to seek without delay the path of conversion. In the Church, the purpose of the penalty of excommunication is to make an individual fully aware of the gravity of a certain sin and then to foster genuine conversion and repentance" (Evangelium Vitae, n. 62)

As to whether voting for a person who is pro-choice results in automatic excommunication, Bishop John Myers of Peoria, IL, in his 1 June 1990 pastoral letter The Obligations of Catholics and the Rights of Unborn Children, writes:

"A public official who would deny unborn children the protection of laws enjoyed by other citizens is guilty of grave injustice. Ordinarily it is morally illicit to help such a person achieve an office in which he or she will be in a position to do such an injustice. Those who assist such candidates because of their position on abortion are guilty of complicity in the abortions their election would make possible . . . One is formally complicit in the injustice of abortion when one votes for a candidate even partially on the basis of his or her pro-abortion positions . . . One who supports legal abortion cannot avoid formal complicity by maintaining that he or she wills not abortion as such, but only the freedom of others to choose abortion. Anyone who supports legal abortion seeks to remove from one class of human beings a basic protection afforded to others. By helping to make abortion available, a person becomes formally complicit in its basic injustice whether or not he or she would actively encourage anyone else to have an abortion. From the ethical point of view, there is no distinction between being ‘pro-choice' and being ‘pro-abortion.'...All formal cooperation in abortion is gravely immoral. So is most material cooperation in abortion."

In other words, any Catholic who votes for a candidate because of the candidate's position on abortion is guilty of an objectively grave immoral action. The subjective sinfulness of the action depends, as always, on whether the voter acted with sufficient reflection and with full consent of the will.