{"id":13601,"date":"2010-05-15T19:05:00","date_gmt":"2010-05-16T02:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?p=13601"},"modified":"2023-01-23T22:09:57","modified_gmt":"2023-01-24T06:09:57","slug":"conscience-contraception-and-catholic-health-care-professionals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?p=13601","title":{"rendered":"Conscience, Contraception, and Catholic Health-Care Professionals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Janet E Smith<\/h4>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"163\" height=\"230\" src=\"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/linacre.jpg\" alt=\"The Linacre Quarterly\" class=\"wp-image-11238\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Linacre Quarterly<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><strong>Abstract<\/strong><br>The Church&#8217;s teachings are often very challenging. Those who are involved in the health-care professions and who conduct their practices in accord with Church teaching can expect misunderstanding and even rejection from their colleagues and patients. One of the most difficult teachings of the Church is its condemnation of contraception. In 1968 Pope Paul VI issued the encyclical Humanae vitae, which hit the world like a bomb. In it he affirmed the Church&#8217;s long-standing teaching on human sexuality and condemned contraception in particular. Today scientific advances such as in vitro fertilization and embryonic stem-cell research, as well as the challenges in making moral decisions about end-of-life care, make it increasingly difficult for health-care professionals to practice in accord with their deeply held moral convictions. Developing a properly formed conscience, which is the voice of God, is essential in dealing with these contemporary issues and making right choices. This essay outlines the process for properly forming the conscience. It also explains why prescribing contraception is morally wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>Smith JE. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tandfonline.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1179\/002436310803888853\">Conscience, Contraception, and Catholic Health-Care Professionals<\/a>. Linacre Quarterly. 2010 May;77(2):204-228.  Edited transcript of a talk given at the first annual symposium for health-care professionals, \u201cConscience and Ethical Dilemmas in Catholic Healthcare,\u201d hosted by the Archdiocese of Baltimore Respect Life Office and Baltimore Guild of the Catholic Medical Association, Baltimore, MD, May 9, 2009. The text is more conversational than a written paper and not as closely documented as a professional piece. Much of the material was accompanied by PowerPoint slides.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Janet E Smith AbstractThe Church&#8217;s teachings are often very challenging. Those who are involved in the health-care professions and who conduct their practices in accord with Church teaching can expect misunderstanding and even rejection from their colleagues and patients. One of the most difficult teachings of the Church is its condemnation of contraception. In 1968 &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?p=13601\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Conscience, Contraception, and Catholic Health-Care Professionals&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,4,554,970,552],"tags":[1465],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-13601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-artificial-reproduction","category-contraception","category-ethics","category-proceedings","category-religion","tag-janet-e-smith"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\r\n<title>Conscience, Contraception, and Catholic Health-Care Professionals - Protection of Conscience Project Library<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This essay outlines the process for properly forming the conscience. It also explains why prescribing contraception is morally wrong\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?p=13601\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Conscience, Contraception, and Catholic Health-Care Professionals - Protection of Conscience Project Library\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This essay outlines the process for properly forming the conscience. It also explains why prescribing contraception is morally wrong\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?p=13601\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Protection of Conscience Project Library\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/consciencepro\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-05-16T02:05:00+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-01-24T06:09:57+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/linacreog.jpg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"300\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Project Administrator\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/linacreog.jpg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@consciencpro\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@consciencpro\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Project Administrator\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/?p=13601#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/?p=13601\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Project Administrator\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/263d102b35e3f7822db6d548b2555098\"},\"headline\":\"Conscience, Contraception, and Catholic Health-Care Professionals\",\"datePublished\":\"2010-05-16T02:05:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-01-24T06:09:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/?p=13601\"},\"wordCount\":260,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/?p=13601#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/linacre.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Janet E Smith\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Artificial reproduction\",\"Contraception\",\"Ethics\",\"Proceedings\",\"Religion\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/?p=13601#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/?p=13601\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/?p=13601\",\"name\":\"Conscience, Contraception, and Catholic Health-Care Professionals - Protection of Conscience Project Library\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/?p=13601#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/?p=13601#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/linacre.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2010-05-16T02:05:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-01-24T06:09:57+00:00\",\"description\":\"This essay outlines the process for properly forming the conscience. It also explains why prescribing contraception is morally wrong\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/?p=13601#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/?p=13601\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/?p=13601#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/linacre.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/linacre.jpg\",\"width\":163,\"height\":230,\"caption\":\"The Linacre Quarterly\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/?p=13601#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Conscience, Contraception, and Catholic Health-Care Professionals\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"Protection of Conscience Project Library\",\"description\":\"Service, not Servitude\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Protecton of Conscience Project\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/projectlogo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/projectlogo.jpg\",\"width\":1123,\"height\":1376,\"caption\":\"Protecton of Conscience Project\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/consciencepro\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/consciencpro\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/263d102b35e3f7822db6d548b2555098\",\"name\":\"Project Administrator\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/2f23b26a3373f72c4b33841a689bb10155dcc572564e51c5b3bb99d75ffbd2b8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/2f23b26a3373f72c4b33841a689bb10155dcc572564e51c5b3bb99d75ffbd2b8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/2f23b26a3373f72c4b33841a689bb10155dcc572564e51c5b3bb99d75ffbd2b8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Project Administrator\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.consciencelaws.org\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/library.consciencelaws.org\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\r\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Conscience, Contraception, and Catholic Health-Care Professionals - Protection of Conscience Project Library","description":"This essay outlines the process for properly forming the conscience. It also explains why prescribing contraception is morally wrong","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?p=13601","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Conscience, Contraception, and Catholic Health-Care Professionals - Protection of Conscience Project Library","og_description":"This essay outlines the process for properly forming the conscience. It also explains why prescribing contraception is morally wrong","og_url":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?p=13601","og_site_name":"Protection of Conscience Project Library","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/consciencepro","article_published_time":"2010-05-16T02:05:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-01-24T06:09:57+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":300,"url":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/linacreog.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Project Administrator","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_image":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/linacreog.jpg","twitter_creator":"@consciencpro","twitter_site":"@consciencpro","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Project Administrator","Estimated reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?p=13601#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?p=13601"},"author":{"name":"Project Administrator","@id":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/#\/schema\/person\/263d102b35e3f7822db6d548b2555098"},"headline":"Conscience, Contraception, and Catholic Health-Care Professionals","datePublished":"2010-05-16T02:05:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-01-24T06:09:57+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?p=13601"},"wordCount":260,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?p=13601#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/linacre.jpg","keywords":["Janet E Smith"],"articleSection":["Artificial reproduction","Contraception","Ethics","Proceedings","Religion"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?p=13601#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?p=13601","url":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?p=13601","name":"Conscience, Contraception, and Catholic Health-Care Professionals - Protection of Conscience Project Library","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?p=13601#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?p=13601#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/linacre.jpg","datePublished":"2010-05-16T02:05:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-01-24T06:09:57+00:00","description":"This essay outlines the process for properly forming the conscience. It also explains why prescribing contraception is morally wrong","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?p=13601#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?p=13601"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?p=13601#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/linacre.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/linacre.jpg","width":163,"height":230,"caption":"The Linacre Quarterly"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?p=13601#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Conscience, Contraception, and Catholic Health-Care Professionals"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/","name":"Protection of Conscience Project Library","description":"Service, not Servitude","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/#organization","name":"Protecton of Conscience Project","url":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/projectlogo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/projectlogo.jpg","width":1123,"height":1376,"caption":"Protecton of Conscience Project"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/consciencepro","https:\/\/x.com\/consciencpro"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/#\/schema\/person\/263d102b35e3f7822db6d548b2555098","name":"Project Administrator","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2f23b26a3373f72c4b33841a689bb10155dcc572564e51c5b3bb99d75ffbd2b8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2f23b26a3373f72c4b33841a689bb10155dcc572564e51c5b3bb99d75ffbd2b8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2f23b26a3373f72c4b33841a689bb10155dcc572564e51c5b3bb99d75ffbd2b8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Project Administrator"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.consciencelaws.org"],"url":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13601"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13601\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15192,"href":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13601\/revisions\/15192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13601"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fpost_folder&post=13601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}