The news broke early this week that Planned Parenthood was offering free abortions and vasectomies outside the 2024 Democratic National Convention in downtown Chicago. 

Each year an estimated 500,000 men in the U.S. choose vasectomies. Most who do so are middle-aged and married. 

Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, reports have emerged of greater numbers of young people, some of whom have never had children, requesting vasectomies and tubal ligations, both forms of sterilization.

What does the Catholic Church teach about sterilization?

Men may seek out vasectomies for a variety of reasons: they do not want children, they might have a genetic disease they want to avoid passing on; or pregnancy may put their spouse’s health at risk. Most men say they opt for vasectomies because their partners don’t want more children, while about 12% do so for medical reasons, according to 2015 data from the National Survey of Family Growth.

A vasectomy is a form of permanent sterilization that is highly effective as birth control, but challenging to reverse should the patient later change his mind. A vasectomy is often used as a more permanent form of birth control, as it is more effective than most contraceptives, except for implants and Intrauterine Devices (IUDs) according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. 

While there are a multitude of reasons that lead men to seek out vasectomies, “direct sterilization” is deemed “morally unacceptable” in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 2399). 

In the 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae, Pope Paul VI taught that “direct sterilization, whether of the man or of the woman, whether permanent or temporary,” is to be “absolutely excluded as lawful means of regulating the number of children.”

In the Catholic view, sex within marriage has two essential qualities: it is “unitive and procreative,” according to St. Paul VI in Humanae Vitae. It is designed to bring spouses together in an act of love, and each act of sexual union must be open to life.

“To get clear on why sterilization is wrong, we need to be clear on why contraception is wrong,” moral theologian E. Christian Brugger told CNA.  “Contraception is wrongful, as St. Paul VI taught, because it intentionally separates the unitive meaning of the conjugal act from its procreative meaning. Since marital intercourse is by definition unitive and procreative, a contraceptive act is morally speaking, non-marital.”   

Contraception goes against the unitive and procreative elements of marriage, blocking the procreation of children as well as the full gift of self between the husband and wife. 

The marital act, according to the Catechism, is “the innate language that expresses the total reciprocal self-giving of husband and wife” (CCC 2370) But contraception contradicts that love because it is not a total gift of self. It holds back a part of oneself.”

But what should Catholics do when they face serious problems such as health risks, or difficult financial situations?

Facing risks and hardships as a Catholic

The Church teaches that couples must be open to life. However, couples may discern avoiding pregnancy when faced with serious issues such as health risks or finances. In fact, the Church notes that the “regulation of births” is an aspect of “responsible fatherhood and motherhood” (CCC 2399). 

When asked how a couple should respond to a doctor’s opinion that it would be dangerous for the woman to have more children, Brugger suggested first verifying this “by getting at least one more medical opinion.” Once this is verified, Brugger suggests intently following a Natural Family Planning (NFP) method and seeking support from Catholic organizations such as the Pope Paul VI Institute. 

Natural Family Planning is a form of fertility awareness where a couple can track the woman’s fertility cycle to determine when the woman is fertile. NFP can be used by couples wishing to conceive as well as by couples who are avoiding pregnancy. Couples who determine that there is a need to avoid pregnancy will abstain during the fertile period. 

In the view of the Church, NFP methods differ morally from contraception because they “respect the bodies of the spouses, encourage tenderness between them, and favor the education of an authentic freedom,” (CCC 2370).  

A variety of NFP methods are available for couples depending on their lifestyle and needs, including the Sympto-Thermal method, Marquette Method, the Creighton Model, the Billings Ovulation Method, and Fertility Education and Medical Management. Organizations such as the Couple to Couple League or the Pope Paul VI Institute can help couples learn more about fertility. 

While a woman is usually fertile for only about 7 days each cycle, NFP methods usually advise a couple days of abstinence on both sides of this window. If a woman’s cycle is irregular, those periods of abstinence become longer. 

“Practicing tight NFP might require such a couple to abstain for longer periods of time than couples for whom such an urgency does not exist. And long periods of abstinence can be very difficult,” Brugger noted. “They might need to abstain for two weeks per month, perhaps three weeks. If this is the case, they should make their one week per month count. They can still have a beautiful conjugal life together. And their mutual sacrifice can be a source of unity and holiness.”

Brugger encourages couples in these situations to “avoid the breakdown of communication and expressions of resentment or harshness.” 

“This can be a heavy cross. But many couples carry such a cross, and every couple carries some cross,” he noted. “And those who carry their cross faithfully will be pleasing to the Lord and will be shaping up themselves into the kind of faithful people that will live one day in the kingdom.”