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Family (photo: Andreas Wohlfahrt / Pixabay/CC0)

DIFFICULT MORAL QUESTIONS: When a married couple is called upon to make heroic sacrifices in order to practice conjugal chastity, what must they do, and what must they never do?

By E. Christian Brugger, EWTN News, April 9, 2021

E. Christian Brugger E. Christian Brugger is Professor of Moral Theology at Saint Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach, Florida. …

Q. My wife and I have eight children. Our last two were born premature and needed to spend time in the NICU. We were told by the doctors not to have any more children because my wife could die. The problem now is what to do about our sexual relations. One priest advised us to practice the withdrawal method and said we would not be required to abstain from Holy Communion. Another priest said withdrawal was not permissible. My wife is very hesitant to place her trust in NFP. She is scared. And I am afraid that abstinence is going to hurt us. Maybe it will help us. Either way, we are both very concerned. — Keith

A. Your extremely difficult situation is the kind that tempts good people to conclude that when a sufficiently great good is at stake, it becomes okay to choose to do what otherwise would be wrong and unreasonable.

Since you are Catholic and have eight children you doubtlessly know what the Church teaches about contraceptive acts. Withdrawal is just another form of contraception. …

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