Question:
Dear Father: My wife and I, due to problems that are not relevant to explain, do not want to have more children, and for this reason we have decided to resort to a definitive method. I understand that sterilization (tubal ligation) is not accepted by the Church, but aside from the moral question, it has no medical contraindications and is in fact the safest method. I know that you do not agree with this, but I am only asking you if I am correct in thinking that it does not present medical complications. I apologize for posing this question to you. Francisco.
Answer:
Dear F.,
The Church’s position regarding contraceptive sterilization (to tell the truth, it is not only the Magisterium of the Church but the Natural Law) is very clear: it is an illicit mutilation. I will not elaborate on the topic as you can read the articles on the subject that have already been published on the website (you can view the following links: is it licit? – what about in case of illness? – what if it were for health reasons? or also this one).
In any case, your question is of a medical nature and it asks whether this surgical intervention (sterilization by means of tubal ligation) has no medical complications. I must tell you that, despite what some doctors interested in promoting this contraceptive method say, recent studies affirm that it does indeed have problems. Thus, a recent study conducted in the United States affirms that it increases the risk of ovarian cancer. Read the following news carefully: This study reveals: Tubal ligation increases risk of ovarian cancer.
A recent study published in the latest edition of the medical edition of the medical journal Obstetrics and Gynecology, indicated that women who have undergone sterilization by means of tubal ligation are 70 percent more prone to be diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
The research confirms the same results announced in Mexico, where it was proven that sterilized women had double the possibility of having ovarian cysts in comparison to those who use no type of contraception.
Doctor Victoria L. Holt from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, along with a group of colleagues, studied the medical results of 392 women of childbearing age- between 18 and 39 years old- diagnosed in the last four years with ovarian cysts of two centimeters! Or more; comparing them with 623 women of the same age who were not diagnosed with cysts.
‘Since sterilization is the common method of contraception in the United States, this association is responsible for the largest studies that also include women aged 40 or older who are more prone to have this problem,’ explained the doctor.
According to Holt, the increased risk of ovarian cysts in relation to sterilizations ‘persisted and increased’ when researchers evaluated only the women with larger cysts or those who had undergone some operation. (This news was published in Aciprensa, August 7, 2003).
Fr. Miguel A, Fuentes, IVE
Original Link: https://www.teologoresponde.org/2014/03/16/tiene-consecuencias-medicas-la-ligadura-de-trompas/
