Can a Condom Be Therapeutic?

A reader asks:

I enjoy reading your blog a lot and wanted to get your take on a spin-off issue from the pope’s recent condom comments. Namely can the use of a condom by a married couple ever be considered “therapeutic” if one of them has AIDS or some other STD? This wasn’t addressed in the pope’s comment, but I think it’s something that needs an answer from the Church especially when one considers the situation in Africa where AIDS is widespread.

In Humanae Vitae, there is a section entitled “Lawful Therapeutic Means”. It states:

“On the other hand, the Church does not consider at all illicit the use of those therapeutic means necessary to cure bodily diseases, even if a foreseeable impediment to procreation should result there from—provided such impediment is not directly intended for any motive whatsoever.”

What this paragraph is getting at is the principle of double effect. An example would be a woman who has to have a hysterectomy because of cancer. The surgery has two effects, the removal of the cancer and infertility. The primary intent was the removal of the cancer. The infertility was an unavoidable side effect. Another example would be a surgery to remove a fallopian tube because of an ectopic pregnancy. Unlike an abortion in which the intended result is a dead child, the death of the pre-natal child in a surgery to correct an ectopic pregnancy is an unavoidable side effect.

My question is do you think the use of a condom by a married couple where one of them has AIDS or some other STD also meets the criteria of “therapeutic” in Humanae Vitae? Can a condom be used by the married couple if the primary intent is to prevent the spread of the disease and the infertility that results is a unintended side effect? It seems there are only two options. Either the Church says it’s considered therapeutic, or the Church says it’s not and the married couple must live a life of continence. I’ll go with whatever the Church says, but I think this is something the Church needs to address.

This is the sort of question where you want somebody with actual training in moral theology and not some blogger with a loud mouth who just says the first thing that pops into his head. There are some things that cyberspace is good for. Getting a sober answer to a question like this is not one of them. I would *strongly* urge you to take this one to a well-trained priest, confessor, or moral theologian. Anything I say will only muddy the waters. That also goes for anything anybody in the combox says. Save yourself while you still can!