Contraception (cont.)

Contraception hasn't made for better marriages. It also hasn't made for fewer unwanted pregnancies.

White babies born out of wedlock were 6 percent in 1960; by 1992 they were 22 percent. Black babies born out of wedlock were 22 percent in 1960 -- 68 percent in 1992. Nevertheless, today the Supreme Court, Congress and the President all say that contraception and abortion are absolutely necessary and are good things!

Pope Paul VI said differently. What did he know that we didn't know? How did he see what was going to happen?

The Church has always based its teaching on natural law. Natural law, which is something you can discover through reasoning, says that for things to prosper, you must treat them according to their nature. If you do not live in accord with nature, chaos will result.

The purpose of sexual intercourse is twofold: to have babies, and bonding. If you don't want babies and bonding, you shouldn't have sex. Our society says you're leaving something out: sex is to have pleasure. But pleasure is the motive; it's not the purpose of the sexual act. God attached pleasure to things that we should be doing for our well-being -- but we have to do them in the right way.

Society today values life very cheaply, and has a great disregard for the value of human life. But Catholics see every human life as a new soul that's meant to exist with God for eternity. The Christian view is that the whole universe exists for us. It's our support system; it was created for us.

The worldly view is that children are environmental hazards. Babies are options, burdens -- something to be taken down to the abortion clinics and gotten rid of.

The sperm does not have an immortal soul; neither does an ovum. When they come together the soul comes from an act of creation by God. When a man and woman contracept, though they might not be doing it intentionally, they are slamming the door in God's face. Along with our disregard for human life is a disregard for fertility. You take a pill when you're sick. But fertility is not a disease; it is a perfectly healthy condition.

Dr. Ellen Grant, who wrote The Bitter Pill, prescribed the Pill in the 'Sixties. But she started to find women coming in with different pathologies that were pill-related, such as high blood pressure and lumps in the breast. So she stopped prescribing it.

Some 16 million women in the U.S. are on the Pill. The percent who suffer serious side effects is small, but still it amounts to a large actual number. Because the Pill makes the body think it's pregnant, it generally causes these side effects: increased irritability, increased propensity to depression, weight gain, and reduced libido.

Fifty percent of the women who start on the Pill each year stop because of the side effects. The Pill also works as an abortifacent: the informational insert that comes with it tells you that it can either stop ovulation, or it can prevent the implanting of the fertilized ovum in the uterine wall.

In contrast with contraception, Natural Family Planning respects a woman's fertility, doesn't say no to God, and enhances the couple's relationship. A lot of people say, 'What's the difference between contraception and NFP? The aim is the same.' But a simple principle in ethics says, the end does not justify the means; i.e., not only the goal must be good, but the means of getting there must be good.

For example: two men want to support their family. One robs a bank, the other gets a job. Obviously, the end does not justify the means. Couples fear NFP for two reasons:

1. They're afraid it won't work. The old 'rhythm' method was 27 percent ineffective. But modern NFP methods are much more effective. In the September 18, 1993, issue of the British Medical Journal, a doctor reviewed evidence on NFP and found it was more effective than contraceptive methods. He cited its use by Mother Teresa among women in Calcutta, where it produced a virtual zero pregnancy rate.
2. Couples are also afraid that the abstinence period required by NFP will be too hard; women are afraid it will cause problems with their husbands.

But it doesn't cause problems with couples who respect each other and know how to show their love for each other by ways other than sex. Pope John Paul II says that NFP brings about the virtue of self-mastery. As a result of our fallen nature, we have disordered appetites: we all want to eat more, drink more, and have more sex than is good for us.

NFP is much like dieting. Just as dieting improves our health and our body, NFP does great things for marriage. It causes a closeness between a couple, and encourages love, trust and tenderness.

You have to work at it, but the rewards are great.

To get audio or video copies of 'Contraception -- Why Not?' call One More Soul, 1-800-307-7685. Have your Visa card or MasterCard ready.

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