Contraception and abortion

[Blood_Angel]

I hate to open a can of worms on this but just wanted to see something, I agree that sex should only be for producing children rather than casual fun as it’s a sacred act and people abuse it, especially in this day and age. Now even as a non-Catholic, that’s something I’ve always believed to be right.
But not everybody believes that. Most people don’t. The sexual revolution really changed that and people are going to continue having pre-marital sex without contraception and that means there will always be a risk of pregnancy and potential abortions.
How come Catholics could not embrace a lesser evil in contraception? People are going to do what they will, then they should do it safely I think.

 

[1ke]

The sexual revolution really changed that and people are going to continue having pre-marital sex without contraception and that means there will always be a risk of pregnancy and potential abortions.

That is the argument used to legalize these things, that legalizing them would mean less unwanted pregnanies, less out of wedlock pregnancies, and more contraception = less abortion.

However, the results have been the opposite.

Turns out the more promiscuous sex you have, the more pregnancies occur.

How come Catholics could not embrace a lesser evil in contraception?

Because we may never do evil even in pursuit of a good. Evil is evil. It can never be a good.

It is not a lesser evil-- it is a great evil that has resulted in millions and millions of ruined lives.

People are going to do what they will, then they should do it safely I think.

this is a logical fallacy.

Let’s figure out ways to safely rape people, safely murder people, safely commit arson just like the “safe” abortion (tell that to all the women who died from abortions last year) because people are going to do it anyway.

“Going to do it anyway” is not a good reason to endorse or encourage evil. Evil is evil.

 

[TRH1292]

I agree with 1ke. We can’t embrace Evil. Truth doesn’t change just because of the passing sins of one cultural generation.

 

[Blood_Angel]

I’m guessing then the only answer is teaching by example and hope that eventually people changes their attitudes?

 

[vz71]

I’m guessing then the only answer is teaching by example and hope that eventually people changes their attitudes?

Correct.

But note this strategy converted Rome.

 

[maryjk]

I hate to open a can of worms on this but just wanted to see something, I agree that sex should only be for producing children rather than casual fun as it’s a sacred act and people abuse it, especially in this day and age. Now even as a non-Catholic, that’s something I’ve always believed to be right.

But not everybody believes that. Most people don’t. The sexual revolution really changed that and people are going to continue having pre-marital sex without contraception and that means there will always be a risk of pregnancy and potential abortions.
**How come Catholics could not embrace a lesser evil in contraception? **People are going to do what they will, then they should do it safely I think.

I’m surprised that no one pointed this out.

The Catholic Church doesn’t say that sex is only for producing children, so I am not sure with whom you are agreeing.

In saying that sex is only for producing children, you are saying that those that can’t have children shouldn’t have sex. And that sex should only be when a woman is fertile.

Beyond that, we could never embrace evil. Never.

 

[Blood_Angel]

I’m surprised that no one pointed this out.

The Catholic Church doesn’t say that sex is only for producing children, so I am not sure with whom you are agreeing.

In saying that sex is only for producing children, you are saying that those that can’t have children shouldn’t have sex. And that sex should only be when a woman is fertile.

Beyond that, we could never embrace evil. Never.

Okay maybe I was wrong about that, I wasn’t sure where I picked that up from but Catholics do believe in sex only between married couples, right? I think even Protestants share that rule.

Maybe evil is the wrong word to use then, would contraception still be evil if I used a different word?

 

[Corki]

I hate to open a can of worms on this but just wanted to see something, I agree that sex should only be for producing children rather than casual fun as it’s a sacred act and people abuse it, especially in this day and age. Now even as a non-Catholic, that’s something I’ve always believed to be right.
But not everybody believes that. Most people don’t. The sexual revolution really changed that and people are going to continue having pre-marital sex without contraception and that means there will always be a risk of pregnancy and potential abortions.
How come Catholics could not embrace a lesser evil in contraception? People are going to do what they will, then they should do it safely I think.

Ok, as Catholics, both are, as you put it, “evil”. We can never* embrace *an evil. What you may mean is to tolerate the evil in order to prevent abortions.

But this is backward thinking. I was listening to coverage of the Walk for Life this morning and one of the people being interviewed was Dr Angela Franks from St. John’s in Boston. She pointed out, quite correctly, that increased use of contraception leads to more abortions - not less. And the reason is (forgive me if I mangle the paraphrase) that when people rely on contraception, they adopt a mindset that they won’t get pregnant. But sex results in pregnancy with or without contraception - just at different rates. When someone gets pregnant while using contraception, they are much more likely to then get an abortion. They had already turned their hearts against a future child.

She said that contraception creates a lifestyle where abortion is required.

 

[Usige]

Ok, as Catholics, both are, as you put it, “evil”. We can never* embrace *an evil. What you may mean is to tolerate the evil in order to prevent abortions.

But this is backward thinking. I was listening to coverage of the Walk for Life this morning and one of the people being interviewed was Dr Angela Franks from St. John’s in Boston. She pointed out, quite correctly, that increased use of contraception leads to more abortions - not less. And the reason is (forgive me if I mangle the paraphrase) that when people rely on contraception, they adopt a mindset that they won’t get pregnant. But sex results in pregnancy with or without contraception - just at different rates. When someone gets pregnant while using contraception, they are much more likely to then get an abortion. They had already turned their hearts against a future child.

She said that contraception creates a lifestyle where abortion is required.

Spot on.

Planned parenthood reports that 54% of women getting abortions were actively using birth control. 59% that were not, weren’t using it because they didn’t think they wouldn’t get pregnant or had unplanned sex. So roughly 3/4 of abortion seekers used or would have used birth control.

In essence we have a culture that sees children not as a natural extention of sex, but rather as a risk that has to be dealt with. Use birth control as the first line of defense and abortion as a final solution to “the problem”.

 

[PennyinCanada]

Most people would say that the pill is a great thing. I am in my 50’s, and when I was in high school, kids dated and it was never assumed that a couple dating were having sex. The pill wasn’t widely available like it is now, and teens were smart enough to know that they were in school, had places to go, things to do, and having sex was taking a risk of pregnancy, and who wanted to deal with that? In junior high, grades 7 to 9, no one was dating. What a different world we live in now, huh?

Since the pill has become widely available, here’s what happened. You don’t have to be a Catholic or a Christian to have this bias, it’s there for everyone to see who wants to see…

1. The pill has brought a wide spread promiscuity. Now we have girls getting pregnant at a much younger age. We have an explosion of pregnancies. Because of this, we have a …
2. …greater demand for abortion.
3. We have an explosion of sexually transmitted diseases. Not only in the amount of people infected but the types of diseases we have now. Certainly AIDS has gotten a lot of publicity on how awful it is, and yet we keep saying that promiscuous sex is ‘normal’. That’s like giving kids a loaded gun to play with, because, well, they like guns. We have to give our sons and daughters better than that, don’t we?
4. We have an explosion of young women with babies who are abandoned by their boyfriends. A huge amount of people living below the poverty line is women with their babies. The pill has been no friend to women or babies, and it’s taught the young men that they never intended sex to produce a baby so it’s really not their problem. Is this the kind of young men we want for our society? Stable marriages are the best place to raise children and produce responsible adults to keep society stable.
5. Stable marriages are good for women, good for babies, good for our neighborhoods, good for the economy, good for our country. The pill undermines all of this.

There’s probably more to add, but that’s what just comes to mind at the moment.

You know what makes me pause, is when we read in the Old Testament, when Moses told the people of God to kill a young lamb, and take it’s blood and mark the door frames so that ‘Death’ would pass them over. That night all the first born of the Egyptians died, except those within the houses marked with the blood of the lamb. Then later on we read in the New Testament, John the Baptist pointed Jesus out in the crowd and yelled, “There goes the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” And here, today, we have Christians following the way that God had designed for marriage and family life, and they are blessed. The world who does not care for God and His teaching are giving up their first born to abortion. It is true, follow God and walk in his blessing. To choose otherwise is to have grief and heart ache, for yourself and your parents and grandparents, who love you. To choose to abandon God has consequences for your children and grandchildren. It’s sobering to consider. God bless and help us to choose well.

 

[Neofight]

I hate to open a can of worms on this but just wanted to see something, I agree that sex should only be for producing children rather than casual fun as it’s a sacred act and people abuse it, especially in this day and age. Now even as a non-Catholic, that’s something I’ve always believed to be right.
But not everybody believes that. Most people don’t. The sexual revolution really changed that and people are going to continue having pre-marital sex without contraception and that means there will always be a risk of pregnancy and potential abortions.
How come Catholics could not embrace a lesser evil in contraception? People are going to do what they will, then they should do it safely I think.

I’m not sure where you get the idea “sex should only be for producing children”. The marital act is a gift from God to a married couple. There is nothing wrong with the marital act as long as the couple is willing to accept and not impede God’s plan that the act may result in creation of children, if it is His will.

Otherwise your claim means infertile couples should not have sex.

 

[1ke]

Okay maybe I was wrong about that, I wasn’t sure where I picked that up from but Catholics do believe in sex only between married couples, right? I think even Protestants share that rule.

Correct. But it’s not a rule, it’s a truth. It is God’s truth about who we are and what our sexual faculties are for and how they should be used.

Maybe evil is the wrong word to use then, would contraception still be evil if I used a different word?

Contraception is an intrisnic evil. It doesn’t matter what word you use.

 

[Sarcelle]

I hate to open a can of worms on this but just wanted to see something, I agree that sex should only be for producing children rather than casual fun as it’s a sacred act and people abuse it, especially in this day and age. Now even as a non-Catholic, that’s something I’ve always believed to be right.
But not everybody believes that. Most people don’t. The sexual revolution really changed that and people are going to continue having pre-marital sex without contraception and that means there will always be a risk of pregnancy and potential abortions.
How come Catholics could not embrace a lesser evil in contraception? People are going to do what they will, then they should do it safely I think.

Contraceptives are readily available anywhere and yet abortion has skyrocketed. If most.people do not care what.the Church teaches than it wouldn’t make any difference if the Cburch changes or not.