Here is something i find interesting about doctrine changing, when it pertains to birth control.
From
lds.org:
“Children are one of the greatest blessings in life, and their birth into loving and nurturing families is central to God’s purposes for humanity. When husband and wife are physically able, they have the privilege and responsibility to bring children into the world and to nurture them. The decision of how many children to have and when to have them is a private matter for the husband and wife.”
From
lds-mormon.com:
“It is the privilege of married couples who are able to bear children to provide mortal bodies for the spirit children of God, whom they are then responsible to nurture and rear. The decision as to how many chldren to have and when to have them is extremely intimate and private and should be left between the couple and the Lord.”
Notice on the quote from
lds.org, that
the Lord is now left out of the decision. The second quote actually comes from the 1998 version of the church handbook of instruction.
What I also find interesting is how birth defects play into all of this. Birth control, and abortion. There is that little loophole about birth defects.
“Where husband and wife enjoy health and vigor and are
free from impurities that would be entailed upon their posterity, it is contrary to the teachings of the Church artificially to curtail or prevent the birth of children. We believe that those who practice birth control will reap disappointment by and by.”
(First Presidency {David O. McKay, Hugh B. Brown, N. Eldon Tanner} Letter to presidents of stakes, bishops of wards, and presidents of missions, 14 April 1969)
I believe it was Parker, as well as a couple of lds posters (who are no longer with us), that have said abortion in the face of serious birth defects was allowed.
How sad.
Sources used:
lds-mormon.com/birth.shtml
lds.org/study/topics/birth-control?lang=eng&query=birth+control