Reflecting on Humanae Vitae: Do We Really Need More Contraception?

8/18/2012

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make recommendations to him. In due course, the commission recommended that use of the pill be permitted.

After reflection, and with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Pope rejected this conclusion and instead issued Humanae Vitae, which prohibits contraception as a grave sin, and explains why. This was received with much anger and resentment by the Catholic faithful, virtually ignored by many clergy, and mocked by non-Catholics. The actual result has been that it has had little effect, as polls indicate that Catholics contracept in only slightly lower numbers than non-Catholics.

Was the Pope wrong? Is contraception a reasonable solution to all the social problems that are purportedly caused by "overpopulation"? Now, some 50 years later, we have the perspective to examine the effects of contraception, and to see if the Holy Father was right in the predictions he made in Humanae Vitae".

First, though, to understand the reason why contraception is intrinsically evil, we have to examine role of sex itself. By focusing on the sex act, we lose sight of the "big picture", like trying to understand a computer by disassembling the keyboard. The overriding plan in this case is the family, which is an earthly reflection of the Trinity. The human race continues by babies being born, but babies are not born as adults. They need a family structure to nourish them, physically and spiritually, as they mature. The basis of that family structure is marriage between the baby's parents, and the basis of that marriage is sexual love.

Many people confuse love with feelings. God wants us to be "fruitful and multiply", so he designed those feelings to be pretty strong. The difference between feelings and love is that feelings are not free, as Peter Kreeft says. Feelings arise whether we want them to or not. Another very strong feeling is anger. We cannot help becoming angry at someone we think is committing an injustice to us. Love, however, is a choice. We can control how we respond to our feelings, whether it be sexual attraction or anger. Animals do not control their reaction to their sexual feelings; we should.

Marriage, as an expression of the love choice, means commitment. It means choosing to remain with a spouse "for better or worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness or in health, until death do us part." Thus, the sex act has two components, a physical one and a spiritual one. The physical one is designed to create new human beings. The spiritual one is designed to create and sustain a family that can nurture that new human being. These roles are complementary and essential.

Having sex outside a marriage is attempting to defeat God's plan, because the creation of a baby is the reason for sex in the first place. You drive your car for a reason, to go shopping for example; you don't just drive aimlessly around town. Having a marriage with no intent to have children is likewise defeating God's plan. You don't keep driving to the store without ever buying anything either. What would be the point?

The difficulty arises morally when these two purposes are separated. God made the appeal of the sex act very powerful, and our sinful nature makes it difficult to deny ourselves that pleasure, or to restrict it to only the circumstances in which is it fulfilling God's plan. It is by this separation that sin occurs, because it is a misuse of God's gift. This proclivity has existed as long as mankind, and has always resulted in problems for individuals and for society, which is simply the family of man.

Until the 60's, there was always the likelihood that an illicit sexual union would result in a child, so there was a strong impediment to promiscuous sex. The pill changed all that. I can remember that originally it was difficult to obtain a prescription, and doctors ensured that the women for whom they prescribed the pill were married. Obviously this was still sinful, but in keeping with overall societal mores. Fast forward to today, and as soon as girls reach puberty, their parents have them in to get started on contraceptives because they are "sexually active".

The Guttmacher Institute, for example, says that at least 75% of teenagers have had sex before they reach the age of 20. The National Survey of Family Growth by the CDC says that a whopping 98.2% of women aged 15-44 who have ever had intercourse used some form of contraception and 62% are currently using it. Interestingly, societal acceptance of illicit sex has become so great that the same CDC survey revealed that over 49% of unmarried, not cohabiting females are using the pill!

Thus, we find ourselves today in the situation where a female law student can go before a Congressional committee on national television and say that women cannot afford their contraceptives, and that the government (read the taxpayers) must pay for that "health service".

So, what did Pope Paul VI say ...
- - -

Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: Humanae Vitae, contraception, Pope paul VI, abortion, morality, Love, marriage, Dr. Frederick Liewehr

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1 - 10 of 14 Comments

Judy Claar
8 months ago
Dr. Frederick Liewehr: I enjoyed this article! Your article is thoroughly explained and Well Written. Inviting the reader to continue following your brilliant research, in a manner that includes: entertaining past viewpoints most important, while you lead your audience to reach for their own Christ logical conclusion. A Very Good Article ! Live Christ Today...
KarlVDH
8 months ago
I adopted one. Sorry if it doesn't meet the standard. Not really the point I was making, and I think you're mart enough to know it. So, why the conversational drift? Why're you changing the subject?
Wes Lisitza
8 months ago
I'm still waiting on KarlVDH to answer how many children he/she adopted.
KarlVDH
9 months ago
In fact, yes, I have adopted. And good for you who have. But the point is that unless there are more of us, and unless we have something better to offer the world than our scorn and protests, our opinions about contraception and the like are pretty meaningless. People ARE going to have sex. People ARE going to have kids, and abort kids, in and out of wedlock. If we protest contraception, what have we really done? Anything? No. And this is our problem: we allow the world to see, quite vocally, what we're against and what we condemn, and all too infrequently do we, in our righteousness and anger, demonstrate as loudly or clearly what we're for, or what we have to offer. The World in general knows bloody well what we're against. But most of them ONLY know that much. So, now what?
Ruth
9 months ago
Do not forget that ALL contraception except the barrier methods also will work by causing early abortions. The pill does not prevent all ovulations (there is roughly one a year on the average). Conception can take place. The embryo may be prevented from implantation by the thickening of the wall of the uterus but it may take place. As the artificial hormonal doses change throughout the month, a forced menstration takes place sloughing the lining of the uterus and causing the death of the embryo. With an IUD--they work work by mechanical irritation to inflammed the uterus (will prevent inplantation of the embryo) or by disrupting the developing fetus. The hormonal ones have the above issues. Copper ones can cause toxicity to the sperm and inflame the follopian tubes but also will as its final line of defense cause abortions.
Larry
9 months ago
Sexual intercourse is for reproduction, continuation of the human race and create a family and contribute to the good of society. Before contraception, people misused and abused the sexual relationship between men and women as well as used it for its proper purpose with good intentions. There was just a greater possibility of having a child as a result of any sexual encounter. Now that we have contraceptive methods we have less of a chance, at least in theory.

We now recognize the fact that sexual intercourse is also to bond a couple together to form a greater bond. In marriage, this helps people reconnect to hold them together amidst life's problems and challenges. It's not the only thing but as biology and psychology have shown us, it is a strong bond when used well with good intentions of bonding together.

Not every act of making love ends in pregnancy but its purpose is to express love, to bond together and get to know each other better over time. Now we live longer than ever before so we have sex after child bearing years. Some can't have children but stay married - they adopt or the never have children or they use science to enseminate the female, etc. In these relationships they don't end up with a woman bearing a child as a result of sex but sex is part of that marriage, as it should be. This is the area where saying that the main goal of sex is bearing children runs into problems in my book. When we generally died around 45 - 55 years, around the end of child bearing years, some things made sense. Now they don't so easily and I'm not sure how the Church is addressing these issues with the health and wealth we have today. Since the majority of Catholics don't follow this teaching of the church about contracelption (abortion is a different issue) there are other things we may need to rethink about this in the modern world..
Beth
9 months ago
KarlVDH - How many have you adopted? I ask this sincerely, because anyone who has actually contemplated seriously the matter of adoption would know that it is not quite that simple. We have three children, one of whom (our youngest) was adopted. Especially when a family already has children, it is a very complex process. There are very, very few young children legally available for adoption in this country. And most of the children in foster care will eventually be reunited with their birth families - a very worthy goal, if it can be done with the child's best interests in mind. Those children in foster care who are waiting to be adopted are almost always school-aged, often over age 10. Many of them have issues that require them to be the only - or the youngest - child in a family. When we began our adoption process, our oldest (and only, at the time) child was 3. We were told outright that we would likely not be chosen by a birth mother for a domestic infant adoption, b/c we already had a biological child. We also were advised, by those knowledgeable in the field, that we would not be a good fit for a foster-to-adopt situation, because of the young age of our son and the typical ages of children in those situations. We ended up adopting internationally, after having another child by birth. In any case, it doesn't matter - the point of the article is that the reason why there are so many children in difficult situations is in large part precisely because we (as a society) have sought to separate sex from procreation through the use of contraception. And from that comes the brokenness that causes much of our poverty, child abuse and neglect.
MKC
9 months ago
KarlVDH, your comment is not worthy of a response. Read Humanae Vitae.
DLL
9 months ago
By Holy Orders a Priest is in the Persona of Christ. By Holy Orders the Woman is a Childbearer. By Holy Orders the Man Is protector of the Family and the Head of it. A good woman makes a good man and vice versa. Sex is a shared responsibility between a man and a woman. The woman's body must be respected. The real question is! Does contraception/abortion protect a woman's health,physically,morally or spiritually? I believe the Priest would say emphatically,NO! I agree with the Priest. To me also this is common sense. I am a man. I have sexual impulses (desire) and so do women. I do not pretend to even remotely understand the sexual or emotional desire in any woman. I react or don't react depending on the attraction I feel for the woman. If I feel love for the woman than I respect her as a human person before I desire her physically. Marriage is a good deal for the man and the woman. Marriage is a commitment for life between 1 man and 1woman for life. I will as a man always be attracted to other women as the woman is always attracted to other men. Why would I control myself sexually and remain committed to my wife? One word! RESPECT! That would be for myself,my wife and for all women. Contraception is the result of the inability to control desire and self control. Is contraception self respect and respect for ones lifetime partner? Your Call! Mine! I doubt it! Let me see what the Priest says in a confession. For me? Let the persona of Christ decide. Let the Church be MY guide. Let me NOT grieve the Priest.
Jim
9 months ago
While I agree with the Pope overall, when he says "...and to understand that men-especially the young..." I strongly disagree. Women are not taking these Pills for the benefit of men. Women are taking them because they want to be sexually free and fulfill their own lusts without consequence. The sooner the Church stops beating up on men and focuses on the real problem of female lust the sooner we can start to make real progress. News flash my fellow Catholics, women have sexual urges too though they are often not honest about them!

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