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

8/18/2012

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back when all this began? In Humanae Vitae, he warned, "Upright men can even better convince themselves of the solid grounds on which the teaching of the Church in this field is based if they care to reflect upon the consequences of methods of artificially limiting the increase of children. Let them consider, first of all, how wide and easy a road would thus be opened up towards conjugal infidelity and the general lowering of morality."

"Not much experience is needed in order to know human weakness, and to understand that men-especially the young, who are so vulnerable on this point-have need of encouragement to be faithful to the moral law, so that they must not be offered some easy means of eluding its observance. It is also to be feared that the man, growing used to the employment of anti-conceptive practices, may finally lose respect for the woman and, no longer caring for her physical and psychological equilibrium, may come to the point of considering her as a mere instrument of selfish enjoyment, and no longer as his respected and beloved companion" (HV 17)."

Was he right? Has there been an increase in conjugal infidelity? It is tough to measure infidelity per se, but we can look at family statistics. In 1959, there were 395,000 divorces, whereas in there were 1,135,000 in 1998. The mathematics are complex, and involve assumptions that vary between researchers, but the estimate today of a marriage ending in divorce is from 43-50%. In 1950, 9% of homes had a single occupant, versus over 25% today. The "lowering of morality" of which the Holy Father speaks is evident from the figures on contraception.

The elephant in the parlor, of course, is abortion. The Center for Bioethical Reform reports that in the United States, we are killing 1.37 million children per year, or a rate of 3,700 per day. 52% of the women obtaining abortions are under 25 years of age, and 20% are teenagers. Over 64% have never been married. How is this related to contraception? The basic issue is that people want to divorce the sex act from procreation, and thus from marriage.

The emphasis on this notion of "love" started with the flower children of the 60's, and has since become a national mantra. Because of the "burden" of pregnancy that our President thinks women should be spared, we invented contraception. However, people do not always use contraception, and contraception is not always effective. So, society needs a back-up plan in the form of abortion.

The reason for its attractiveness of the emphasis on love is that it is a partial truth. The definition of "love" has become more like the definition of "lust" that what God meant by love. By "love" the culture means the feeling rather than the choice. The feeling is merely transitory attractiveness that often disappears after the sexual appetite is satisfied, instead of being the commitment that is engendered by real love. It is illusory, impermanent, and self-centered. It has nothing to do with responsibility and everything to do with immaturity and irresponsibility.

Have women benefited from their "liberation", brought about by the "sexual revolution" empowered by contraception? Hardly. In addition to being pressured into an activity that she knows is sinful, a woman must bear the psychological scars of being dumped when her paramour moves on to greener pastures. She may face the decision of whether or not to have an abortion and commit a heinous crime, or face the prospects of being a single mother. She may also bear the scars of side effects of her birth control or a sexual transmitted disease, of which the CDC estimates there are 19,000,000 new cases every year.

According to the Heritage Foundation, in 2001 over 34% of babies were born to single mothers overall, with figures varying according to race. These children are seven times more likely to be poor than children born to families. Nearly three-quarters of government means-tested welfare aid to children goes to single-parent families. Over 80 percent of long-term child poverty occurs in broken or never-married families.

It is obvious that Pope Paul VI was prescient in predicting that contraception would lead to the destruction of marriage, families, and ultimately society. Turning a blind eye to 50 years of data since the advent of easily available contraception, proponents of birth control say that the problem is not that there are too many illegitimate children born alive and killed before birth, but that there is not enough contraception.

The truth is that God has a beautiful plan for his people that results mutual commitment between spouses, the formation of families that can nurture future generations, and an intact social structure. When we try to circumvent that plan, when we misuse the gifts we have been given, we are trying to achieve what seems to be a good end by using bad means, and that never works. As an advertisement for margarine said years ago, "You can't fool Mother Nature", and the Bible says, "God is not mocked."

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Dr. Frederick Liewehr is an endodontist who teaches and works in private practice. He converted from Protestantism to Catholicism in 1983, having been drawn ineluctably to Christ's Church by the light of Truth. He is a member of St. Benedict parish in Richmond, a Fourth Degree Knight of Columbus and a Cooperator of Opus Dei

- - -

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
9 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
9 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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