Background
Contraception literally means “against (contra) conception.” “[D]espite their differences of nature and moral gravity, contraception and abortion are often closely connected, as fruits of the same tree.”(1) The culture of death is quietly growing in the prevalent use of contraceptives and sterilization to deny the God-given fertility of men and women. Contraceptive’s first “mechanisms” are to “prevent” conception, but when this "prevention" fails, many contraceptives act as abortifacients and destroy the newly created person. And when contraceptives fail completely and the contraceptive mindset is already in place – abortion is often the resultant remedy.
Not only is contraception – against the life of the new born child – it is also detrimental to married love and detrimental to the dignity of the woman – whether married or single. When the sexual act is separated from its potential fecundity, it is reduced to an act of use. Contraception, instead of liberating women, has caused them to be used as objects of use.
Contraception includes the techniques and birth control methods used to prevent or stop human fertilization. Contraceptives can be abortifacient, preventing the implantation of the fertilized egg and the removal or expulsion of the fetus or embryo from the uterus.
· The Catholic Church teaches that “the direct interruption of the generative process already begun, and, above all, all direct abortion, even for therapeutic reasons, are to be absolutely excluded as lawful means of regulating the number of children. Equally to be condemned…is direct sterilization, whether of the man or the woman whether permanent or temporary.”(2)
· Contraception includes barrier methods, such as condoms or the diaphragm, injectable contraceptives, and hormonal contraception, also known as oral contraception.
· Female sterilization is the most common form of contraception, second to the oral contraceptive pill.(3)
· The “pill” increases the risk of breast cancer by over 40% if taken before a woman delivers her first baby.(4)
· Forty-eight percent of women with unintended pregnancies (5) and 51% of women seeking abortions (6) were using contraception in the month they became pregnant.
· Numerous studies examining sexual behavior and STD transmission have demonstrated risk compensation behavior, i.e., a greater willingness to engage in potentially risky behavior when one believes risk has been reduced through technology. Increasing access to contraception gives teens a false sense of security, leading to earlier onset of sexual activity and more sexual partners, which counteracts any reduction in unintended pregnancies.(7)
· Twenty-three studies published between 1998 and 2006, and analyzed by James Trussell’s team at Princeton University, measured the effect of increased EC access on EC use, unintended pregnancy, and abortion. Not a single study among the 23 found a reduction in unintended pregnancies or abortions following increased access to emergency contraception.(8)
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1Evangelium vitae 13
2Humanae vitae 14
3https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db327.htm
4https://naturalwomanhood.org/birth-control-abortion-and-breast-cancer-risk/
5https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2386600/#:~:text=Of%20the%20unplanned%20pregnancies%2C%20about,was%20used%20correctly%20but%20failed.
6https://www.guttmacher.org/news-release/2018/about-half-us-abortion-patients-report-using-contraception-month-they-became