Moral Issues Birth Control

Birth control is a sensitive topic in society, especially the Catholic faith. The Catholic faith has taught that birth control is a sin for many reasons. In 1968, Pope Paul VI issued his landmark encyclical letter Humanae Vitae which reemphasized the Church’s constant teaching that it is always intrinsically wrong to use contraception to prevent new human beings from coming into existence (Carr, 2004). The Catholic Church has always taught that preventing procreation in any way is wrong and that it is a sin against God’s design of the human race.

There are many reasons as to why birth control is wrong. These being that the institution of marriage is ordered to the procreation and education of its offspring by the Catholic faith, it is wrong to go against what God intended, and birth control is used to prevent the development of its natural consequences and to render procreation. Therefore, birth control is intrinsically wrong to prevent new human beings from coming into existence.

The institution of marriage is ordered to the procreation and education of its offspring by the Catholic faith. They describe the commitment of marriage as, you must lead each other in a life of holiness, and you are given the gift of children from God. When you get married you must be open to bearing children. For a marriage to be valid you must allow yourself to have children. This is if you are fertile and are able to procreate. Father Thomas Urban (2017) states, “So, if one of these conditions is intentionally left out, then no marriage takes place,” he said. “I’ll marry you but not for the rest of our lives — no marriage. Or, I’ll marry you only if I can continue my bachelor lifestyle — no marriage. Or, I’ll marry you but I will not have any children — no marriage” (para. 5). Married couples must be open to God’s will. Patti Maguire Armstrong (2017) states, “According to statistics released by the Census Bureau, there is a small but significant increase in the number of childless women in their early 30s over the past decade. In 2006, 26.2 percent of women ages 30-34 were childless and by 2016, that number had risen to 30.8 percent” (para. 1). This is a direct violation of their marriage and God’s will. If you decide to not have any children when you are married, you are neglecting the gift that God gave to each and every one of us.

It is wrong to go against what God intended. God intended that man and woman would procreate and educate their children. There are many ways that people, mainly woman, go against what is intended. One of these is birth control and another is abortion. Many people do not view birth control the same way that they view abortion. They are essentially the exact same thing, they are both anti-life. William F. Colliton, Jr., a Clinical Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, states (2016), “The contraceptive action is anti-the-formation of a new life. One does not pop a pill, slip on a condom, take a shot in the buttocks, etc. in preparation for a game of Chinese Checkers. The only logical reason for these actions is to prevent the formation of a new life while compositing voluntary coital acts” (para. 1). Contraception is preventing the creation of children by controlling fertility. We should not control something that God intended for us and gave us the ability to do. Although, birth control is not actually terminating a fetus, it is still preventing a child being born into the world. In the Bible in shows the direct disappointment of God when someone uses birth control. Genesis states, “Lie with your brother’s wife and fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to produce offspring for your brother.” But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his; so whenever he lay with his brother’s wife, he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from producing offspring for his brother. What he did was wicked in the LORD’s sight; so he put him to death also” (Genesis 38:8-10). In this part of the Bible Onan’s brother has passed away and now he must take care of his widow and create children with her due to Old Testament law of levirate marriage. He refuses to do this and used a birth control method which God saw as wicked. This is a prime example of how God sees birth control as intrinsically wrong. He gave us the ability and gift to procreate so there is no reason to prevent that.

Birth control is used to prevent the development of its natural consequences and to render procreation. Many people use birth control to be able to have sex without becoming pregnant. This is a intrinsically wrong, because God created man and woman to procreate. The Catechism states, “Married couples should regard it as their proper mission to transmit human life and to educate their children; they should realize that they are thereby cooperating with the love of God the Creator and are, in a certain sense, its interpreters. They will fulfill this duty with a sense of human and Christian responsibility” (CCC, #2367). This shows that the path of marriage and sexual intercourse is to have children and educate them about the faith. This is what God intended us to do and we should not go against His intention. Another reason birth control prevents the development of natural consequences is that, many women who take birth control are planning on have premarital relations. This is also against God’s teachings. The Catechism also states, “Chastity means the successful integration of sexuality within the person and thus the inner unity of man in his bodily and spiritual being” (CCC, #2337). The reason it is important to understand chasity is because, premarital sex is a sin against God. This relates directly to birth control which has an intention of not allowing you to get pregnant while not being married. CDC studies of teens has shown (2015), “Nearly 90 percent of teens have used birth control the last time they had sex. Data show that teens most often use condoms and birth control pills” (para. 1). This shows that birth control has increased premarital sex and erases natural consequences and procreation.

An argument that many people make for why birth control is not wrong, is that woman should be able to do whatever they want with their bodies. They also should be allowed to decide if they want to have children or not. There is a day called World Contraception Day, this is a day to raise awareness about birth control and allow women to learn more about birth control. It is also a day to empower woman to take control of their bodies. Laura Hoemeke (2012), a director of health policies and systems, states, “would prevent an additional 54 million unintended pregnancies, including 21 million unplanned births, 26 million abortions, and seven million miscarriages; this would also prevent 79,000 maternal deaths and 1.1 million infant deaths” (para. 6). The makers of birth control intend to help women’s health and children’s health.They believe that birth control is the most effective way to improve health.

Woman cannot do whatever they want with their bodies, because ultimately it is not theirs. God made us, mind, body, and soul, and he technically owns all of us. God intended for us to have children. As stated before the Catechism states, “Married couples should regard it as their proper mission to transmit human life and to educate their children; they should realize that they are thereby cooperating with the love of God the Creator and are, in a certain sense, its interpreters. They will fulfill this duty with a sense of human and Christian responsibility” (CCC, #2367). Woman who are married but fulfill God’s will. We were put on this earth and created by God, we should not go against the things he intended for us to do. Having children is a gift from God, we should not treat it as something terrible.

Birth Control is intrinsically wrong to prevent new human beings from coming into existence. There are my reasons as to why birth control is completely against God’s will. These being that the institution of marriage is ordered to the procreation and education of its offspring by the Catholic faith, it is wrong to go against what God intended, and birth control is used to prevent the development of its natural consequences and to render procreation. The Catholic Church has always taught that preventing procreation in any way is wrong and that it is a sin against God’s design of the human race. Disrespecting a gift that God gave us is not a proper way of treating the one who created everything around us. Birth Control is disrespecting the gift of children give to us by God.

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