As the battle for the protection of religious liberty continues to rage in our nation, it is important to remember that the threat by the President and his health administration to force persons and institutions to violate their conscience in insurance matters is about more than just the immediate issue at hand: who pays for contraception, abortion-inducing drugs, and sterilization, and whether they are mandated: At base, it is about the very right to practice our faith in the public sphere and to follow our consciences.
Still, it is about contraception and sterilization at some level. (Even if the President took the abortion-inducing drugs “off the table,” as Catholics we would still be obliged to fight this mandate as immoral, against our faith, and against the natural law. As this controversy gets national attention, many people are asking the question: What is the big deal? Why make such a fuss over contraception, when it has become so commonplace?
The answer to that question is an extremely important piece of the overall debate. Because, while many people understand why abortion is seriously wrong because it kills a developing baby, they don’t see what could be so wrong about not conceiving a baby in the first place. We often forget that the Church considered this question in great detail and Our Pope (guided by the Holy Spirit so he couldn’t teach falsely) declared definitively that its use was always gravely morally wrong.
In 1968, the birth control “Pill” had just readily become available, was becoming more socially acceptable, and many people expected that the Church might “change her mind” on this issue. But Pope Paul VI took the opposite direction. In a beautiful letter to the world entitled On Human Life [Humanae Vitae], he described God’s plan for married love, the beauty of His plan for the marriage union and procreation, and how the use of contraception would destroy that plan and bring pain to those individuals using it as well as tremendously negative consequences to all of society.
In light of the controversy swirling around the issue now, I highly recommend reading it. (See www.ewtn.com/library/ENCYC/P6HUMANA.HTM.) It is a short letter that can be read in an evening. But what a letter! It helps to explain how the use of contraception drives a wedge between husband and wife; how it tears apart the unity of spouses and openness to children that God designed to be two sides of the same coin; and how its acceptance would bring profound unhappiness to society. When we understand contraception through God’s eyes – as the Holy Father shows – we see how terrible a thing it is to reject God’s precious gift of human life created in His image, and to slam the door shut to what He might want to entrust to us.
His Paragraph 17 is especially prophetic in light of what is happening today. He predicted that this teaching would not be at all popular or easy for people to understand. He predicted further that its widespread use would open the door to increased infidelity in marriage; cause young people to become sexually active before marriage; that men would treat women more as objects; and that governments would attempt to force contraception on their people. Looking back 40+ years later, we recognize the wisdom of the Church as he was right on every point.
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