Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Abortion and contraception, part one

OK I know I've talked about this before but I've decided it is time to go in-depth about it. Today I was at a NARAL and Planned Parenthood press conference at work, due to the fact that one of the D senators is introducting a bill that is sort of like their greatest hits-- "scientifically accurate" sex ed, emergency contraception (EC) on demand, forcing pharmacists to provide EC even if it's against their moral values, stuff like that. It's a winner. The sponsor is, of course, a Catholic woman, which just irritates me even more. They say that having EC and more contraceptive options will reduce "unwanted" pregnancies and abortions. Well sure, because we're getting "rid of the problem" before it's really become "a problem", right? There's no talk or morality, personal responsibility, etc. As Andrea said, "it's not like a baby jumps out at you from the bushes!" Until 1930, every Christian denomination was against the use of birth control?

What happened? Why isn't that the case today? Why is the Church so "old-fashioned" about birth control? Can we blame all this on Martin Luther (actually, in a way, you could...)? These and other things are topics I'll be discussing as we go through this. I think it's time for some clear discussion and explanation of the history of birth control and Christianity. Now this will , by no means, be exhaustive, so if you have something to contribute, feel free to post as we go along.

I'm thinking the series will go like this:

1) The Church and birth control
2) Christian denominations and birth control
3) What happened after 1930?
4) What Christians believe today
5) How this can all be traced to the Reformation
6) My will be done, or God's will be done?
7) Contraception and abortion

That's at least the rough outline. I'll probably post Part II: The Church and Birth Control tomorrow or Friday, so stay tuned. Any ideas, send to catholicpostergirl@yahoo.com

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think this should be interesting. Especially because I don't see contraception and God's will as two seperate and non-fitting things. I'll leave some other comments for later as we get more into the history.

And as a follow-up to my comment (which I still stand by :-) if a baby jumps out at me from the bushes, I'm running away) and just as a declaration on where I am on the topic: I am anti-abortion, questionable on EC, and pro-contraception, in addition to being pro-contraception education. :-) Just so you know where I stand on these for my future comments ;-)

antonia said...

i'm looking forward to it!

Anonymous said...

Antonia,

Looking forward to it!

If you can, please also include in your individual posts your sources, as the topic interests me as well.

God bless!