This year is the 50 anniversary of the invention of the controversial contraceptive pill. It was developed by Professor Carl Djerassi of Vienna, Austria, in 1960. It was promoted as providing for the liberation of women and today is the most widely used form of birth control. It is used by 100 million women worldwide. It is a time for lamentation not celebration, a review of the last 50 years reveals that it has not liberated women but actually contributed to the enslavement of women. It has resulted in great spiritual and physical damage to women and to families. Contraception and its offspring, abortion and sterilisation are part of a culture of death.
It has been the constant teaching of the Catholic Church for nearly 2000 years that contraception is a serious violation of the natural law of God and is a grave sin. It is a tragedy for mankind that many Christian Churches have in the last 50 years abandoned defence of the natural law of God and accepted contraception. In recent times the Catholic Church has reiterated this teaching in encyclicals, which are a beacon of truth and a precious gift to humanity. In the encyclical Casti Cannubi, of Pius XI in 1930 and more recently in the encyclical, Humanae Vitae, of Paul VI in 1968. In his introduction to his encyclical Pope Paul VI stated that, “The transmission of life is a most serious role in which married people collaborate freely and responsibly with God the Creator.” He also stated, “For the natural law, too, declares the will of God and its faithful observance is necessary for men’s eternal salvation. As a consequence, husband and wife, through the mutual gift of themselves, which is specific and exclusive to them alone, develop the union of two persons in which they perfect one another, co-operating with God in the generation and rearing of new lives.” Paul VI guided by the Holy Spirit was prophetic, his first prophesy was that the widespread use of contraception would “lead to conjugal infidelity and the general lowering of morality” The increase in the number of divorces. Abortions, out – of wedlock pregnancies and venereal diseases are the fruit of contraception. His second prophesy was that contraception would lead to men losing “respect for women” and they might come to consider her “as an instrument of selfish enjoyment and no longer his respected and beloved companion.” The third prophesy was that contraception would place “a dangerous weapon… in the hands of those public authorities who take no heed of moral exigencies.”Today we see the United Nations, the World Health Organisation, the UN Population Fund Agency and the International Planned Parenthood Association promoting contraception worldwide, especially in developing nations with the objective of reducing population. China’s one child family policy with forced sterilisations and abortions is based on the availability and imposition of the contraceptive pill on the Chinese people.
It is a tragedy that the culture of life espoused by the encyclicals was met with dissent by some Bishops and priests. It is known that there are many Catholics who have chosen to reject the teaching of the Church on the sanctity of marriage and the prohibition of contraception. This is an important pastoral issue facing the Church at this time. The Catholic Church blesses and encourages the lay faithful and people of good will to use natural family planning [NFP] to assist married couples through fertility awareness to plan their child bearing. NFP if used correctly is 99% effective.
The contraceptive pill not only prevents ovulation it also has a tertiary abortifacent action that destroys an embryo from implanting in the uterus of a woman. This is an abortion that gives grave offence to God. It also is a violation of the right to life of the human embryo. Abortion is promoted as a backup for failed contraception. In 2008, 2533 women had an abortion in New Zealand who had conceived their child while using the contraceptive pill.
Contraception is a serious threat to women’s health. The contraceptive pill has a failure rate of 13%.This is the price of “sexual freedom”, the blood of our children.
The contraceptive pill is a serious threat to women’s health. In 2005 the World Health Organisation said that the contraceptive pill containing estrogen and progestin increased the risk of breast cancer, liver and cervical cancer and classified them as class 1 carcinogens.
A Mayo Clinic study said that women who use hormonal contraceptives for a minimum of 4 years prior to their first full term pregnancy have a 52 % higher risk of developing breast cancer.
Women who use a hormonal contraceptive for more than 5 years are 4 times more likely to develop cervical cancer.
Prior to the sexual revolution and the pill there were known to be 5 sexually transmitted diseases: today there are more than 30.
Tragically, a culture of death has been embraced by our nation. The contraceptive pill is funded by the government and promoted by the Ministry of Health and the Family Planning Association as an integral part of “reproductive health” The pill may be given to girls under the age of 16 without the knowledge or consent of parents. In 2009 there were 202,000 women in New Zealand using the contraceptive Pill. Under the Contraception Sterilisation and Abortion Act 1977, doctors may refuse on conscience grounds to prescribe contraception, pharmacists are also exempt from filling prescriptions. Doctors and nurses are also exempt from assisting in abortions on conscience grounds.
This is what 19th century feminists said, they knew that contraception enslaved women, they emphasized two basic Christian concepts: mutual fidelity and mutual respect. They condemned male promiscuity. They demanded that husbands honour their commitments to their wives, and that sons learn to honour the integrity of all women. Equal rights, they believed, could be achieved only by fidelity, mutual sacrifice and commitment, with self-control, not self-indulgence. Wives, they insisted, cannot be treated like prostitutes, available on demand. Feminists demanded "voluntary motherhood," the wife’s freedom to accept or refuse intercourse… Contraceptives would deny women their rightful fertility, turning wives into little more than prostitutes, always "safe" for husbands to exploit to satisfy their passions. Widespread contraceptive use, feminists argued, would encourage promiscuity, undermine chastity, lure their husbands and sons into illicit sexual exploits, and expose more women to seduction, abuse and abandonment. Feminists also condemned abortion, they insisted it was immoral to kill an unborn child. Susan B. Anthony, Victoria Woodhill and virtually every other noted feminist leader of the 19th century described abortion as "infanticide, child – murder." and the exploitation of women.
Contraception is contributing to the failure of most European nations to achieve a replacement birth rate which is internationally recognized as being 2.1. New Zealand has a birth rate of 1.99. We are witnessing the death of western civilization. The United Nations lists 195 countries, 72 of these countries have fertility rates below replacement level. Carl Djarassi who helped invent the contraceptive pill now says that his co-creation has led to “demographic catastrophe” He outlined the “horror scenario” that has occurred because of the population imbalance, for which his invention was partly to blame.
As God is the author of life we can look forward to the triumph of the culture of life as the culture of death has within it the seeds of its own destruction.
Ken Orr
Spokesperson
Right to Life New Zealand Inc
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