By Judie Brown
A recent article in the Clemson University Tiger states:
Oral contraception, referred to colloquially as “the pill,” is considered one of the greatest medical innovations of modern times. Today, this “miracle” pill is prescribed to younger and younger women in droves for a myriad of reasons. Typically, it is prescribed for polycystic ovary syndrome, cramps, premenstrual syndrome, migraines, acne and many other conditions as a sort of “Band-Aid” fix.
This piece goes on to raise valid questions about the pill, and the writer suggests that females should think twice about using it. Indeed, there are legitimate reasons for this renewed concern about the pill and its effects on women.
One British study shows that women who use the pill are 130% more likely to suffer from depression. The researchers conclude that “physicians and patients should be aware of this potential risk” during the decision-making process. It seems that the pill can and does have life-changing effects on women even though the media is nearly silent on the matter.
Father Shenan J. Boquet and the Human Life International staff came to the same conclusion, reporting that the long list of side effects from the pill and other modes of birth control are rarely deemed important enough to mention. Yet the consequences are real.
Michael Cook, an experienced journalist and editor of Mercatornet.com, has reported on the same facts. He exposed similar, if not more serious, problems with surgical abortion as well. In fact, he recently wrote about the problem of depression among women who have aborted their babies.
The common denominator between contraception and abortion, other than the fact that each defies nature, is that the consequences are rarely discussed but are very real. In fact, Cook writes, “According to the Guttmacher Institute, an abortion rights think tank, ‘Roughly 121 million unintended pregnancies occurred each year between 2015 and 2019. Of these unintended pregnancies, 61% ended in abortion. This translates to 73 million abortions per year’—and about 25 million women suffering from depression.”
Personally, I dislike using numbers, particularly statistics, to address the dignity of the human being. But encountering numbers like these does give me pause to consider the serious results that occur when human beings ignore nature’s design for human procreation.
The perennial question is why, in a culture steeped in hedonism, does anyone care. The answer is obvious. The destruction of nature’s gift of fertility through the use of chemicals or other devices is not only immoral but results in additional consequences as well. In a nation where abortion is so readily available, why would an expectant mother even question whether or not her choice to rid herself of pregnancy or prevent it from occurring is bad?
The obvious answer is that nature is wise, but man is too often foolish, not to mention self-destructive. The second answer comes from a recent article about the contraceptive mentality. The writer explains:
Melissa Moschella, an associate professor of philosophy at The Catholic University of America, conducted research that focuses on biomedical ethics and the family. . . . She said that while “it seems like if you give people access to contraception, they’ll end up having fewer unplanned pregnancies and then there will be fewer abortions,” the result is that “where contraception becomes the norm, people stop seeing sex as an activity that leads to children so they start to have an expectation that they can engage in sexual activity without worrying about consequences.” And since no contraceptive method is 100% effective, “what happens is that they then end up actually being more likely to have an unplanned pregnancy?”
In another article, Dr. Moschella points to the wisdom of Pope Paul VI’s encyclical Humanae Vitae and his words regarding responsible parenthood. She stated: “The church understands and emphasizes that it is the job of the parent—the husband and the wife to decide prayerfully and conscientiously whether or not and when to have another child and so that’s what they mean by responsible parenthood.”
The point is that responsible parenthood “requires that husband and wife, keeping a right order of priorities, recognize their own duties toward God, themselves, their families and human society.” The pope never recommends the pill or any artificial interference with procreation. This is so because, as he writes, “God has wisely ordered laws of nature.”
Pillers reject this truth, manipulate nature, and discard the natural law. They prefer recommending and prescribing chemicals and devices that interfere with female reproductive abilities, harm women, and degrade the God-given gift of fertility.