Originally published in 2014
Recent reports announcing the era of remote-control contraception herald the very real but slightly horrifying prospects for the future for those who believe that man can literally transform himself into a machine. This phenomenon is known as the cult of transhumanism.
One news report calls the remote dispensation of contraception “creepy.” Another explains how this may come to fruition: “A challenge from Bill Gates two years ago has put science on the cusp of a revolutionary, remote-controlled method of birth control.”
Technology Review says the wireless implant, if approved for safety and efficacy, could make it possible for a woman to turn her birth control on and off at will by using a remote-control device. The implanted chip contains the chemical levonorgestrel—the same ingredient in Plan B One-Step (emergency contraception). So a woman would literally be able to abort children by remote control.
CBS News states, “The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has committed funding to a preclinical trial on a user-controlled microchip that can effectively prevent unwanted pregnancies for up to 16 years. The futuristic birth control method could make it to the general market as early as 2018.”
Upon hearing of this latest Gates Foundation venture, Professor Dianne Irving sent this comment to her e-mail list on July 10:
Well, if Darwin’s “survival of the fittest” is accurate, then the majority of women today who succumb to this “remote contraceptive” lure for “family planning” being promoted by MIT will be rendered infertile, thus significantly reducing the number of such women in the future. Have to give Bill Gates “credit” for advancing this creative eugenics pop control agenda—especially for women in Third World countries. And while “chemical” control is bad enough, what happens when someone else gains physical access to the woman’s remote control??? Human traffickers and rejected former lovers rejoice!
This valuable insight should give each of us pause. The truth of the matter is that even among Catholic communities, there are growing numbers of men and women—young and old—who have never heard Catholic teaching on contraception, do not understand why the Church defines it as evil, and consistently balk at being told the truth. Catholics like these have no problem with the government mandating taxpayers like you and me to pay for contraception.
This is but one reason why it may well come to pass that this latest freaky discovery may grow into something so popular that the negative effects it is destined to have will be noted too late.
On the other hand, SALON’s Sarah Gray cautions that, as of today,
There are, of course, large kinks to work out before this could become a viable contraceptive method (not including political battles over birth control). A commenter on MIT Technology Review worries about who could potentially control such a device without the woman’s consent. It is a rather scary prospect.
The chips would need all sorts of encryption to protect data and keep the device safe from hackers. As technology entwines itself more and more within the fabric of our being—quite literally in this case—we must tread carefully, especially in terms of health.
Time will tell whether or not the transition of the human being from human to a combination of human and machine will really overtake mankind.
Transhumanists are prepared for this future. We must not forget these wise words written by Linda Kimball:
Transhumanism is a powerfully influential planetary “elite” movement that believes man can begin a radical transfiguration of himself by merging his brain with technology with the long term goal of eventually transferring his “essence” out of his decaying body and into a highly advanced robo-machine.
Kimball concludes, “There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.’ All that are in Hell chose it.”
And that is absolutely no fantasy!
