How Does Contraception Differ from Abortion?
| Samuel Amaral: When did Abortion become contraception ? Did I transition in another dimension without noticing ? · 13 minutes ag |
The question posed by Mr. Amaral is a good one, and it may be of larger interest. I knew nothing of the answer myself until a little over thirteen years ago when the question came up in the course of the Pre-Cana preparation that my prospective bride and I went through prior to our marriage.
On the face of it, if its etmyology is any guide, the word contraception ought to mean "against conception" -- i.e., the word should be used solely to refer to devices, such as condoms, which prevent conception from taking place.
In practice, however, the word contraception has come to be used much more broadly -- not just for devices that prevent an encounter between egg and seed but also for devices that prevent the product of their encounter, a fertilized egg, from being implanted in the uterus. The morning-after pill does the latter (medical explanation here). It is an abortifacient. It kills an unborn child, already conceived, by preventing its implantation in the uterus. Intra-uterine devices (IUDs) have the same effect. They are abortifacient. They induce abortion.
Ordinary birth-control pills are designed to prevent ovulation. When they do so, they are genuine contraceptives. They prevent conception. If and when, however, they are ineffective in this particular, they can prevent a fertilized egg from implanting in the uterus -- i.e., they can produce an abortion (medical explanation here).
The Obama administration recognizes that the Catholic clergy have done next to nothing to explain to Catholics the teaching of the Church regarding any of this, and they are deliberately and cleverly taking advantage of the confusion that has been sown -- by forcing Catholic hospitals and other institutions to provide for those who work for them those abortifacients that masquerade as contraceptive devices.
In doing so, I believe that Barack Obama, Kathleen Sebelius, Nancy Pelosi, and the like have done the Catholic Church and its adherents a great favor -- first, by forcing the bishops, nuns, and priests to address a question they have for nearly fifty years assiduously avoided discussing; and, second, by bringing home to them the degree to which the public provision of medical care, which they have vigorously promoted for nearly forty years, empowers the government to persecute the faithful.
I doubt that most of the bishops currently in office will discover a new-found appreciation for the principles of limited government and for their implications. It is hard to teach an old progressive new tricks. I suspect, however, that many younger priests and seminarians will have occasion to rethink the foolish stands taken by their elders.
It is a sad business, but it is true. Persecution can be and often is good for the Church. In its absence, the Church Militant has a way of turning into the Church Flatulent.
- Comment (59)
- · Quote
- · UnfollowFollow (5)
Comments:
Nov '11
Re: How Does Contraception Differ from Abortion?
KC - I think what is at issue here is what is being taught in Catholic high schools. I do not know, as I am not Catholic nor did I attend a Catholic high school, how much difference there is in the religion curriculum from one Catholic school to the next. But if a large number of Catholic schools are not teaching about Humanae Vitae and Theology of the Body, that is a huge disservice to their students. Comments from people who did attend Catholic high schools are welcome.
Nov '10
Re: How Does Contraception Differ from Abortion?
Paul A. Rahe
I cannot decipher the paragraph to which you refer. It is written in technical jargon. Are you saying that birth control pills always prevent ovulation or that Medline, which I linked, is wrong when it says,"They also change the lining of the uterus (womb) to prevent pregnancy from developing." · 9 hours ago
This is a much more readable overview of studies done on the subject. In the end, this is veeeery specific to one type of contraception (albeit a commonly used one), so it doesn't do much harm to your central argument. I just thought you'd want to know all the facts.
Nov '11
Re: How Does Contraception Differ from Abortion?
It seems that there is some doubt on how many implantations are prevented by the use of contraceptive drugs, although it appears from what I have read that this does, no doubt, happen, and clearly using something like ulipristal as "emergency contraception" would be more likely to prevent implantation than using normal combination pills. I have read that the overall miscarriage rate is somewhere around 30%. It is pretty well documented that older women have much higher miscarriage rates than younger women. I would conjecture that if we want to reduce the overall miscarriage rate (and I am including those blastocysts which do not implant due to use of contraceptive drugs in this rate), a more effective route (if possible) would be to create a cultural change to encourage women to have children at a younger age, rather than discourage the use of contraceptive drugs. Of course, arguing for younger motherhood goes against long-term trends, just as arguing against the morality of contraceptive drugs does. I personally don't mind being in the minority, though. Perhaps I should make a post "The Conservative Case for Teenage Pregnancy"? Nah, not my style.
Jun '10
Re: How Does Contraception Differ from Abortion?
I don't think the overall miscarriage rate is the issue here.
If a man is found dead in his bed, it makes a big difference if the autopsy determines that he died of natural causes or finds he was smothered with a pillow. Everyone dies eventually, but murder is wrong.
Along the same lines, in my view there's an important moral distinction between a naturally occurring miscarriage and one that was intentionally caused by drugs or other means.
Jan '11
Re: How Does Contraception Differ from Abortion?
I basically agree. The Professor asserts that the Obama administration is politically exploiting the ignorance of the Catholic voters - with that, I agree.
But the Professor claims that the laity's ignorance is a result of some sinister conspiracy in the clergy, a corruption that began when the church made an unholy alliance with liberal big government under FDR, and the corruption rotted the core of the clergy to the point that the clergy was responding lackadaisically to child sex abuse. No wonder the laity doesn't know that IUDs are abortifacients, because no priest was courageous enough to mention it in a homily.
I agree that the Catholic laity is ignorant of basic Catholic theology, never mind the nuances. I agree that it's a shame, and that doctrinal education is a ministry which the Church, frankly, has failed.
But I don't blame the failure on moral turpitude. And, I don't think the resolution is to wait for a new crop of moral priests (you know, conservatives) to sweep out the old liberals.
The job is much bigger than that.
May '10
Re: How Does Contraception Differ from Abortion?
Paul A. Rahe
Persecution can be and often is good for the Church.
More than that we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Rom 5:4-5 (ESV)
This is what the church needs, character and hope. The Obama administration is taking care of the suffering on so many levels.
Nov '11
Re: How Does Contraception Differ from Abortion?
Joseph Stanko
I don't think the overall miscarriage rate is the issue here.
Oh, I agree; I was attempting to make a (somewhat tongue in cheek) separate observation about our culture, in which many people look down on those who start their families immediately after college, or, horrors, immediately after high school. The notion that everyone should get a college education seems incredibly foolish to me, especially when such an education does not inoculate its graduates against belief in conspiracy theories, e.g., the Republicans are going to make birth control illegal. We are also told that conservatives look down on women with careers outside of the home, while, in my experience, Leftists do a great deal more sneering at homemakers. I suppose I am getting off-topic here, so sorry for that.
Sep '10
Re: How Does Contraception Differ from Abortion?
Hello Dr. Rahe, It is kind of you to respond to my comment and we are not in violent disagreement, and it appears to me that you know your clergy better than I do. But here in suburban Houston my guess is that none of our 3 priests would come close to espousing views similar to what you report. I may be wrong about that, or it may just be an offshoot of the rightward swing of the nation since the 1960's (an argument anyone?).
That being said, I don't want to condescend (even though I guess I am) but I think most people will not internalize a nuanced argument they don't want to hear. That is different than saying the arugument should not be explained, but I am unsure how different the outcome will be.
Re: How Does Contraception Differ from Abortion?
KC Mulville
Yes -- and that's much of the reason why the liturgy was reformed after Vatican II. The homily is based on the scriptural text of the day. If the readings focus on chastity or purity, then it's entirely appropriate to discuss that - and I have heard some of those homilies.
But you're accusing priests of "corruption" because they don't thunder from the pulpit about contraception. Who's dreaming?
Cut to the scene during a mass where the priest begins discussing IUDs during the homily. Focus on that little kid in the tenth row who turns to his mother and says, "Mommy, what's an IUD? Do you have one?"
And you think priests avoid that sort of thing because ... they're ... corrupt? · 13 hours ago
You might want to read and reflect on http://www.firstthings.com/article/2011/01/the-end-of-the-bernardin-era and http://ricochet.com/main-feed/American-Catholicism-A-Call-to-Arms. The rot goes deep.
Re: How Does Contraception Differ from Abortion?
KC Mulville
And are you under the impression that every Catholic was fully informed on Catholic theology? And this was achieved through courageous homilies? · 13 hours ago
Fully informed? No. Much better informed? Of course. A very high proportion of Catholic women of child-bearing age use the pill. Why? In part, because no one has ever explained to them why it is wrong to do so.
The task of the clergy is to teach within the sphere of their competence -- faith and morals. We have a serious moral problem in this country -- the absence of chastity. The fact that 40% of conceptions in the city of New York end in abortions is one sign. The fact that more than 50% of the children born to women under thirty are bornout of wedlock is another sign. In the face of this, the silence of the clergy is deafening.
Re: How Does Contraception Differ from Abortion?
KC Mulville
You're arguing that because priests (all of them? most of them? how many?) opposed contraception,thatcorrupted them to the point of becoming indifferent to child abuse?
You're alleging a connection that doesn't exist - not to mention a gratuitous insult to the vast majority of clergy who did their jobs properly, honestly, and at times heroically. It's a sensationalist headline and accusation, but it comes at the expense of real working servants. · 13 hours ago
See http://ricochet.com/main-feed/American-Catholicism-A-Call-to-Arms. Something on the order of two-thirds of the bishops serving between 1950 and 2002 were complicit in shifting the predators around. Did they do their jobs properly, honestly, and heroically?
Re: How Does Contraception Differ from Abortion?
Not JMR
Paul A. Rahe
I cannot decipher the paragraph to which you refer. It is written in technical jargon. Are you saying that birth control pills always prevent ovulation or that Medline, which I linked, is wrong when it says,"They also change the lining of the uterus (womb) to prevent pregnancy from developing." · 9 hours ago
This is a much more readable overview of studies done on the subject. In the end, this is veeeery specific to one type of contraception (albeit a commonly used one), so it doesn't do much harm to your central argument. I just thought you'd want to know all the facts. · 13 hours ago
I do, indeed -- and thank you. I tried to get the science on this right, but I am no scientist. That is why I wanted to know more.
Re: How Does Contraception Differ from Abortion?
KC Mulville
I basically agree. The Professor asserts that the Obama administration is politically exploiting the ignorance of the Catholic voters - with that, I agree. 3 hours ago
KC, this is inadequate. The Catholic schools never educated more than a minority of Catholic young people, and today there are fewer and fewer Catholic schools. I doubt that they will come back.
Re: How Does Contraception Differ from Abortion?
KC Mulville
But the Professor claims that the laity's ignorance is a result of some sinister conspiracy in the clergy, a corruption that began when the church made an unholy alliance with liberal big government under FDR, and the corruption rotted the core of the clergy to the point that the clergy was responding lackadaisically to child sex abuse. No wonder the laity doesn't know that IUDs are abortifacients, because no priest was courageous enough to mention it in a homily.
I agree that the Catholic laity is ignorant of basic Catholic theology . . .
But I don't blame the failure on moral turpitude. And, I don't think the resolution is to wait for a new crop of moral priests (you know, conservatives) to sweep out the old liberals. · 3 hours ago
You caricature my argument, KC. What I believe is that the bishops, priests, and nuns drifted into confusing public provision with charity, that they became more comfortable sermonizing on politics than on faith and morals as they pertain to the besetting sin of our age, that moral turpitude of one kind or another was common, and that the younger priests are much better.
Sep '10
Re: How Does Contraception Differ from Abortion?
Maybe I should say it this way. Any large scale process, be it a government program or the catechism needs to be judged by a number of yardsticks. It is a common political argument (which i am not accusing you of) to compare a program against perfection for example. If it is not perfect it is not good for example. I think there is much room for improvement, but i think the church is doing about as well as other large bureaucracies in getting their message out. That is not to say as well as I'd like or up to their capability, but neither subject to particular censure when compared to their peers.
Re: How Does Contraception Differ from Abortion?
Ross Conatser: Hello Dr. Rahe, It is kind of you to respond to my comment and we are not in violent disagreement, and it appears to me that you know your clergy better than I do. But here in suburban Houston my guess is that none of our 3 priests would come close to espousing views similar to what you report. I may be wrong about that, or it may just be an offshoot of the rightward swing of the nation since the 1960's (an argument anyone?).
That being said, I don't want to condescend (even though I guess I am) but I think most people will not internalize a nuanced argument they don't want to hear. That is different than saying the arugument should not be explained, but I am unsure how different the outcome will be. · 39 minutes ago
Things are getting better. The older generation is on its way out, and the younger priests are, in general, better. That having been said, you are right that -- even if the argument is made -- some will reject it. Others will see the point of the argument but not live by it. I know something about that.
Jun '10
Re: How Does Contraception Differ from Abortion?
Paul A. Rahe
they became more comfortable sermonizing on politics than on faith and morals as they pertain to the besetting sin of our age
In recent years I've heard sermons condemning the death penalty and the war in Iraq, which are both political questions, but nothing about chastity, purity, or contraception.
But the Bay Area is home to a lot of older liberal priests so perhaps my experience is not representative.
Jan '11
Re: How Does Contraception Differ from Abortion?
Then your belief flies in the face of facts.
The child abuse scandal is a worldwide sin. They recently held a conference in Rome about it. Rome began believing it was an American problem. Then they realized it was as much in Europe. And the more they looked, the more they saw it everywhere.
That conclusion correlated with data for secular teachers in various countries. And, as night follows day, coverups inevitably follow.
Professor, you allege that the child abuse and coverups, as well as the ignorance of the laity on many matters, is explained by American bishops and American clergy adopting a number of political attitudes that arose during a particular period in American history.
But this isn't a uniquely American problem.
Therefore, you can't explain it with uniquely American factors.
Jan '11
Re: How Does Contraception Differ from Abortion?
You're just not catching my point, which is my fault.
First, the Catholic liturgy is not the place for the church to do doctrinal teaching.The pulpit is not a blackboard.
Second, since universities began after the first millennium (most under the patronage of the church), the church exercised its teaching ministry through Catholic schools. If you went to a Catholic school, obviously, you were much better informed about the faith. Otherwise, you knew the basics, but no one expected theological sophistication. (Knowing how an IUD plays into the abortion debate does, indeed, require some theological sophistication.)
After Vatican II, the church made it even more clear: the pulpit has a specific and important use. It isn't a makeshift classroom for parishioners who don't go to Catholic school.
You've asserted that not knowing that an IUD is an abortifacient proves a failure of the Catholic clergy to teach the faithful - because they don't do homilies on those details. You assert that this shows how corrupt the clergy has become.
I say that's a unfair leap.