How Birth Control Changed America for the Worst

Inside Catholic ^ | February 2009 | Kathryn Jean Lopez

[NYer]

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Kathryn Jean Lopez is editor of National Review Online and associate editor of National Review. This article originally appeared in the March 2001 issue of crisis Magazine.

[NYer]

A very powerful message and witness to the consequences of artificial birth control.

[End Times Sentinel]

This is a fairly one sided article.

What about all the good things that have come along with contraception?

• Increased fatherless households.
• Increased out of wedlock births.
• The rise in Venereal Diseases.
• The rise in Abortions.
• Increased divorces.
• Infertility.
• Women choosing to peruse a career and neglecting their children.
• And folks suffering from damaged relationships.

I can hardly wait to see the fruit that the next liberal broad social experiment will bear!

[GOP Poet]

This article is spot on. If birth control did not exist the structure of our entire society would not have been usurped. My generation was one of the first to be impacted by this and man I could see (as did my family) a huge change in who I was and who I grew up to be versus my older sisters and brothers. Birth control absolutely altered the trajectory of my life and in the end left me without children. It is very sad indeed.

Nearly all of these social and even medical consequences of the contraceptive revolution were foreseen with astonishing accuracy by Pope Paul VI in his anti–birth control encylical Humanae Vitae, issued in 1968, as the revolution was just beginning. Paul wrote that widespread use of contraceptives would lead to "conjugal infidelity and the general lowering of morality," and that many a man would lose respect for the woman in his life and "no longer [care] for her physical and psychological equilibrium" to the point that he would consider her "as a mere instrument of selfish enjoyment, and no longer as his respected and beloved companion." Paul also prophesied that mass acceptance of birth control would place a "dangerous weapon...in the hands of those public authorities who take no heed of moral exigencies." And it would mislead people into thinking that they had total control over their bodies. Hardly any of these predictions -- from promiscuity, to avoidance of male reproductive responsibilities, to the destruction of human embryos as women who delay childbearing too long try desperately to get pregnant -- have failed to come true.

People knew he was right then and know this is right now. What can you do? Our world will never go back. It is way beyond the sins of repressing procreation. Way beyond. When they started killing babies legitimately our world forever usurped the commands of the Lord and lives blinded in evil. Birth control was just the first step. Abortion second.

[qam1]

What about all the good things that have come along with contraception?..• And folks suffering from damaged relationships...

Well, there will be plenty of homes for feral cats in the future, which I guess is a good thing.

[FFranco]

When abortion is made illegal, we need to make artificial means of birth control illegal too. It is time America returned to its traditional Judeo-Christian values.

[qam1]

Xer Ping

Ping list for the discussion of the politics and social (and sometimes nostalgic) aspects that directly effects Generation Reagan / Generation-X (Those born from 1965-1981) including all the spending previous generations are doing that Gen-X and Y will end up paying for.

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[GOP Poet]

Yes. Like gay marriage. I am rolling over in my grave and I am not even dead yet.

[little jeremiah]

Bookmark.

[Strategerist]

we need to make artificial means of birth control illegal too.

Good luck with that. You'll have to create a Saudi Arabia/Iran type theocracy.

There will be tens of billions of dollars worth of birth control pills smuggled across the border each year, along with thousands of meth-lab equivalents cranking the pills out.

Are you going to randomly test women to see if they're on the pill?

It's not worth thinking about policies that aren't remotely implementable.

The cat is out of the bag

[Campion]

Fewer feral cats, but more feral kids.

[Campion]

There was a time when people said the same thing about smoking.

But just banning something isn't the answer. You have to change hearts and minds to destroy the demand.

[Goreknowshowtocheat]

Well said.

[Borges]

When abortion is made illegal, we need to make artificial means of birth control illegal too. It is time America returned to its traditional Judeo-Christian values

Should extramarital sex be illegal?

[netmilsmom]

Part of the problem is the “given” that teens will have sex.

If you teach them correctly, there is a good chance they won’t. Before finding our “One and Only”, my mother didn’t, I didn’t, many Christians don’t (including my own 20 year old Goddaughter) and with many prayers, my daughters won’t.

Start teaching these girls that respecting themselves is more important and saving sex for a husband is a fine gift. Teresa Tomeo has a new set of books for Catholic Girls. I got them for mine for Christmas.

http://www.runwaytoreality.org/

[netmilsmom]

>>Should extramarital sex be illegal? <<

What you do in your bedroom is between you and God. The government need not get into it.

But we need to turn the minds of people and make them WANT to wait. We’ve done a poor job of that.

[MahatmaGandu]

I so agree with this.

Curiously, I'm noting with the younger (18-30) women whom I know that they're more interested in families than careers. I think that's a good thing, really.

[Salvation]

Additional information for everyone on contraception and Humanae Vitae.

How Birth Control Changed America for the Worst
If You Are Contracepting, You Are Part of A Very Big Problem

Vatican and Italian government criticize sale of RU 486 in Italy
New Condom Ads Target Catholics, Latinos
St. Padre Pio, Humanae Vitae, and Mandatory Abortion
Responsible Parenthood in a Birth Control Culture, Part Two [Open]
Responsible Parenthood in a Birth Control Culture, Part One [Open]

Humanae Vitae and True Sexual Freedom — Part 6 of 6 [Open]
Contraception v. Natural Family Planning — Part 5 of 6 [Open]
Sex Speaks: True and False Prophets — Part 4 of 6 [Open]
Contraception and the Language of the Body — Part 3 of 6 [Open]
Does Contraception Foster Love? — Part 2 of 6 [Open]
Contraception and Cultural Chaos — Part 1 of 6 [Open]

Priests still suffering from effects of Humanae Vitae dissenters, Vatican cardinal says (Must read!)
"Provoking reflection" (Contrasting views on Humanae Vitae)
Humanae Vitae The Year of the Peirasmòs - 1968
Catholics to Pope: Lift the Birth Control Ban

[OPEN] The Vindication of Humanae Vitae
Catholic Clergy Challenge Colleagues to Reacquaint Themselves and Their People with Humanae Vitae
White House proposes wide "conscience clause" on abortion, contraception
THE EX CATHEDRA STATUS OF THE ENCYCLICAL "HUMANAE VITAE" [Catholic Caucus]
“A degrading poison that withers life”
Australia Study: 70 Percent of Women Seeking Abortions Used Contraception

[Fr. Thomas Euteneuer] In Persona Christi: The Priest and Contraception

A Challenging Truth, Part Two: The Day the Birth Control Died
A Challenging Truth, Part One: How Birth Control Works
Ten Challenges for the Pro-Life Movement in 2008
The concept of the "intrinsically evil"
Pope Tells Pharmacists Not to Dispense Drugs With 'Immoral Purposes'

Massive Study Finds the Pill Significantly Increases Cancer Risk if Used more than Eight Years
Birth Control Pill Creates Blood Clot Causing Death of Irish Woman
Seminarians Bring Church’s Teaching on Contraception, Sexuality to YouTube
Abortion and Contraception: Old Lies
History of Catholic teaching on Contraception

Pope: Legislation "Supporting Contraception and Abortion is Threatening the Future of Peoples"
Contraception: Why It's Wrong
On Fox News Fearless HLI Priest Takes on Sean Hannity (may be indebted for saving his soul)
VIDEO - SEAN HANNITY vs REV. THOMAS EUTENEUER (must see!)
The Early Church Fathers on Contraception - Catholic/Orthodox Caucus

Pope on divine love vs. erotic love
Conjugal Love and Procreation: God's Design
Being fruitful [Evangelicals and contraception]

[Salvation]

And many Xers are choosing this alternative. Psst. It's not artificial birth control, but an abstinence and loving program.

NFP — It Ain’t Your Momma’s Rhythm
Responsible Parenthood in a Birth Control Culture, Part Two [Open]
Responsible Parenthood in a Birth Control Culture, Part One [Open]

Contraception v. Natural Family Planning — Part 5 of 6 [Open]
Journey to the Truth (Natural Family Planning) [Open]
Enslaving Women One Pill at a Time (Birth Control Pills and Natural Family Planning)
New Study Shows Natural Family Planning Technique More “Effective” Than Contraception
Fargo) Diocese set to require pre-marriage course in natural family planning

Making Babies: A Very Different Look at Natural Family Planning
Clerical Contraception (Important Read! By Fr. Thomas J. Euteneuer)
(Fargo) Diocese set to require pre-marriage course in natural family planning
Natural Family Planning Awareness Week, July 25, 2004
IS NATURAL FAMILY PLANNING A 'HERESY'? (Trads, please take note)

Thanks Doc: More (and Younger) Doctors Support Natural Family Planning
Couple say Natural Family Planning strengthens marriage
Reflections: Natural family planning vs sexism
British Medical Journal: Natural Family Planning= Effective Birth Control Supported by Catholic Chrch
Natural Family Planning

[DarkSavant]

The sad part is it will never be completely irradicated. Abortion has always been around, and so has birth control in some form or another.

The question becomes when it is prudent to make something illegal. Personally, it's probably when someone else is directly impacted, like in abortion. Though I will admit that is still fuzzy(dowe want heroin legal too?). Personally, I believe the birth control drugs that are aborificents should be banned, but it's prudent to keep condoms legal, just for minimal damage for people who won't listen anyways. At least there won't be baby killing then.