The Contradiction in Contraception

As you all may know, the New York State Senate passed a bill (https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/new-york-state-senate-passes-expansive-abortion-bill/amp/) allowing mothers to abort their children up until birth, for practically any reason under the guise of the “mother's health.” Abortion is not only wrong because it denies the child of its most basic, God-given, right to life; the “procedure” erases the final end of the act which created the child in the first place.

Noting the “end of the act” deserves some explanation though, and is what will lead us into a continuation of what it means to truly be pro-life.

The act of sex itself has two essential ends, which are inseparable; unity and procreation. Unity is brought about by the husband and the wife engaging in the act, bringing the two to a fulfillment of their creation. Procreation is the rational end of the act itself, for the unhindered expression is the formation of a new life. You cannot have a non-procreative procreative act or a non-unitive unitive act, these are direct contradictions and thus moral evils.

The evil on the table

Noting the end of this act leads us into the topic of contraception, literally meaning “against conception.” Abortion itself stems from a contraceptive mentality, it is at its core the brutal finality of the thought, where someone says “I didn't want a child in the first place, and because of this I need a way to rid myself of it.” This is also written about by Saint John Paul II in Evangelium Vitae in which he writes “But the negative values inherent in the "contraceptive mentality"-which is very different from responsible parenthood, lived in respect for the full truth of the conjugal act-are such that they in fact strengthen this temptation (abortion) when an unwanted life is conceived.”

From this same mentality we get the various forms of birth control we have today among which are condoms and the birth control pill (the pill), all of which, are contraceptive devices. While many pro-life Christians will vehemently oppose abortion, other contraceptive options are almost always kept on the table, even though they cause things contrary to the nature of sex and stem from the same mentality that brought us abortion.

These forms of birth control that are so widely accepted are indeed the evils that are left on the table, that we too often choose to ignore when opposing abortion.

The antithesis: pleasure above all

All forms of contraceptives (birth control) deny one or both of the ends of the act, and in denying one you deny the act itself due to the inseparability its two ends. Contraceptives in general always deny the procreative end of sex. They are deliberate actions directly in opposition to conception.

Condoms though, deny both the unitive and procreative natures. It is a literal barrier between husband and wife as well as a barrier for conception. As such, it is contrary to the end of the act, and thus immoral under this premise.

The pill is in another ballpark though. The birth control pill is designed not only to prevent conception but also prevent implantation; this takes place in 3 stages.

1. The pill limits ovulation
2. The pill makes insemination more difficult
3. The pill makes an inhospitable environment for implantation

Not only is the pill in direct opposition to conception but if conception takes place, it acts against the newly formed embryo reaching its place of growth, acting as an abortifacient (meaning the conceived child is aborted almost always unbeknownst to the mother).

This mentality placing pleasure over life, is only ever self-serving without anyone else in mind. The very act designed to bring human life into existence under the institution of marriage is denied at every angle for nothing more than the fleeting feeling it brings.

Contraception is the very antithesis of a pro-life mentality. It not only turns the outward expression of love between a man and a woman in on itself, but it is at its core a contradiction.