A Debate Over The Use of Contraceptive Methods and Reproductive Technologies by Christians

A recent increase in secularisation has resulted in a debate emerging about the morality of Christians using contraception and reproductive technologies. Contraceptive methods regarding birth control such as the pill or injection are seen to some within the Christian church as ‘immoral’. Morality refers to standards of right or wrong behavior.

The word carries the concepts of moral standards, moral responsibility, and moral action. Morality has become a complicated issue in the world we live in today. People with more modern approaches such as feminists see contraception as a form of liberation for women and see it as having positive impacts. Recent studies in the united states show that more than 99% of women aged 15–44 who have ever had sexual intercourse have used at least one contraceptive method. Reports also showed that doctors performed 165,172 procedures, including IVF, with 61,740 babies born because of those efforts in 2012. (cnn.com). This shows that modern society is impacting views on religion and morality. This essay will explore the different perspectives regarding women and their choices. Also, if the sources backing these views are reliable.

The issue is complex, and arguments come from many different perspectives with different objectives. One perspective on the issue is that using contraception is unnatural and doesn’t work for everyone, most importantly that it goes against the wishes of god. In a blog on desiring god, it is stated that- ‘Genesis 1- says to fill the earth and be a blessing’. These teachings have shaped people’s way of living for thousands of years. So, in 1960 when the first birth control pill was administrated by the US Food and Drug Administration, it was a controversial invention, the question is, why is it still an issue? The Roman Catholic religion has never been accepting off issues regarding birth control. Humanae Vitae is an encyclical written by Pope Paul VI and dated 25 July 1968. The text was issued at a Vatican press conference on 29 July. In the text, it states the Catholic stance on birth control and abortion. It declares: ‘We are obliged once more to declare that the direct interruption of the generative process already begun and, above all, all direct abortion, even for therapeutic reasons, are to be absolutely excluded as lawful means of regulating the number of children. Equally to be condemned, as the magisterium of the Church has affirmed on many occasions, is direct sterilization, whether of the manor of the woman, whether permanent or temporary. Similarly excluded is any action which either before, at the moment of, or after sexual intercourse, is specifically intended to prevent procreation—whether as an end or as a means.’(w2.vatican.va). The church argued that artificial birth control devalued sex purpose and diminished responsibility.

John Paul II's 1995 Evangelium Vitae ruled against abortion and contraception as slayers of potential children whom God intended to create. In recent years the Vatican has shifted its opinion by not only arguing that artificial controls are morally wrong but also that condoms are ineffective in preventing infection.