Dana Pirrotta

11/28/16
Paradigm Shift

Catholicism and Contraception

In order to receive my Confirmation into the Catholic Church, I was forced on a church

retreat in the middle of nowhere by the Confraternity of Christian Development, a religious

education program. Its not that I wasnt excited to be taking such a huge step in my personal

faith; but, forced religious fun was not up my alley. We played cuddle tag and shared beds, and

had to go to lectures about different aspects of our religion. One especially notable talk was the

lecture regarding Natural Family Planning.

Awkwardly enough, a married couple with their fertility calendar gave a personalized

presentation on Natural Family Planning, also known as fertility awareness. Sex was planned

on days where his wife was least likely to conceive a child, and avoided on days she was most

fertile. Through this method, Catholic couples can analyze their bodys natural signs and

changes, and plan for periods in a womans health when she is hormonally infertile. Most

commonly used, this Sympto-Thermal Method is responsible for either achieving a pregnancy or

postponing one. This is deemed by the Catholic Church as responsible parenthood( Lake,

Kevin C.) This system involves no drugs, chemicals, devices, and follows what is called the

female fertility cycle. Hence, the uncomfortable color-coordinated sex calendar. Needless to

say, that day I learned quite a bit about this couples pre-planned sex life.

One brave girl asked what most of us girls were thinking, Why not just use birth

control? This was answered sternly and swiftly: the Catholic Church firmly believes that

artificial contraception is inherently sinful, and improperly frustrates a divine plan Culp-

Ressler, Tara). Within Catholicism, any form of birth control (ranging from the pill to the
condom) is considered immoral. All us Catholics have in our arsenal is that handy dandy Natural

Family Planning technique. But I dont own a calendar like that, I most other Catholic women

dont either.

As of 2011, 98% of sexually experienced Catholic women were using birth control,

blatantly violating the standards set by the Vatican. Church goers are sick of inappropriate

regulations when it comes to their sexual reproductive health, hinting that the church is failing to

stay with the times and update with society (Pappas, Stephanie. Religious Faux Pas?).

Women are consciously choosing to sin against their God to prevent pregnancies- even within

marriage. How did we come to this and what does this mean?

From 300 to 1900 AD, any and all church leaders deemed any form birth control sinful,

under the idea that spilling sperm was equivalent to abortion (Mangan, Charles M.). St

Augustine decided that sexual acts between partners were sinful, unless such acts were aimed at

reproduction. In 1930, Pope Pius XI absolutely forbid the use of artificial contraception in his

Encyclical, Casti Connubii. Any use whatsoever of matrimony exercised in such a way that the

act is deliberately frustrated in its natural power to generate life is an offense against the law of

God and of nature, and those who indulge in such are branded with the guilt of a grave sin. Any
sex acts performed without procreation as a goal were wholly immoral. In 1963, Catholics again

raised the question of contraception. Pope Paul VI easily produced an encyclical July 25, 1968.

This document, Humanae vitae (translating to Of Human Life in Latin) was first exposed at a

Vatican press conference. Its subtitle is On The Regulation of Birth, and it wholeheartedly

reaffirms the Catholic Churchs orthodox teachings in relations to topics such as married love,

parenthood, and the utter rejections of artificial birth control (Pope Paul VI, "Humanae Vitae).

This encyclical absolutely affirmed all traditional Church moral teachings. Between 1980 and

1984, Pope John Paul II presented 129 lectures about such moral reproductive care. Sterilization

specifically was condemned, whether or not is was deemed permanent or temporary. Any actions

taken before, during, or after intercourse intended to prevent procreation were firmly, firmly,

deemed to be intrinsically wrong or morally contradicting the natural order ("What Does the

Church Teach About Birth Control?").

This view under the current Catholic Administration still stands. No condoms, pills,

patches, shots, IUDS, vestectimes, etc. Sex without the goal of reproduction is immoral and

unnatural, and the pleasure from sex is considered an additional blessing from God to

strengthen the bond between a husband and wife during procreation ("What Does the Church

Teach About Birth Control?").

In modern culture, this poses quite an issue, as we are going through a sexual awakening-

evolution, and it appears as if the church cannot keep pace with the current times. Less and less

people wait until marriage to become sexually active, and these individuals want to protect

themselves from unplanned pregnancies, and sexually transmitted diseases. As of 2015, only 3%

of people in the United States successfully wait until marriage before having their first sexual

experience. This translates to one in thirty, and definitely shows that Americans and Catholic
Americans, too, are participating in sex. Culturally, sex has become more acceptable and is even

celebrated. Science and modern day medicine has proven that countries that practice birth

control suffer from lower poverty and mortality rates and increased standards of living, and this

thoroughly explains one of the greatest religious paradigms shifts our generation is currently

witnessing; the unofficial acceptance of birth control by Catholic women.

As of 2010 (the last census), there were at least 1.1 billion Catholics; 16% of the entire

worlds population. In 2011, an enormous study was conducted by Rachel K. Jones and Joerg

Drweke of the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive-health promoting organization that began as

a branch off of Planned Parenthood (Stennant, Rob C). This study, titled, Countering

Conventional Wisdom: New Evidence on Religion and Contraceptive Use collected data from

one-on-one interviews with 7, 356 women, aged 15 to 44 that was originally published in a 2006-

2008 National Survey of Family Growth. What was discovered was that according to the

collected data, 98% of all women who were of childbearing age, who had had sex once in their

life, and who identified as Catholic, had used methods of contraception instead of Natural Family

Planning at some point during their lives. Translation: Catholic women are using birth control,

and dont care if it is still a sin.

This statistic has been relatively shocking. It has been used by many influential

Americans, including Nancy Pelosi, the House Minority Leader, stating, 98 percent of Catholic

women, I am told by all of you, use birth control to determine the size and timing of their

families. (Lillis, Mike. Pelosi gets personal with GOP on birth control) In spite of the

Vatican, 87% of Catholic teenagers use contraception, either birth control or condoms(Culp-

Ressler, Tara). 68% of Catholic adults (such as my parents) have employed some means of

sterilization, suchQA as a tubal ligation or vasectomy. Withdrawal, although medically not

considered an effective technique, is also considered birth control by the Catholic Church and is

used by roughly 4% of the catholic population (Pappas, Stephanie. Religious Faux Pas?).

This dramatic shift in practice has shown that Catholic individuals are attempting a new

method of family planning, and in the process have started violating their religions tenets. This

shift could be due to increasing popularity in Cafeteria Catholicism- the idea that some

Catholics pick and choose particular ideologies, morals, and ethics to follow while purposefully

ignoring some tenants. This practice is now especially common in our modern day society, as

many individuals are discovering ways their religion holds them back. Some tenants of

religion, such as the failure to accept homosexuality or abortion, are not considered progressive

and therefore make the church appear outdated, and perhaps hateful. Regardless, this enormous

shift in practice proves that it is ultimately time for the Roman Catholic Church to enter the 21st

century(Gram, Arnold A. Be Fruitful, not Bananas!).

The church does not approve of the use of birth control mainly because the church

believes that methods such as the pill and IUD actually act as abortifacients, meaning that they

would cause the uterus to eject fertilized eggs- ultimately proving a lack of understanding, or

pure ignorance towards a modern day medical miracle. Scientifically, birth control does not act

like this at all- synthetic versions of the hormones progestin and estrogen prevent a womans

ovaries from releasing an egg. If an egg is not released, a sperm cannot encounter and fertilize it,

therefore preventing conception at its core (All About Birth Control). This has led women and

couples to throw Natural Family Planning aside, and opt for techniques that allow them to

modernize their sexual health. Men and women both use forms of birth control outlawed by the

church in such dramatic numbers because these individuals feel as if their religion has

disappointed them or failed to allow them to plan family life in a modernized fashion. A study
conducted by Life Sciences pursued this idea and found that only 37% of all Catholics were

happy with their religions teachings and beliefs when it came to sexuality (Gram, Arnold A. Be

Fruitful, not Bananas!).

Consistent research has proven that birth control dramatically increases living conditions

and the quality of life in modern day society, especially in impoverished countries. When

individuals can take control of their reproductive decisions, the population can be controlled,

women have more educational opportunities, and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases

decreases rapidl(The Effects of Birth Control in Low Income Areas). For example, condoms

have significantly slowed the international spread of AIDS. The rejection of birth control is also

interesting because in many third world countries where there are not enough resources to

support such population, families cannot take care of their children, and birth can often be fatal

for the mother, and the child. Melinda Gates and her husband, Bill Gates, have donated $1 billion

for family planning efforts through their foundation, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Since 2012, Melinda has taken a huge role in leading an international campaign to provide per

120 million women with birth control within the next four years. Melinda made this one of her

philanthropic life efforts after one particular statistic impacted her. Contraception, on average,

prevents up to ten million unsafe abortions annually in poverty-stricken countries. She herself is

a practicing Roman Catholic, as am I, and has in interviews stated that this is obviously

something Ive had to wrestle with very deeply. For Melinda, and most modern Catholic

women, seeing impoverished woman and children suffer needlessly because they cant access a

simple, inexpensive contraception. She does mention that 93% of married Catholic women use

birth control, and is therefore furthering a new set of modern morals by deciding that it is

imperative is that we give these women what we believe in and actually use.( Dugger, Celia W.
"For Melinda Gates, Birth Control Is Womens Way Out of Poverty") According to Melinda,

men in third world countries are often very interested in controlling female health, and this is one

of the reasons she is so passionate about providing birth control to religious women in poverty.

Melinda says she has seen some of her results first hand- African teenagers are able to prevent

pregnancies, and can therefore stay in school, become educated, and eventually enter the work

force, as was the case with American women in the United States when birth control was first

legalized (The Pill). It has been found that the poorest women have the largest amount of

children, and becoming pregnant with another child that cannot be loved and cared for creates a

cycle of poverty. Jim Gaffigan jokes about the struggles of being a father to his four children in

his self-directed film, Imagine youre drowning. And someone hands you a baby. (Jim

Gaffigan: Mr. Universe, 2012) Even in America, raising four children can be a challenge- how

can the Church expect women living in desolate conditions to support as many as six or seven

children? Can it really be a sin if birth control can prevent pregnancies that cannot be cared for?

Ultimately, women are moving away from the churchs teachings on birth control

specifically in the last five years due to its modern uses, and because they feel the need to take

control of their own sexuality instead of allowing it to be oppressed by the church. While the
regulation still stands, women have cast aside their sexual shackles to the Vatican in

revolutionary numbers. Either we are all sinners, or the church needs to update. Family planning

is not applicable to the average Catholic couples lives, and birth control serves as the perfect

solution. Our generation has sex before marriage more than any before us, and consequently

have been drawn towards the use of birth control. Women and families in third world countries

benefit greatly from the economic benefits of birth control, and can prevent them from taking

risky and dangerous abortion procedures. Whether or not the Catholic Church will accept this

change, or continue to hold steady to their tradition is still up in the air.

 Citations Page

All About Birth Control. Womens Health. Eliving, 2015. 1 Dec. 2016

Culp-Ressler, Tara. Birth Control Goes Against Catholicisms Teachings, but Most Catholics

Are On It Anyways. Think Press. August 4, 2015. Web. 23 Nov, 2016.

Dugger, Celia W. "For Melinda Gates, Birth Control Is Womens Way Out of Poverty." Birth

Control. The New York Times, 2016. Web. 27 Nov. 2016.

Gram, Arnold A. Be Fruitful, not Bananas! The Popes Take On Birth Control. The New York

Times, 2016. Web. 22 Nov. 2016

Jim Gaffigan: Mr Universe. Jay Karas. Chimmichanga Productions, 2012. Film.

Lake, Kevin C. "Birth Control." Defending the Tradition. Catholic Answers, Apr. 2016. Web. 18

Nov. 2016.

Lillis, Mike. Pelosi gets personal with GOP on birth control The Hill. July 11, 2016. Web. 1

Dec. 2016.

Mangan, Charles M. Married Couples Who Intentionally Chose Sterilization for Contraceptive

Purposes and Lasting Repentance. Catholic Online. Web. 20 Nov, 2016.

Pappas, Stephanie. Religious Faux Pas? Most Catholics Use Contraception. Live Science,

April 13, 2011. Web. 21 Nov. 2016

Pope Paul VI, encyclical letter titled "Humanae Vitae," July 25 1968.

The Effects of Birth Control in Low Income Areas. Contraception and Poverty . The

Huffington Post, June 29, 2014. Web. 21 Nov. 2016.

"The Pill." The American Experience. PBS, 2001. Web. 20 Nov. 2016.

"What Does the Church Teach About Birth Control?" Couple To Couple. EWTN Global Catholic

Television Network, 2008. Web. 26 Nov. 2016.

Stennant, Rob C. Be Fruitful and Multiply- but how Fruitful? What if the best thing for your

kids is to stop having kids? OnFaith. Web. 18 Nov. 2016.