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Bioethics 5 Contraception

Contraception prevents conception by blocking the union of sperm and egg, while abortifacients end the life of the developing human being after conception. Some key points made in the document are that contraception reduces sex to mere pleasure and rejects the procreative aspect of marriage, which is inseparable from its unitive function. While churches originally condemned both contraception and abortion, some Protestant churches began allowing contraception in 1930. The Catholic Church maintains contraception is against natural law and one must follow properly formed conscience in agreement with Church teachings. Increased contraceptive use leads to greater promiscuity and abortions.

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80 views

Bioethics 5 Contraception

Contraception prevents conception by blocking the union of sperm and egg, while abortifacients end the life of the developing human being after conception. Some key points made in the document are that contraception reduces sex to mere pleasure and rejects the procreative aspect of marriage, which is inseparable from its unitive function. While churches originally condemned both contraception and abortion, some Protestant churches began allowing contraception in 1930. The Catholic Church maintains contraception is against natural law and one must follow properly formed conscience in agreement with Church teachings. Increased contraceptive use leads to greater promiscuity and abortions.

Uploaded by

Andrew Ouko
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The word contraception comes from the Latin

Contra = opposed to, and concepto= conceive. The medical profession generally accepted this definition until the beginning of large-scale development of many different abortifacients in the late 1960s.

From about this time onwards the proabortion and population control groups intentionally began to blur the line between contraceptives, which prevent the union of sperm and egg, and abortifacients which end the life of the early developing human being after the sperm and egg have been united.

- One reason why abortion rates are high in countries where contraceptives are common is that people believe family planning propaganda that family planning methods are safe. - Family planning experts have recognized the high failure rate of contraceptives; hence demand that abortion be made available as a back up

Fr C. Burke explains contraception as follows: The marriage act has two functions.
- A biological or procreative function and - A spiritual unitive function. These two aspects, as established by God, are inseparable and are inherent to the marriage act. This connection is the very ground for the moral evaluation of the act.

Thus when one destroys its procreative aspect, he destroys its unitive and personalist significance i.e. if one destroys the power of the conjugal act to give life, one also destroys its power to signify love; the love and union proper to marriage. Hence when one deliberately uses contraception one destroys its essential power to signify union.

- Thus in contraceptive sex, the uniqueness of the marital act is reduced to pleasure while its significance of procreation is gone. - Contraception is thus an action that contradicts the essential meaning that conjugal intercourse should have as signifying total and unconditional self donation. Instead of accepting each other totally, contraceptive spouses reject part of each other because fertility is part of each one of them

Teaching of the church


- The Christian Church has universally condemned contraception. Protestant churches also condemned abortion as they formed. - Until 1930, all Christian churches were unanimous in their condemnation of birth prevention. The crack came by the passing of resolution 15 of the Anglican Bishops Lambeth conference of August 15, 1930. Other protestant denominations followed suit.

- The natural law was given by God; therefore the church does not have the authority to change it. - On the other hand, the Church does clarify certain matters in the light of new knowledge, but the fundamental principles remain unchanged. - Those dissenting from the Churchs teaching on sexual matters claim to be following their consciences. They forget that it is only licit to follow ones conscience when that conscience is properly formed and the conclusions reached are in accord (agree) with the teachings of the Church.

Contraception and Abortion


- An increase in contraceptive availability inevitably leads to an increase in promiscuity and therefore abortions. - Women who have had or used contraception are more likely to have an abortion than those who have not.

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