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Birth control ethical dilemma
Positive impact of technology on marriage and family
The Catechism of the Catholic Church views on contraception
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Recommended: Birth control ethical dilemma
The Natural Failure of Planning
Are modern forms of contraception naturally and morally wrong? Pope Paul VI and his Humanae Vitae declare that technological methods of birth control are immoral and should not be practiced by Catholics. However, as our modern society illustrates everyday, this opinion is inappropriate for not only the faithful of the Roman Catholic Church, but also for non-Catholics. According to Munich Archbishop Cardinal Julius Doepfner, “Contraception is not intrinsically evil” (The Politics of Sex and Religion). There is a fine line the Catholic church draws between “natural” methods of family planning and the “immoral” methods of modern technology. After close review of Catholic doctrines, it is clear that this line does not exist. The intentions behind the actions are what matters. Therefore the encyclical of Paul VI , while maintaining good intentions, cannot give Catholics and non-Catholics alike complete guidance in complete humanness when it comes to contraception.
The major problem for the married believers in the Catholic faith is that Human Vitae neglects their ability to make moral decisions. Paul VI claims that contraception limits a person’s human totality and integrity. However, the reality is that the Church is limiting this principle of human existence by assuming the common man is incapable of making the correct moral choice. For example Paul VI states , “…how wide and easy a road would thus be opened up towards conjugal infidelity and the general lowering of morality.” (Human Vitae 8). It is absurd to believe that all moral problems in our society can be attributed to the introduction of birth control methods. Man, in his complete integrity and totality, is capable of judging moral from immoral regardless of the technological devices he is surrounded by. If all parts of a human are in harmony, means of contraception cannot invade this person’s complete humanness.
Scientific research shows that almost all practicing Catholics today believe that modern means of contraception does not interfere with their beliefs and morals. According to one study, “Even among married Catholic women who attend church every week, less than 4% use church-approved family planning methods-about the same as the total population.” (Catholics for Contraception). This illustrates the fact that people of faith have made their own interpretations of God’s desires and find no difference between natural family planning and modern methods of contraception. Weekly patrons of the church know the moral teachings of the Church and the consequences, yet the facts show that all believers have not come to a consensus.
Sanger, Margaret. "The Morality of Birth Control." Gifts of Speech. Smith College, 2012. Web. 15 Dec. 2013.
The pro-life stance on abortion is often associated with and defended by traditional Christian beliefs , ; however, this paper will argue that it can and should be defended with secular arguments that appeal to reason and our shared human condition. This paper will try and counter the notion that the argument is simply another battlefield where religion and secular thought meet. Rather, it is an important issue that carries with it heavy implications not only for the religious but also for the secular. The major arguments discussed include the emotional and physical toll on the mother, the societal toll of having abortion legalized, and the rights attributed to every human being; first, however, the stance taken in this paper will be further defined and clarified.
The fact that the only physician to support contraceptives was a woman speaks volumes about the disconnect between the male and female perspective on the issue. It begs the question: Can a man objectively weigh in on this issue? Since inarguably both the physical sacrifice and emotional burden of carrying to term and caring for an unwanted child lay solely on the
When legally introduced to society in 1960, the Pill stirred up a long period of controversy. The availability of the Pill had great impact on women’s health, social life, laws, religion, family, relationships, morality and sexuality. Initially conceived to be highly effective and safe, the Pill left many women with side effects – few which led to several fatalities. Before the Pill was created, many women postponed sex due to the social norm and fear of becoming pregnant before marriage. Families grew large and it was typical for a woman to have multiple children caused by the lack of birth control. Due to regulations, such as the Comstock laws, many people supported the prohibition of the Pill and other family planning practices. However, many women believed in the right to control their own body when it came to procreation. Despite the controversies, the Pill left lasting impacts, such as by opening society to the sexual revolution and...
Abortion has been a political, social, and personal topic for many years now. The woman’s right to choose has become a law that is still debated, argued and fought over, even though it has been passed. This paper will examine a specific example where abortion is encouraged, identify the Christian world views beliefs and resolution as well as the consequences of such, and compare them with another option.
During the whole of the 21st century, the subject of birth control has become a trending topic throughout various news reports. The debate on whether or not birth control should be required and distributed by all health plans has caused much controversy throughout the population. However, there was a time in our history when contraceptives, much less birth control, was available for the public. It was through the perseverance and determination of Margaret Sanger to make birth control legal for all women that it is accessible worldwide today. She was the leader of the birth control movement, which was conceived during the Progressive era of United States history.
In the discourse of family relations, views of women, and sex, it is necessary to begin with the standing that Catholicism held on the issues. The nuclear family model was the ideal of the Catholic Church; for this model provided protection, stability, and business connections. Ozment describes the nuclear family as the “total subjection of the wife to home and husband, of the home to the production of children, and of the children to the will of their parents” (Ozment, pg. 2). This view provides that a woman’s only purpose in life was to marry and bear children; if this was not viable she could enter the convent as not to be a finical burden upon her family. The Catholic Church also had strict views on the topic of sex, which was no sex outside of marriage and only in marriage to procreate. This view was held for the Church believed that “an upright person took pleasure only in God and used the things of the world to God’s glory, fallen men and women were enslaved to their lust and passions, no longer masters of their wills, and eager to worship the world in place of its creator” (Ozment, pg....
In this mind baffling speech by Margaret Sanger, she explains the importance of attaining birth control as a female. She believes that “birth control should be available to every adult man and woman” (The Morality of Birth Control). In her opinion, every person over 18 should at least obtain knowledge of it, and try to practice it as much as possible. “Not only will birth control reduce the rate of disease and famine, it will also help heighten the standards of civilization towards teen pregnancy and child abortion” (Population Growth and Resource Depletion). Only then will people attain real morality.
One popular objection is: if it is immoral to deprive someone of a future, or a “future-like-ours”, then it is immoral to deprive a sperm or egg of a “future-like-ours”. Because it is immoral to deprive someone of a future, one must conclude that it is immoral to deprive a sperm or egg of a “future-like-ours”. This objection is in reference to different modes of contraception, such as condoms and birth control. Nevertheless, the biggest problem with Marquis’ argument that allowed for this objection was its indecisiveness and improbability to draw a definitive line. Marquis criticized the pro-lifers and pro-choicers for being unable to have a definitive definition and made the same mistake in his own argument. One could object to his argument by merely questioning where the decision would end; are we to believe that one is depriving a sperm or an egg a future when we use contraception? Another important note is the idea that a “future-like-ours” is even an even more ambiguous term than a “person” or “human being”. It is impossible for the average individual to know which of his sperm or her eggs carries a genetic abnormality that may cause their child to not have a
Robert Creamer. "Protecting Access to Birth Control Does Not Violate Religious Freedom." Current Controversies: Politics and Religion. Ed. Debra A. Miller. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2013. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Lee’s Summit High School. 31 Oct. 2013
A thin, stretchy sheath about two inches in diameter and six to eight inches long, designed to be worn over penis during sex. Condoms form a physical barrier between penis and the vagina. After ejaculation the tip of the condom holds the semen and prevents it from traveling to woman's reproductive system to fertilize the egg.
When one contemplates the concept of eugenics, few think of modern contraception and abortion when in reality they are one in the same. The American Eugenics Society, founded in 1923, proudly proclaimed that men with incurable “conditions” should be sterilized. However these conditions were often none that could be helped, such as, one’s intelligence, race, and social class (Schweikart and Allen 529-532). The purpose of the society was to create the perfect class of men; elite in all ways. Likewise, Margaret Sanger’s feminist, contraceptive movement was not originally founded with this purpose. It was marketed as a way to control the population and be merciful to those yet to be born, again determined also by race and intelligence. The similarities in purpose actually brought the two organizations together to form a “liberating movement” to “aid women” known today as Planned Parenthood (Schweikart and Allen 529-532). The name may sound harmless, but the movement hid a darker purpose, to wean out the lower and less educated in order to create a perfect class.
One thing the church and science can agree on: life starts at the moment of conception. The Catholic Church has always been adamantly against any form of unnatural birth control, anything that is not considered “natural family planning” as expressed by Pope Paul VI on 1968 in his papal encyclical Humanae Vitae. “Who will prevent public authorities from favoring those contraceptive met...
What exactly is birth control? Birth control means things that can be done to ensure that pregnancy only happens if and when wanted. Nowadays there are a great variety of ways to assure birth control. However, there is only one way that can be considered 100 percent secure. The more it is known about birth control options, the better chances of avoiding an unwanted pregnancy and reducing the risks of getting a sexually transmitted disease, including AIDS.
Since the 1970s, many countries in the world the problem of adolescent sexuality and first sexual experience at young age appeared. To make matters worse, the trend of adolescent pregnancy became increasingly serious. From the fact sheet of World Health Organization, there are about 16 million adolescent girls giving birth every year – most in low- and middle-income countries. Among them, an estimated three million girls aged 15-19 undergo unsafe abortions every year. In low- and middle-income countries, over 30% of girls marry before they are 18 years of age; around 14% before the age of 15 and complications from pregnancy and childbirth are a leading cause of death among girls aged 15-19 years.