Dr. Allcock received her Pharm.D. from the University of Missouri-Kansas City in 2002 and M.S. in health care ethics from the University of Mary and the National Catholic Bioethics Center in 2020. She is a Fellow of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists and the National Catholic Bioethics Center. Dr. Allcock has practiced as a critical care pharmacist and a hospital pharmacy administrator, though she currently homeschools two teenagers. She is also a Benedictine oblate.
Behold, sons are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, are the sons of one’s youth.
Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them!
He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.
Psalm 127:3-5
The Church’s stance against contraception is probably one of her most commonly known moral teachings. Though it is well-known, it is often confused and infrequently followed. The pressures of the feminist movement and its aftermath have made this teaching difficult for modern men and women to comprehend, and though catechesis has improved over the past couple of decades, still too many Catholics have been taught the what, but not the why. That is, Catholics tend to be aware that the teaching exists, but have not been given, or been willing to receive, a thorough explanation of its background and beauty. Because the problem of birth control is so widespread and misunderstood, a deep dive into the topic is warranted. This article will present a brief history of contraception and of Christian thought on the unitive and procreative ends of marriage. Part two will discuss specific types of contraception, cooperation with evil, and scandal.
Contraception in the Ancient World
If you ask the average person when contraception was invented, they would likely say sometime in the 1960s. This is an understandable answer since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first pill for the purpose of birth control at the beginning of that decade. However, primitive forms of contraception have been around since ancient times. Medical documents from at least 1500 years before the time of Christ indicate that the ancient Egyptians used honey, dates, acacia leaves, cotton lint and even crocodile dung as suppositories in an effort to prevent pregnancy. There is also evidence that the ancient Romans used condoms made of linen or animal intestines, and grew an herb which was taken after intercourse in order to bring on menstruation. Soranos, a Greek physician who lived about 100 years after the time of Christ, described no less than 17 different methods of birth control recommended by physicians of the time. Indeed, before Christianity took hold, the Roman empire was rife with contraception, abortion, and infanticide.
Christian Teachings
Christians were different. Early Christian leaders repeatedly warned against contraception. The Didache, a first-century Christian text containing teachings of the twelve apostles, distinguished between the “The Way of Life” and “The Way of Death.” The author noted that use of pharmakeia which acted as a “killer of offspring” was part of the Way of Death and exhorted Christians to the Way of Life by saying,
You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not seduce boys. You shall not commit fornication. You shall not steal. You shall not practice magic. You shall not use potions. You shall not procure abortion, nor destroy a newborn child.
The reference to “potions” likely included medicinal mixtures used to either prevent pregnancy or induce an abortion.
The word pharmakeia also appears in the original Greek text of Galatians 5:19-21, where St. Paul lists a series of sins which will prevent a person from entering the kingdom of God. Often translated as witchcraft or sorcery in modern Bibles, some scholars assert that by using the word pharmakeia, St. Paul is speaking of potions meant to be used as contraception. Many other early Christian texts also discuss the purpose of marriage as being to produce children and not that of lustful thoughts and actions.
Protestants and Contraception
Today we think of the Catholic Church as the only Christian church who teaches that contraception is a moral evil. However, Protestants also believed this until just around a hundred years ago. Martin Luther and John Calvin both preached against contraception, citing the Old Testament story of Onan, who was supposed to fulfill the law by fathering children with his dead brother’s wife.
But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his; so when he went in to his brother’s wife he spilled the semen on the ground, lest he should give offspring to his brother. And what he did was displeasing in the sight of the Lord, and he slew him also. (Gen 38:8-10)
In fact, Protestant churches were against contraception until the year 1930. The early 1900s were a tumultuous time for the downfall of women’s reproductive health. Known eugenicist and founder of Planned Parenthood, Margaret Sanger, advocated for wider acceptance of the birth control methods of the time, such as the diaphragm, and funded research to find a pill for birth control. This mounting social pressure had an impact on the leadership of Protestant churches.
The Church of England, what we typically call the Anglican or Episcopal church, was the first Protestant denomination to permit birth control. At their Lambeth Conference in 1930, the Anglican bishops voted to allow partial use of artificial contraception “where there is a clearly-felt moral obligation to limit or avoid parenthood.” The bishops did note that the use of birth control should be rare and that the primary and obvious method should be “complete abstinence from intercourse… in a life of discipline and self-control lived in the power of the Holy Spirit.” Their actions were a classic example of “give an inch take a mile.” The Anglican Bishop Brent was against the proposal, warning that if it passed, artificial birth control would be allowed for any reason and “give way to selfish rationalization.” It didn’t take long for Protestant churches to allow the use of contraception anytime for any reason.
Pope Pius XI responded quickly to the Anglicans’ falter at the Lambeth conference, issuing the encyclical Casti Connubii (On Christian Marriage) by the end of the same year. The encyclical clearly stated the Church’s prohibition of artificial birth control, but also beautifully outlined the sanctity of Christian marriage.
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.
Casti Connubii was primarily an encyclical on marriage, which emphasizes how we must think about contraception. In order to understand the Church’s prohibition on artificial birth control, one must first understand the purpose of marriage.
The Ends of Marriage
When the priest asks in his Sunday homily, “Why did God make you?” many of us who remember the timeless Baltimore Catechism respond under our breaths, “to know Him, love Him and serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in Heaven.” Our ultimate end, or ultimate goal, is happiness in God. Thus, any human action can be considered good if it is directed toward a purpose which is harmonious with this end goal of being happy in God. Therefore, sexual acts can only be considered good if they are in harmony with God’s plan for marriage. That is, sexual acts must be ordered toward the ends of marriage which God intended.
The Church teaches that marriage has two ends: the unitive end and the procreative end. These two goals of the marital union are dependent on each other and cannot be separated. Speaking on these ends of marriage in his 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae, Pope Paul VI states, “This doctrine… is based on the inseparable connection, established by God, which man on his own initiative may not break, between the unitive significance and the procreative significance which are both inherent to the marriage act.”
The procreative end of marriage is fairly easy to understand. The design of the human body, biology and genetics, clearly illustrate that the sexual act is intended for the creation of children. However, this end of procreation also flows from the vocational aspect of marriage. Men and women are called by God to marriage as their vocation, a vocation which includes the co-creation of children with God. “And God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it;’” (Gen 1:28).
The meaning of the unitive end of marriage is somewhat more difficult to ascertain. By unitive, the Church does not simply mean a physical union, but rather a joining together of husband and wife which results from a physical, emotional and spiritual bond. The unitive end of marriage represents a complete self-giving on the part of each spouse to the other. The conjugal act says to each partner from the other, “I give my full self to you.” The act is an outward expression of one spouse giving his or her total inner self to the other. When contraception enters into the picture, the spouses say to each other, “I do not want to give all of myself to you,” and “I do not want to receive all of you.”
Thus, the unitive and procreative ends of marriage are inseparable. Union cannot be achieved without an openness to procreation, and contraception severs both ends. “The two shall become one” (Mark 10:8), not just in a physical manner, but also in mind and heart.
When young couples enter into marriage, they dream of obtaining the kind of union that the Church desires. Why, then, do most Catholic couples ignore this teaching on contraception? Entire books have been written discussing this, but a brief synopsis might point to the prevailing culture and the lack of catechesis in Catholic churches and schools. However, the problem could be summed up in the manner described by then Cardinal Ratzinger in the document from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Donum Vitae. If a couple does not accept that the teachings of the Church are founded on a Christian anthropology, then the teachings will not make sense. In other words, we must not simply think of the Church’s teachings on marriage as man-made rules, but as the teachings of God simply handed down through the Church.
Future Discussion
Catholics often get bogged down in the details of the different types of contraception, birth control pills, Intrauterine devices, implants, condoms, sterilization, etc… However, it is quite right and simple to say that all forms of contraception sever the unitive and procreative ends of marriage, and this is the primary reason for which they are prohibited by the Church. Part two of this article will discuss other, secondary reasons why these various forms of birth control are evil. It will also discuss the Church’s acceptance of natural family planning in certain situations, cooperation with the evil of contraception and scandal.
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That was one of the better introductory essays on contraception I have read. Thank you Dr. Allcock.