A Gateway Drug to Catholicism

Contraception and NFP

In the comforts of bed, one early morning, I found myself scrolling through Instagram. (Yes, I know it’s a horrible habit. Yes, I am trying to break said habit.) In my feed was a video by an Orthodox convert, who talked about why she did not believe in using birth control from a Biblical perspective.

I had stumbled upon similar videos in recent weeks and found myself ignoring them. Comments on the videos were often belligerent and defensive, and in some way I felt similar. I mean who were these women to say contraceptives were unbiblical? Every church I knew of allowed for them.

However, while an unmarried single young woman, I still thought these things were important to think about. I had long been convinced that I would never take birth control because I was appalled by the idea of putting synthetic hormones in my body that robbed me of a period and threatened me with even the slightest chance of infertility.

However, other forms of contraceptive hadn’t seemed bad. I mean what was the problem with condoms or an IUD? However, I was also well informed on NFP¹ and saw it as a viable solution to my future. But, I had no opposition to a couple’s choice to use contraceptives. Again, every church and woman I had ever known had no problem with using them and had never raised an argument to the contrary.

But, this specific video gave me pause. The woman wasn’t accusatory in nature, but simply offered Bible verses she felt supported the stance of being open to life in marriage.² Her argument was that God always see’s children as a blessing, never as a burden. As such, she argued that children should not be seen as something we must hinder and instead we should trust our family size to the Lord.

I began to feel convicted that one day, that if the Lord so blessed me to be married, I would follow suit in being open to life. Even then, I wasn’t entirely sure why I felt this way, but I was slowly being persuaded.

Soon after, I was watching Pints with Aquinas and came across a video where Matt Fradd interviewed Jason Evert about contraceptives and NFP. In it, a few important points were made that stood out to me:

1. Every time you take birth control, your body thinks you are pregnant. When you stop taking the pill for a few days (what they tell you is a period) your body thinks it is miscarrying.³

2. When a man’s seminal fluid enters a woman’s cervix, it is absorbed into the woman’s circulatory system. Within hours, that man’s DNA begins to EMBED itself in her organs and her hormones. Her “white blood cells [then] will scour the surface of her cervix and bring the man’s sperm proteins and DNA into her lymph nodes where her immune system will learn to recognize the genetic type of that man’s sperm” so that her body “will actually develop a gradual tolerance to the antigen on that male’s semen.” Due to this, when a woman becomes pregnant by that man, her body is more accustomed to that genetic material and her womb will recognize it as a part of her rather than foreign. In cases where couples use a condom before getting pregnant, woman are more than twice as likely to develop pre-eclampsia in pregnancy.⁴

3. Throughout, they also re-emphasized the harms on women’s bodies from taking birth control, as well as long term studies in regard to sterilization as a result from it.⁵

Immediately, I was just in awe- specifically about point two. When God said two became one flesh, He wasn’t kidding!⁶ Man and woman truly become united through the unitive act of sex as a woman’s body embeds her husband’s DNA. What a beautiful thing!

At this point, the idea of ever using any form of contraception had been definitively pushed from my mind. I realized I could never use something that seemed to do far more harm than good, simply in an act to control the outcome of when I would have a child.

However, this did more than just convict my heart. It brought about many questions. I began to research why Christian churches today no longer held to the belief that man and woman should be open to life and not use contraception. What I learned shocked me. Until 1930 all Christian denominations, globally, disavowed contraception. Martin Luther famously quoted:

How great, therefore, the wickedness of [fallen] human nature is! How many girls there are who prevent conception and kill and expel tender fetuses, although procreation is the work of God! Indeed, some spouses who marry and live together…have various ends in mind, but rarely children.⁷

However, in a tumultuous world that was war torn and feared a global population surpassing the “carrying capacity” of the world,⁸ as well as mounting pressure to address the mass production of condoms, the Anglican Church allowed for the use of contraception in a few circumstances.⁹ Many Protestant churches followed suit. By the 1960’s all major denominations with the exception of Catholics had allowed for the use of contraceptives.¹⁰

It was then that the everyone looked to the Catholic Church, the last man standing. Would they sway with the changing tide?

Evidently, no. In fact, if anything they doubled down. July 25th, 1968, Pope Paul VI issued Humanae Vitae, an encyclical letter that detailed the churches stance on contraception, human life, and the sanctity of marriage. Three weeks ago, I read this letter for the first time and was baffled. It was one of the best things I have ever read, and that is no understatement. While I encourage you to read this letter for yourself- here is a link- I will offer you a brief summary of the contents and the most poignant points to me.

1. According to Humanae Vitae, marriage is an institution established by God that mirrors the love and union of Christ and His Church. It details that “whoever really loves his partner loves not only for what he receives, but loves that partner for the partner's own sake, content to be able to enrich the other with the gift of himself.”¹¹ Though, this partnership is not simply for this enrichment, but rather is “faithful and exclusive of all other, and […] until death.”¹² Furthermore, this is not simply the loving interchange of man and wife but rather “contrives to go beyond this to bring new life into being. Marriage and conjugal love are by their nature ordained toward the procreation and education of children. Children are really the supreme gift of marriage and contribute in the highest degree to their parents' welfare.’”¹³

2. Additionally, responsible parenthood brings with it self control. As the encyclical says, “responsible parenthood means that man's reason and will must exert control over them.”¹⁴ Responsible Parenthood is not limited to the families own outcome, but rather a responsibility to God’s “objective moral order which was established by God, and of which a right conscience is the true interpreter.”¹⁵ Therefore, followers of Christ do not have the ability to choose as they will with the transmission of life, but must carry out the duty prescribed to them in accordance with God’s will.

   This particular doctrine, often expounded by the magisterium of the Church, 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.¹⁶

3. Humanae Vitae also details the consequences on society and marriage by employing the usage of contraception. First of all, it notes that employment of contraception could increase “marital infidelity and a general lowering of moral standards” as a result of no consequence to the marital act.¹⁷ Furthermore, young adults might seize the use of contraceptives as a means to engage in immoral behavior. But more so, the Pope argues that men may “forget the reverence due to a woman, and, disregarding her physical and emotional equilibrium, reduce her to being a mere instrument for the satisfaction of his own desires, no longer considering her as his partner whom he should surround with care and affection.”¹⁸

When I read all these things, I was baffled. It was a self-fulfilling prophecy. One that spoke of the desecration of the family unit, the proliferation of sex outside of marriage, and general boost in sexualization of men and woman rather than acknowledging personhood. I had always thought of the 2nd wave of feminism in part as responsible for the immoral culture that surrounded me, but now I saw it as one of the most key components.

Contraception has robbed society of its God given design.

When faced with these undeniable truths, I think it is hard for any faithful young woman to not be convicted in some way. But for me, this was a rabbit hole. One that urged me to look into other stances churches were slowly forfeiting to the transitional waves of culture. Women pastors? Acceptance of divorce? Abortion? The LGBTQ community? Openly gay pastors? Transgender youth?

Slowly, these things have and are infiltrating the American and global church. Morality and God’s design has been forgotten in exchange for interpreting scripture as we see fit to. Where is the authority?

Once you see contraception as against God’s design, it is hard not to see all the implications that follow suit. It was Kimberly Hahn’s own discovery of the historic Christian stance on contraception that sent her husband, Dr. Scott Hahn, on a deep dive into historical Christianity and ultimately brought him home to Rome.¹⁹

And thus, contraceptives have been one of the most influential points on this journey of mine. If the Church, referring to the universal church preceding denomination, can easily forgo it’s belief on one issue, what is to stop it from doing it with everything else?

There has to be some level of authority. One that speaks outside of ourselves and how we wish to interpret things. One that guides us and affirms us of the truth.

Hence, why I am deeply compelled to learn more about Catholicism.

Photo by Omar Lopez on Unsplash

1. Natural Family Planning (also known as the fertility awareness method) is a form of pregnancy planning without the use of chemical or physical barriers between partners. By using a woman’s natural biometrics, NFP can track when a women’s fertile window is and couples can avoid sex during that fertile window to prevent pregnancy. It can also be used for couples trying to get pregnant. There are various forms of NFP such as tracking cervical mucus, tracking cycle days, tracking temperature, etc. According to the NHS, NFP 91-99% effective for couples following exact instructions.

2. I unfortunately do not have the exact Bible verses she provided because I can’t find the video, but here are some examples from GotQuestions.com

“The Bible presents children as a gift from God (Genesis 4:1; Genesis 33:5), a heritage from the Lord (Psalm 127:3-5), a blessing from God (Luke 1:42), and a crown to the aged (Proverbs 17:6). God sometimes blesses barren women with children (Psalm 113:9; Genesis 21:1-3; 25:21-22; 30:1-2; 1 Samuel 1:6-8; Luke 1:7, 24-25). God forms children in the womb (Psalm 139:13-16). God knows children before their birth (Jeremiah 1:5; Galatians 1:15).”

3. Link to video.

4. Link to video. Evert quotes from an epidemiological study on contraception and preeclampsia from the American Medical Association.

5. Same video link as above.

6. Genesis 2:24, Matthew 19:5, Mark 10:8, Ephesians 5:31

7. Bound4Life

8. Global “carrying capacity” was a belief promulgated by Thomas Malthus in the late 1700’s and early 1800’s. It suggested that the world could only support a certain population size before arriving at a place that supply would no longer support the growing population and would be unable to replenish itself fast enough to support the population. However, the industrial revolution helped create new means to support the food supply, mitigating this risk and essentially diminishing this threat. That being said, the last century has continued on with the fear of overpopulation.

9. Links to cites which discuss this history more in depth: PBS, Bound4Life, Catholic.com

10. Ibid.

11. Humane Vitae, point 9: Married Love.

12. Ibid.

13. Ibid.

14. Humane Vitae, point 10: Responsible Parenthood

15. Ibid.

16. Humane Vitae, point 11: Union and Procreation

17. Humane Vitae, point 17: Consequences of Artificial Methods

18. Ibid.

19. Rome Sweet Home by Dr. Scott Hahn and his wife Kimberly Hahn details their journey from being Calvinist Protestants and staunch Anti-Catholics to becoming devote Catholics. (Great book, I highly recommend!)