In a recent column, I connected the morning-after pill controversy with the larger issue of contraception. Basically, pro-lifers can't oppose the MAP without opposing birth control pills, since they contain the same ingredients (female hormones) and, therefore, may both cause abortions - stop an embryo from implanting in the uterus.
Pro-aborts have honed in on this and are using the contraceptive issue as a wedge to separate the public from pro-lifers and pro-lifers from each other, since abortion is no longer the wedge issue it once was with anyone.
See these articles/columns from various sources just yesterday, for instance:
The move to withhold contraceptives "was started by a small group of extreme ideologues who claim the right to impose their personal beliefs on the overwhelming majority of the American people," Mrs. Clinton declared in an email to supporters on Wednesday. "They're waging this silent war on contraception by using the power of the White House and their right-wing allies in Congress... and so far, they're getting away with it." - Newsmax.com, May 17 They have a plan for you and if you are anything like the 85 percent of American couples who have sex once a week, you�re not going to like it. The pro-life groups who are the most committed to ending legal abortion�and gotten the furthest in their goals�are also leading campaigns against the only proven ways to prevent abortion: contraception. Shocking as it may be, there is not one pro-life organization in the United States that supports the use of contraception. - Op ed by Cristina Page of NARAL NY in TomPaine.commonsense, May 17 There seems to be a concentrated effort by the population control crowd recently to paint Republicans as being anti-contraceptive. - Human Events, May 17
I am a Protestant who opposes contraception, not only because some of its forms may cause abortions, but also - moreso - because the thinking behind contraception makes it the forerunner to abortion.
I base my thinking on several Biblical concepts. The foremost concept is that God is always described in Scripture as the sole procreative decision-maker. To my knowledge, every incident in Scripture describing pregnancy or barrenness gives God complete credit.
If that premise is true, who has the right to say no to God? Who can say they have a better grip on timing than God?
Pro-aborts are right. Contraception is next issue after abortion. And pro-lifers must work it through.
On the other hand, there is also research to suggest that neither the MAP or oral contraceptives will prevent a fertilized egg from implanting....
As a pro-lifer, I am quite torn about the MAP and oral contraceptives. It would be very nice if the scientists would just give us a straight answer on this one. Do they prevent implantation or not? Give us the facts, and we'll figure out the moral issues. Unfortunately, too many "scientists" seem to be blurring those lines these days.
On the larger issue of contraception, I agree with you and I disagree with you. Morally, I think you're absolutely right that rampant contraception creates the mentality that leads to abortion. Life has become a commodity to be sought and (more often than not) an incovenience to be avoided, instead of being a blessing from our Creator.
However, let's stop for a moment and think strategically. Opposing contraception is a total non-starter with most people, at least right now. That's why the pro-abortion forces are trying to make this connection for us. If we push against contraception, we will (at the very least) dilute our strength. More likely, we will trigger a backlash that could discredit the pro-life movement.
Incrementalism is working. America (and other countries, too) is becoming more pro-life, one little baby step at a time. Let's take the gains that we can get, save the lives that we can save, and not waste our strength tilting at windmills. Ending abortion is much, much more important to me than undoing the Sexual Revolution. Let's do the first things first, and save the other battles for the future.
Remember: "Wise as serpents, innocent as doves." Trying to roll back the Sexual Revolution right now, though it is a worthy goal, is not wise.
Naaman, I agree incrementalism has worked.
But like it or not, pro-aborts are forcing the contraception issue on us, and for good reason, as you and I agree: It sounds so foreign that it may turn Americans against us again, and it may cause infighting amongst pro-lifers as an added bonus.
So what will be our strategy? Ignore pro-aborts? That won't work. They'll rule the issue. Or speak in boldness right back at them?
So what will be our strategy? Ignore pro-aborts? That won't work. They'll rule the issue. Or speak in boldness right back at them?
Transparency.
Let's be honest. Despite the efforts of the abortion advocates to paint us all with the same brush, the pro-life movement is really a coalition. There are some pro-lifers who are opposed to contraception. There are other pro-lifers who support contraception, even to the level of endorsing it as a way to reduce abortions. This is a good-faith discussion among pro-lifers, similar to our good-faith discussion about capital punishment.
What we must not do is to throw each other out of the coalition over contraception. A pro-contraception pro-lifer is just as welcome as an anti-contraception pro-lifer. We can debate with each other, but let's not splinter the coalition.
Naaman, I completely agree.
the court case that started the "right to privacy" was Grisswald v. Conneticut. It allowed contraception for married couples. The next case (I forgot the name) said unmarried couples could obtain contraception. I personally don't care about Grisswald (I do care about the case after it) however Grisswald did set the legal precedence for Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Golten. On the other hand, Grisswald v. Conneticut was wrongly decided, oweing to a missinterpretation of the 14th amendmant
At www.prolife.org.ph we see contraception as the ROOT of the anti-life culture.
http://www.pronatal.org/category/contraception/
http://forums.prolife.org.ph/yabbse/index.php/board,8.0.html
Pro-aborts are typically shameless liars who say that if you don't want your tax dollars to pay for contraceptives, or if you're in the medical profession and you don't want to sell contraceptives, that means that you somehow are secretly plotting to ban all contraceptives so that nobody can use them ever.
Pro-aborts also lie and claim that if only more people had free contraceptives, we would dramatically reduce the number of abortions. That is pure nonsense. The people getting the most abortions now are people who already have access to condoms and birth control pills.
That said, the pro-aborts are talking about contraceptives only to try to obfuscate the issue and turn we pro-lifers against each other. These people will stop at nothing to uphold their Unholy Sacrament of the Church of Relativism. We must not allow them to divide us.