Is it Wrong to Use Birth Control?

A look at the moral arguments surrounding the use of birth control.

Page Summary:

Among Christians, there is significant debate over the ethics of birth control. The Catholic church formally opposes all forms of artificial birth control. Most Protestants only The first question relates to mechanics. Could certain birth control methods actually cause an abortion? The second question

There are two basic types of birth control, those that prevent sperm from fertilizing a woman's egg and those that prevent the already fertilized zygote from implanting in the uterus. The first method, in preventing fertilization, keeps a new human being from coming into existence. The second method, however, since human life begins at fertilization, is actually an abortifacient. It makes the lining of the uterus hostile to the newly formed life, prevents the zygote from implanting and forces the death of this tiny human being. Birth control methods which perform as abortifacients are doing the same thing earlier in pregnancy that medical and surgical abortions do later in pregnancy. They kill an innocent human being. For this reason they are unjust and should not be used.

There is, of course, another aspect to the birth control question, one that is more spiritual than medical. It could be phrased more appropriately, "Is it wrong for Christians to use birth control? Is it wrong for married Christians to "play God" in actively preventing a conception that may have otherwise occurred? (We say "married Christians" because sexually active Christians who are not married are in severe sin independent of the birth control issue - Ephesians 5:3).

The Catholic Church opposes all forms of artificial birth control on the premise that it, "is always intrinsically wrong to use contraception to prevent new human beings from coming into existence." The arguments for such convictions are presented on the Catholic.com website.

Most Protestants, however, do not oppose non-abortive forms of birth control, and do not feel their use is an attempt to usurp Gods' authority. One of the best defenses for such a position can be found on the Desiring God website, where you will read:

God is just as much in control of whether you have children when you use birth control as when you don't. The hands of the almighty are not tied by birth control! A couple will have children precisely at the time God wants, whether they use birth control or not. Either way, then, God is ultimately in control of the size of one's family.

For Christians who are generally concerned about this issue, carefully evaluate the defenses for both the Catholic and the Protestant positions, and then pursue what you feel to be the most God-honoring and Scriptural approach.

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1 Comments on Is it Wrong to Use Birth Control?

(Mar 31, 2009 / 12:54 CST)

The marriage bed .com has a great discussion and details on many of the new birth control methods available and how they each work. The Url for the birth control discussion is: http://themarriagebed.com/pages/sexuality/engaged/birthcontrol.shtml

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