| The major opponents for most elements of family planning come from
religious organizations and their members. Different religions have
different
views on reproductive issues stemming from interpretations of their
holy texts.
Catholicism
The Roman Catholic Church has the most restrictive views on all areas
of reproduction. Their position is principles derived from their holy
texts which state that life is sacred and that life begins at the moment
of conception. As a result, they believe that any interference in the
reproductive process is sinful and not permitted. It strictly prohibits
any use of contraceptives, including condoms, or abortion no matter
the situation. In 1930, Pope Pius XI released the encyclical, Casti
Connubii in response to an Episcopalian announcement permitting the
use of artificial contraceptives in cases of extreme necessity. It
reaffirmed the Roman Catholic belief in the sanctity of marriage and
the prohibition of any contraceptives. “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.” Pope Paul VI articulated the current
official position of the Roman Catholic Church in 1968 in the encyclical,
Humanae Vitae. This encyclical reaffirmed that only natural methods
of contraceptives like the rhythm method in cases of extreme necessity
were permitted. All other methods of birth control are prohibited.
The Roman Catholic Church is the most boisterous of abortion opponents
and actively engages in international debate and diplomatic events
to further imbed its views on abortion and contraceptives into legal
work. It also organizes a large number of US organizations to prevent
the legalization of contraceptives and abortion.
The Catholic Church also prohibits premarital sex and encourages abstinence
until marriage. After marriage, abstinence can be considered immoral.
It has also come out against all forms of sex education except abstinence-only
education.
The views of the Roman Catholic Church are not shared with all Christians.
Top of Page Protestant Christianity
While Protestant denominations take many positions on these issues,
a large portion of them support a statement issued by the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). That statement declares: “When
[having children] is not their intention, the responsible use of
safe, effective contraceptives is expected of the male and the female.
Respect and sensitivity should also be shown toward couples who do
not feel called to conceive and/or rear children, or who are unable
to do so.”
The divergence of opinion is significantly less on the issue of abortion.
Evangelical churches view abortion as infanticide or murder and as
thus do not permit it. This belief follows from a strict interpretation
of passages of both the Old and New Testaments that explicitly state
that life begins at conception and prohibits abortion. There are a
few Protestant churches, normally Anglican, that agree with ‘abortion
on demand’ and placing restrictions on abortion.
Top of Page Judaism
While Genesis 1:22 (the commandment to “be fruitful and multiply”)
is contradictory to the purpose of contraceptive, the Talmud (tractate
Yevamot 12b) mentions its use. As a result, many rabbinic authorities
permit the use of natural contraceptives when necessary for the health
of the woman. The preferred methods are condoms, pessaries, oral contraceptives
(e.g. “the pill”) or intrauterine devices. Methods that
cause sterility are not approved of. Before the use of contraceptives,
consultation with a rabbi about the reasons and methods is common and
preferred. Overall, contraceptives have not had as large of controversy
among members of the Judaism as it has among the Catholic Church and
other religions.
Judaism respects the sanctity of life but does permit abortions in
some circumstances because in general the fetus is not considered an
autonomous person. It believes that the fetus has great value because
it is potentially a human life but that it gains "full human status
at birth only." In the Mishna (Ohalot 7:6) abortion is explicitly
instructed if the health of the mother is at risk. As a result, as
stated in ancient Jewish texts, abortion “is not forbidden when
done because of a great need.” It is necessary though that “each
case must be decided individually by a rabbi well-versed in Jewish
law."
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Islam
Like the Bible, the Qur’an encourages procreation but does not
explicitly discuss contraceptives. There is discussion of contraceptives
in some other early texts however. As a result, methods such as “azl” (coitus
interruptus) are permitted so long as the method does not result in
sterility. Debate does exist on this issue. On the issue of abortion,
there is broad acceptance of abortion in cases where there exist serious
reasons and a significant danger to the mother’s life.
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