Contraception

• Also known as: birth control

Overview

Contraception is an issue because of (on the one side) the significant number of (mainly religious) groups who seem out to restrict or prevent it, and (on the other side) the bad effects of not using it when needed.

Statement

Many groups apparently are both against abortion and against contraception or even sex education, usually favoring a policy of promoting abstinence until marriage. This strikes me as highly irrational and irresponsible, as it essentially "wishes away" a number of realities:

• the reality that teenagers and young adults will be interested in sex whether or not they are educated about it (humanity was around long before sex education)
• the reality of the large number of unwanted births which would result if "pro-life", "anti-contraception", and "anti-sex-education" policies were enacted in any combination, in the absence of a significant and widespread cultural change or some as-yet-unknown but more acceptable means of contraception
• the reality that in any case, a large portion of people do not wish for such a culture change, and would not abide by it
• the reality that many married people do not wish to reproduce every time they are fertile

If these groups are aiming to prevent unwanted conception solely by somehow significantly changing our culture so that most people only have sex when procreation is desired, they do not seem to be putting their efforts in that direction; if anything, they seem to want to maximize procreation at any cost.

Opinion

• 2006-05-18
  • The War on Sex by Cristina Page on TomPaine.com
    • Claims that all pro-life groups in the United States are also against contraception – is this true?
    • Claims that anti-choice groups are claiming that many contraceptives (including the birth control pill, the patch, the IUD, and the Depo-Provera shot) are actually abortifacients, i.e. that they induce abortions – is it true that they are claiming this?
  • Will we choke on the pill? blog entry by Jill Stanek: a pro-life Biblically-based argument against contraception, with much discussion (on both sides) afterwards
    • commentary by PZ Myers at Pharyngula

Related Articles

• Contraception is a reproductive issue