Birth Control and Demographic Implosion

by Michel Schooyans

The idea of birth control was already present in antiquity. In The Laws, Plato affirms that the population of a city cannot surpass 5,040 heads of families and family residences (cf. V 737 e;740, d). In The Politics (II, 6), population control is also recommended by Aristotle. This idea reappears much later, for example in Thomas More's Utopia (1516) and the City of the Sun of Campanella (1623). Beginning in the modern era, this question was taken up more and more frequently, especially in England.  Read More...

Catholics for a Free Choice

by Brian Clowes

Catholics for a Free Choice (CFFC) is a Washington, D.C.-based organization whose objective is to convince lawmakers, the popular media and Catholics that there can be an authentic "Catholic pro-choice" philosophy. [...] The group has clearly stated its ultimate goal: "CFFC recommends a change in the policies held by the Holy See to support the use of condoms to prevent AIDS and other diseases; to approve the use of modern methods of contraception, including emergency contraception, to prevent unwanted pregnancy; and to support non-coercive, safe and legal abortion." Read More...

Condoms

from HLI's Pro-Life Talking Points Series

Condoms fail for regular users: The condom is the most commonly used barrier method of contraception in the world. Yet according to mainstream scientific sources, its efficacy has been grossly overstated by its promoters. Read More...

Contraception

by Brian Clowes

In "Contraception," from his book The Facts of Life, Dr. Brian Clowes discusses topics such as: definitions of contraception; method and user effectiveness rates; costs of various birth control methods; profitability of the “family planning” industry; condoms and venereal diseases; surgical and chemical sterilization; Catholic teaching on sterilization and contraception; and future technologies.  For the Table of Contents with links to the full content of the chapter, click here...

Contraceptive Mentality, The

by Grzegorz Kaszak

In the second half of the previous century, the commercialization of the Contraceptive Pill offered the opportunity for a new and efficient way to deprive human sexuality of its procreative potential. The wide distribution of the Pill had a large impact on changing people's ways of thinking and behaving. We can say that the new contraceptive means undoubtedly helped create a new mindset, which is called the contraceptive mentality. Read More...

Demographic Implosion In Europe?, A

by Gérard-François Dumont

How can one explain this convergence towards a low fertility rate in countries having such different demographic histories and characteristics? [...] New medical contraceptives (the Pill, intrauterine device, sterilization) which have become increasingly and more widely used since the 1960s, allowed the control of fertility and the fertility calendar and the separation of sexuality from procreation. In the case of an incorrect use of modern contraceptives, recourse to medical abortion became possible, both in countries where abortion is legal as well as in most others where it is illegal, but generally available. Read More...

Depo-Provera: Injectable Abortion

from HLI's Pro-Life Talking Points Series 

Depo-Provera has both contraceptive and abortifacient effects: The Depo-Provera injection, given to women and girls every three months as a contraceptive, actually causes abortion in some instances. Depo-Provera is a type of hormonal anti-fertility drug, and works in one of two ways: by preventing conception and thus having a contraceptive effect, or by preventing the implantation of an alreadyconceived child and thus ending the life of a new human being after conception. Read More...

Eastern Orthodoxy and Contraception

by Taras Baytsar

The voices of the various Orthodox churches have been muted in addressing the issue of contraception and "family planning." Even when church leaders have spoken, their communication is often inconsistent with early Church traditions and teachings, or contradictory from one period to the next or among Orthodox theologians. While the desire to avoid controversy is understandable, controversy can not be avoided at the cost of error or indifference. Read More...

Family And Philosophy, The

by Hayden Ramsay

From the moment in which the two aspects of the conjugal institution are separated, the natural institution is trampled on, and the legal dispositions that regulate it remain without object. The artifice of contraception, dissociated from the two goals of marriage, attacks the very heart of the institution of marriage. Read More...

International Abortion Situation, The

by Brian Clowes

In "The International Abortion Situation," from his book The Facts of Life, Dr. Brian Clowes discusses topics such as: the malthus manifesto; anti-natalist bigots; biphobia and self-hate; the situation in the USA; contraceptive imperialism; abortion's link with population control; catholic teaching on population; status of abortion legislation worldwide; and demographic summaries of the world's nations. For the Table of Contents with links to the full content of the chapter, click here...

Negative Effects of the Pill

from HLI's Pro-Life Talking Points Series 

Hormonal contraceptives have severe side-effects: [...] Regularly taking powerful steroids, which are what hormonal contraceptives from the pill to injectable Depo-Provera are, has powerful effects on the human body. It should come as no surprise that they cause a long list of side effects, from minor ones like headaches to serious ones like severe depression and even death. Read More...

Pre-Implantation and Emergency Contraception

by John Wilks

The terms "pre-implantation contraception" [PIC] and "emergency contraception" [EC] as well as ‘post-coital contraception' [PCC] are synonymous expressions inaccurately used to describe the administration of a drug or use of a device post intercourse, with the explicit intention of stopping implantation of a newly created human embryo. These three terms are also collectively referred to, in both the lay and medical literature, as the ‘morning-after' pill. Read More...

Sex Education

by Aquilino Polaino-Lorente

These programs would have as their objective furnishing enough biological information for children to avoid the heavy consequences of contracting sexually transmitted diseases, HIV/AIDS and unwanted pregnancies. This kind of sexual education is necessarily incomplete because it leaves to one side the relational, affective and spiritual aspects of human love. It further runs the risk, depending on the program and the philosophy of the teacher, of being excessively explicit and constituting merely an introduction to the practice of contraception and “safe sex.” Read More...

Sexual and Reproductive Rights

by José Alfredo Peris Cancio

“Sexual rights” are often used to defend the “right” to homosexuality. The use of the expression “reproductive rights” is also related to a presumed “right” to contraception, sterilization, abortion and the modern techniques of artificial reproduction. Read More...