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By Erika Anderson
ATLANTA—In 1968 when Pope Paul VI released “Humanae
Vitae” it was a direct hit to the advocates of the new sexual revolution.
Today, nearly 32 years later, the topics of that document continue
to serve as components of controversy.
Though most Catholics know that the church has spoken out against
artificial contraception, many do not understand the reasons why, instead
choosing to believe it is a matter of the church trying to control an aspect of
their private lives. When “Humanae Vitae” was published, some left
the Catholic Church. Now its message may be heard afresh.
Lynn Crutchfield, on the staff of the archdiocesan Office of
Family Concerns, said that instead of trying to think of the church as a
dictator, those who disagree with the teachings on artificial contraception
should seek further guidance.
“Instead of seeing a church run by men that is trying to
control women, they might see a church that truly cares about women and their
bodies.”
Though “Humanae Vitae” was hotly contested at its
release and remains so today, artificial contraception was not always a widely
debated issue.
Until 1930 all Christian churches were united in their opposition
to artificial contraception. It was during that year that the Anglican Church
went on record as saying that contraception was permissible, for grave reasons,
within marriage. Surveys during this period showed that 65 percent of Catholics
in the United States were complying with the church’s teachings on
contraception.
But in the late 1950s and early 1960s, the availability of the
birth control pill rose significantly. Some theologians believed that the pill
might be an acceptable form of birth control for Catholics and the church was
pressured to change its views.
Pope John XXIII set up a commission of six theologians to advise
him on these issues and when he died Pope Paul VI took over the commission,
adding new members with different areas of expertise, including married
couples. Though it was met with much controversy and dissent, even by church
theologians, the church reiterated its stance against artificial contraception.
Pope John Paul II continues to speak out against contraception as a moral
wrong.
The church teaches that there are two unbreakable components of
sexual intercourse, the procreative and the unitive.
“Therefore, because of its intrinsic nature the conjugal act,
which unites husband and wife with the closest of bonds, also makes them
capable of bringing forth new life according to the laws written into their
very natures as male and female. And if both essential meanings are preserved,
that of union and procreation, the conjugal act fully maintains its capacity
for (fostering) true mutual love and its ordination to the highest mission of
parenthood, to which Man is called” (Humanae Vitae Part II, 12).
“These two parts of the sexual act have to remain one.
Everything falls apart when you separate the two,” Crutchfield said.
“Being open to life is about enriching the marriage, but it doesn’t
mean that they will have babies every time they have sex.”
In her essay, “Humanae Vitae: A Challenge to Love,”
Janet Smith, Ph.D., notes that in sexual intercourse, “spouses provide God
with an opportunity to perform His creative act.”
“As the first line of ‘Humanae Vitae’ states, God
gives spouses the mission of transmitting human life to spouses. Contraception
says no to God; it says that those using it want to have the wonderful physical
pleasure of sex but do now want to allow God to perform His creative act.”
Pope John Paul has also said that contraception not only violates
the procreative meaning of the sexual act, but the unitive act as well.
Because the sexual act is made to be of total self-giving, spouses
who withhold their fertility are not giving of themselves totally.
However, many Catholics who disagree with the church’s
teaching on artificial contraception are armed with the idea that they are
expected to have dozens of children.
“The church says to have children in a responsible way,
that’s what they’re not hearing,” said Father Linus DeSantis,
OFM Conv., campus minister at Kennesaw State University, who often leads
pre-Cana classes for engaged couples. “One of the basic foundational
teachings of the Catholic Church is that we be open to life, for the good of
the relationship, of the life of the children and of responsible
parenting.”
Smith describes the church’s view on responsible parenting.
“But must spouses have as many children as is physically
possible? This has never been the teaching of the church. Spouses are expected
to be responsible about their childbearing, to bring forth children that they
can raise well. But the means used to limit family size must be moral.”
Father Stewart Wilber, pastor of St. Theresa’s Church in
Douglasville, said that the teaching of the church is simple.
“The bottom line of Vatican II is that the church does
endorse family planning, but not by artificial means,” he said. “I
believe, and the church believes, that absolutely women have control over their
own bodies. But when we’re dealing with a fetus, we’re not dealing
with just a woman’s body anymore, but with a new soul created by
God.”
Because Catholics believe that life begins at the moment of
conception, many of the means of artificial contraception used today are
abortifacients, working by causing an early-term abortion. The IUD and the pill
work in this way, by preventing the fertilized egg from implanting in the wall
of the uterus.
But there are alternatives to these artificial means of
contraception. Natural Family Planning is a highly scientific way of
determining when a woman is fertile based on observing various bodily signs.
“When you use a contraceptive, you are creating an artificial
barrier and are putting something into your body that stops the normal cycle.
That barrier separates the procreative and the unitive.” Crutchfield said.
“When you use NFP, you choose when you want to have intercourse and when
you want to have a baby, based on when you are fertile.”
With any mention of NFP, many couples immediately think of the
outdated Rhythm method that was adopted in the 1930s and was not effective. NFP
is 96.8 percent effective and is without health risks.
But some couples may argue that it is easier to take a pill than
to practice NFP. Crutchfield said that while some couples may have difficulty
in practicing NFP at first, the benefits are numerous.
When they were first married 30 years ago, Crutchfield and her
husband, Larry, used the birth control pill.
“My father-in-law is a doctor and he handed them to us,”
she said. “At that time I didn’t really see anything wrong with
it.”
But within the next few years, she and her husband got involved in
helping other couples with marriage preparation. It was then that they were
introduced to NFP.
“I realized after going to this course how good it was for us
and how good it was for our marriage,” she said.
In fact, many couples praise NFP for strengthening their
marriages. Because the man and woman share responsibility, there is a great
deal of communication involved.
“You have to talk to each other,” she said. “It
calls for a lot of intimacy and sharing where you’re at.”
“It becomes a way of life—it’s not just a method or
a way of preventing children,” she said. “It’s a way of sharing
in the procreation of life with God and giving yourself totally to each
other.”
Crutchfield believes that practicing NFP proves that God is in
control.
“If anything, taking a pill is like being controlled by a
drug,” she said. “NFP means totally being in charge of your own body.
We live in a very health-conscious society—there is all this talk about
natural foods and things like that. This falls right into the whole idea of
being healthy and taking care of your body.”
Crutchfield’s husband said that he is fascinated by the way
the female body works. He said that it’s necessary that men “not take
a backseat, but take responsibility that it’s a couple decision.”
“Oftentimes we as males are given a bad rap, and many times
it’s deserved, but oftentimes, it’s just that men have not been
informed of the impact of contraception, not only on themselves but on their
spouses,” he said. “Contracep-tion made it easy to think that there
aren’t consequences of a sexual relationship, or actually what the meaning
of a sexual relationship is. With contraception, it’s the spiritual
dimension that you’re missing out on.”
“Once I learned that there was something that was effective,
healthy and helped us to grow spiritually, then NFP became something that I
looked forward to rather than something I was afraid of.”
Father DeSantis said that couples who are practicing artificial
contraception should look into NFP in order to experience fully the gifts of
the church.
“We are all seeking to grow in knowledge and love of
God,” he said. “Certain church teachings are easier to follow than
others. But we need to embrace the direction of the church because it is the
direction of God. If we say, ‘this is too difficult,’ or ‘I
can’t do this,’ then we put a block on the grace of God.”
Though NFP sometimes calls for couples to be abstinent, that is
part of the beauty that brings couples together, Lynn Crutchfield said.
“Sharing love in a marriage is sharing deeply who you are,
your hopes and your dreams,” she said. “You go through all types of
tragedies and ups and downs when you are married. You can’t keep that
together only with sex. If couples don’t learn to love each other in a
sexual and nonsexual way, there could be trouble down the road.”
Above all, Lynn Crutchfield believes that practicing NFP has
strengthened her relationship with her husband and with God.
“It makes you really know what it means to be a procreator
with God—to know God is really present and really part of the act,”
she said. “It’s really a miracle.” |
