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There it is, staring me in the face on my commute to work everyday: A billboard with the slogan “Birth Control makes my other choices possible”. It’s by Planned Parenthood, of course (I should come up with a nickname here!). And one has to stop any wonder just what choices is birth control giving this girl with the big smile on her face?
Is it giving her the choice of which sexual partner to have? Whether to have sex on a date? Which STD she’ll pick up on her outing? Whether or not she’ll be used? How the baby that was conceived within her will never have a chance to live because the birth control is causing it not to implant? What choices?
The problem with birth control is the fact that what it does is not always explained. You see, birth control contains hormones that cause the woman’s body to react differently than normal. But it does not prevent conception in all cases. In the case that conception occurs, the baby is not able to implant on the womb walls (in all cases) and is just eliminated. However, even that doesn’t always happen and you can still have the baby.
And why is this a big problem? Because evangelicals are all behind birth control while saying they’re against abortion. In fact, they tout is as a good way to maintain the right family size and keep abortion off the table. Except they don’t tell you that abortion does not just happen with a doctor, a cold table and a vacuum cleaner, it also happens naturally when the baby cannot attach to the womb.
So, there are possibly thousands of babies out there being aborted by people that believe that abortion is wrong and they don’t even know it.
To make matters more complicated, these same people are sending a mixed message. They come out and preach the values of abstinence before marriage and great sex in it as a means to protect against abortion, but then they flip the coin around and say that you should have birth control in marriage to stop conception. They end up being anti-baby in the marriage case, and pro-baby in teen case which is really confusing and inconsistent.
Hence the reason for the billboard: Planned Parenthood knows that a good way to beat the Pro-Life movement is to get it to war against itself, and the chosen battlefield is Birth Control. You see, different Christian denominations have different beliefs (and who knows to what degree these stands are medically informed) about what kind of birth control (if any) should be practiced. PP knows that if they take this issue on– one that’s popular with many and doesn’t have the ethical concerns because you can’t see the baby– then they can try to drive a wedge in what seems to be a good strong head of steam for pro-life causes and positions.
What’s important for us to realize is that they are attempting this, and what Birth Control does. Don’t take my word for it– ask your OB/GYN doctor what exactly birth control does, and think hard about what side you are on.
This has bugged both Meg and me quite a bit. At our last church the big things were IUD’s. Even the pastor’s wife had one. While medical websites state that the device works as an spermicidal/ovicidal, through the triggering of the release of leukocytes and prostaglandins, studies have shown that should an egg get fertelized it is physically blocked from implanting in the uterus. Aka an instant abortion.
The really scary thing is that doctor’s are unlikely to talk or know about the additional studies and these devices are good for 5-10 years. As a result Christian’s that do not do their own research might truly believe that there is no chance of aborting a baby with this form of birth control, yet be killing a dozen or more kids over their time of use.
I didn’t know it until I read the book “A Full Quiver” recently. I never used birth control, as all my friends who did had massive problems, and reproductive difficulties run in my family (not me, though, bless the L-rd. My mom says “there’s something in the water at your house!”, heh).
Then I looked it up.
It’s not surprising, really. If you don’t know the technical term for the lining of your uterus, what ovaries are, what hormones at what levels trigger what changes, you could read the literature and not have a clue. I had an adult friend who thought ovulation was the same as menstrual period–and she’s not an idiot. She was uninformed.
My avidly Christian grandmother said today, “How many kids you planning on having?”
“Um, as many as G-d gives us?” WRONG ANSWER, folks. Did you know you should let Him be L-rd of your life in every situation except reproduction?
Yes. And why, in the church, would we even want to use birth control, and limit God’s blessings?
DLOGAN– After our second child (even after our first) my wife’s OB/GYN asked us what we were going to do to stop having children. He discussed various methods with my wife, and IUD sounded interesting, until she asked enough questions for them to tell her that it did not prevent conception, and that conception would result in an abortion for the unborn child. That was enough for us to know not to do it.
Jennifer & Rebecca– Exactly. I really liked the way that you ended your comment, Jennifer– why is reproduction the only area of our life that God should not have control! And the reasoning is that it is probably because it’s the one area of our life that is unpredictable but we think we can control it. Now, I’m not saying that there are not good reasons for not having children, but there aren’t as many as some people wish there were. I don’t think that the Lord would be blessed if a woman were to conceive knowing that she had some kind of terminal disease she would pass on or if doing so would mean her life– but these are rare cases.
We certainly live in a society that sees children as burdens instead of blessings.
If only God can give life (Ps 139:13-16), and if the Bible teaches that children are a blessing from Him (Ps 127:3), then who and what exactly are we trying to stop by using birth control?
Whether we understand it or not, we are not trying to control birth or conception. No. It is much worse than that. We are trying to control GOD!
If I might ask, is it an act of faith to use birth control? For “whatever is not of faith is sin” (Rom 14:23). Is it really believing God? It is truly faith in a sovereign God who we claim knows and does what is best for us when we tell Him that our desire is to PREVENT HIM from blessing us when He chooses? Do we know better than God?
Thanks for this post – keep up the good work!
~pastorway
MIN-“I don’t think that the Lord would be blessed if a woman were to conceive knowing that she had some kind of terminal disease she would pass on or if doing so would mean her life but these are rare cases”
But God can use ANYTHING for His glory. He turns what was made for evil to good all the time! I’m not claiming that I am strong enough to accept death as good for my family… Seems like that would be foolish to say, but lookat what happened to Job. He lost all his kids, but GOd used it all for His glory… I’m sure He could use the death of a woman in child birth for His glory too… This is a tough area of understanding with God, it is hard for us to accept both the abundance and the poverty from His hand. It is hard for us to accept that He created the Weal and the Woe, the peace and the evil (Isaiah 45:7) *thanks MIN for looking that up for me*
The light and the darkness, and everything we have or have not is from His hand. If you are a Christian then the arrows of the enemy shall not prevail against you, they may be shot at you, but Christ always has the victory! (I am beginning to understand that this is not just a victory in the way we understand it… It is so much more…)
Well…
Peace and a blessing
Mrs. Meg Logan
You make a compelling case logically/Biblically. However, this brings up two different lines of questions…
1. If someone cannot give God glory by having a child, would having that child be sin? Romans 14 tells us that the thing that makes something sin or not sin for a Christian is whether they can give God thanks.
2. Since God gives us many things in this world that could or could not do us harm, what’s a reasonable caution to take as far as what we would or would not do or seek out because God is in control? One could take the argument that you should have a child even though the doctors tell you that you will die to the point that maybe you should do some stunt that God could protect you from, but may not, so that more people hear the Gospel. All of a sudden we have people crossing Niagara Falls on a tightrope for the Gospel. We need to be careful with this logical means.
All that being said… I agree with your premise. God should be allowed control, and we should be willing to trust Him. This is an area that we truly struggle in as Christians and Americans. Just look at how the Supreme Court has forced in the idea of protecting the life of the mother. Look at how many women have died in childbirth. It’s hard for us to say that it’s better for a child to be without its mother just because their father and mother continued in an activity they knew would create more children and knew there might be consequences.
Does this mean that there are good reasons to be practicing abstience in marriage? Is reproduction the only reason for intercourse? These questions are key to this discussion.
1. I think that according to Romans 14 we are not to judge others if they are too weak to rely on the Lord for children… But as individuals we ought to be striving for that sort of faith.
2. This is true, and I have NO IDEA where that line is. I do know we are not to tempt God. I think if you are told you will die you ought to PRAY, because God will answer faithfully, and if He says to continue without prevention, then the doctors might be wrong! (they are all the time)and if He says to prevent… well then i guess you ought to obey! But, I would wonder, if God truly opens and closes the womb, why would He bless you with a baby if you were going to die, unless that were His will. (Bare in mind that I do not possess this sort of faith!) Regarding walkng over NIagara… I think we all can agree that there is no scripture that says take risks, if God particularly asked you to do such a thing, well I would pray that He confirmed it through wise and godly counsel. But there is a limit… I sometimes wonder if we need to prepare for the future with college funds, and retirement funds? Because God says not to worry about tomorrow… course there is also the scripture in Proverbs that talks about how the prudent man plans ahead…
These are tough questions… I do not claim to know where that line lays. But I am sure there is an answer, even if it is different for each individual before their God. Just like Romans 14.
Mrs. Meg Logan
Oh.. regarding continuing without a mother, people have been doing that for generations, and God has redeemed the loss for those who love Him.
And abstinence in marraige is about prayer not reproduction. I cant find any scripture that condones preventing children… especially in marraige. and the only reason i see for abstaining is from Paul when he says to be apart for a season of prayer but then to rejoin.
And of course intercourse is not only for reproduction, just read Song of Solomon.
I blogged about a similar topic a couple of weeks ago (http://noneyabusiness.blogspot.com/2006/08/messing-with-life.html). The pastor of the church we are attending basically said that humans manipulating life through IVF was wrong, because God is the author of life. I carried that thought through to its natural conclusion – that birth control is wrong. My wife and I have four children (ages 7, 6, 4, and 3) and after she had a miscarriage following the last child, we both decided for me to have a vasectomy. Now, two years later, we both feel like we made a selfish, sinful decision. It is amazing though how people think we were crazy for having four kids to start with, and how many total strangers think they have to comment whenever we go anywhere, even in churches we have visited.
I would figure that IVF would have other problems: Mainly, the fact that multiple embryos (humans) would have been created, some slated for death. Why are we creating people to kill them?
Right. That was his point. But he argued it from the standpoint that all manipulation of life is wrong because God created man in his image. Therefore, it is a sin against God himself to kill another human, which is why God decreed death for murderers in Genesis 3. Since many methods of birth control destroy a fetus, as you outline in your post, this too would be a manipulation of the life that God ordained.
I’m totally with you there, Karl.
There aren’t many methods of birth control out there that do not end in the taking of life.
Diaghrams are a good option. (oh good grief i cant spell)
I think you’re missing the point. Regardless of whether you use one form or another, you are still making a choice that (I now believe) should only be in God’s hands. Whether or not you can trust God with that decision may be something you don’t want to contemplate, but favoring one form of birth control over another is arguing over degrees of sin (i.e., failure to trust God in everything). I don’t think that is particularly beneficial.
Karl, Im not missing the point, if you read all of my comments you will see that you and I see eye to eye on this issue… I was merely commenting on MIN;s comment there…
I think you were speaking to me?
Anyway…
peace,
Mrs Meg Logan
I meant that saying diaphragms were a good option seems to be missing the point. Diaphragms are only a (possibly) less bad option. Although I will concede that diaphragms do not “take” life per se, only prevent it.