Providing

Sound
Teaching on
Contraception

By Robert Colquhoun
Contents

1. Introduction
2. Statement by the Bishops of the Philippines
3. What Pope John Paul II said about Contraception
4. Booklet from the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops
5. AIDS, Condoms and the Catholic Church
6. The early Church and contraception
7. Further information
8. Contraception and the Environment
9. Conclusion
10. Resources
1. Introduction

Contraception is an issue that has a profound implications for the future of the Church.
This resource aims to enable sound teaching on the issue to help promote a positive
vision for marriage and family life. More often than not, this is an issue that is not
addressed in Catholic life. The renewal of marriage and family life is essential, not only
to a new renaissance in the Church, but also society itself. The future of humanity passes
by way of the family. In my opinion, a renewal of Catholic life in England will only
come by the renewal of marriage and family life. Healthy, happy families, a domestic
Church in themselves, help to create a vibrant and dynamic Church. Large Catholic
families will help to create an outward looking Church, eager for evangelisation and
conversion.

The catalyst of the Henrician reformation was the divorce crisis. Henry VIII decided to
break his ties with Rome because of his desire to marry Anne Boleyn and have a
legitimate male heir. The subsequent dissolution of the monasteries and liquidation of the
Catholic life in England followed. In other words, a major reason for the desecration of
much of Catholic life in England was down to the malpractice and dysfunction of the
family life of the King. If it only took one marriage to bring the desecration of Catholic
life in England, how many marriages would it take to restore it?
2. Statement by the Bishops of the Philippines

In 1990, the bishops of the Philippines made a remarkable apology for their failure to
teach the Church’s teaching on contraception. They said:

“It is said that when seeking ways of regulating births, only 5% of you consult God. In
the face of this unfortunate fact, we your pastors, have been remiss: how few are there
among you whom we have reached. There have been some couples eager to share their
expertise and values on birth regulation with others. They did not receive adequate
support from their priests. We did not give them due attention, believing then this
ministry consisted merely of imparting a technique best left to married couples. Only
recently have we discovered how deep your yearning is for God to be present in your
married lives. But we did not know then how to help you discover God's presence and
activity in your mission of Christian parenting. Afflicted with doubts about alternatives to
contraceptive technology, we abandoned you to your confused and lonely consciences
with a lame excuse: 'follow what your conscience tells you.' How little we realized that it
was our consciences that needed to be formed first. A greater concern would have led us
to discover that religious hunger in you.”
3. What Pope John Paul II said about Contraception

John Kippley’s book, sex and the marriage covenant shows that John Paul II consistently
and emphatically held up the teaching of Humanae Vitae. This is in light of Lumen
Gentium n.25 which states that “The mind and will of the Pontiff can be known from
frequent repetition of the same doctrine and must be respected as divine and Catholic
truth in matters of faith and morals.”

John Paul II said that marital non contraception:

●Is a teaching whose truth is beyond discussion (June 5, 1987)

●Is a teaching which belongs to the permanent patrimony of the Church’s moral doctrine
and a truth which cannot be questioned (March 14, 1988).
●Is a teaching which is intrinsic to our human nature and that calling it into question “is
equivalent to refusing God himself the obedience of our intelligence.” (November 12,
1988)
●To hold out for exceptions on contraception is as if God’s grace were not sufficient is a
form of atheism (September 17, 1983).
●Denying the doctrine of marital non contraception is “equivalent to denying the
Catholic concept of revelation.” (April 10, 1986).
●“What is being questioned by rejecting that teaching… is the very idea of the holiness
of God.” (November 12, 1988)

He clearly stated that to assume not to be the co-operators of God’s creative power but
ultimate depositaries of the source of human life is equal to maintaining that in human
life situations it might be lawful not to recognize God as God. In other words, we like to
put ourselves in the place of God when we refuse to co-operate with him.

The effects of contraception on marriage are most striking when you look at the divorce
rate. Contracepting married couples have a divorce rate of 40%, as compared with a rate
of 1-3% for those that use NFP.

This was one of his most profound statements:

"At the origin of every human person there is a creative act of God. No man comes into
existence by chance; he is always the object of God's creative love. From this
fundamental truth of faith and reason it follows that the procreative capacity, inscribed in
human sexuality is - in its deepest truth - a cooperation with God's creative power. And it
also follows that man and woman are not arbiters, are not the masters of this same
capacity, called as they are, in it and through it, to be participants in God's creative
decision. When, therefore, through contraception, married couples remove from the
exercise of their conjugal sexuality its potential procreative capacity, they claim a power
which belongs solely to God: the power to decide in a final analysis the coming into
existence of a human person. They assume the qualification of not being co-operators in
God's creative power, but the ultimate depositaries of the source of human life. In this
perspective, contraception is to be judged objectively so profoundly unlawful, as never to
be, for any reason, justified. To think or to say the contrary is equal to maintaining that in
human life, situations may arise in which it is lawful not to recognize God as
God." (published in the L'Osservatore Romano, Oct. 10, 1983)
4. Booklet by the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops

This pamphlet1 clearly shows that the pro life secretariat of the US Bishop’s conference
really knows what they are talking about.

They mention the contraception counts report by none other than the Guttmacher Institute
(research arm of planned parenthood) which states no correlation between better access to
contraception and lower abortion rates.

Last year, there was a 17.4% pregnancy rate for condom users over a 12 month period.
But that includes pregnancies for women in their late 30s and 40s- teenagers are another
story. 23.2% who rely on condoms will become pregnant in a year.

Condom failure rates for STDs are worse. An article in the journal of sexually transmitted
diseases by Fitch and al. said that none of the studies they showed any STD risk
reduction for condom users, not even for those who always used condoms.

Hormonal contraceptives are not medication but steroids intended to disrupt a normal,
functioning reproductive system. The World Health Organization recognizes estrogen in
combined oral contraceptive pills (COCs) as carcinogenic. Women who took COCs
before age 20 increased their risk of dying from breast cancer by 820%.

Norplants (rods implanted under the skin) fell from grace when the side effects
(depression, excessive bleeding, weight gain and strokes) became known. The intra-
uterine device had been linked to pelvic inflammatory disease and might interfere with
implantation, causing early abortions. The progestins in all forms of hormonal
contraception, taken daily or long term, cause changes in the uterine lining, including
“atrophy.” The popular Ortho Evra patch has been linked to 23 deaths of healthy young
women from fatal blood clots, heart attacks and strokes. I could go on, and on, and on
and ariston.

Where’s the good news?

Natural Family Planning works! Through this method, couples are able to space the birth
of their children and, limit the size of their families in a way that is obedient to Jesus
Christ and his Church and avoid the sin (and medical complications) of contraception.

Abstinence also works and is the only 100% method (apart from castration) of avoiding
pregnancy. Contraception damages the mental, physical, emotional and spiritual well
being of women. We must reject the contraceptive based approach by supporting chastity
education in schools. Our daughters and sisters in Christ deserve to grow up healthy, free
of preventable diseases that can last a lifetime.

1
http://www.usccb.org/prolife/programs/rlp/2009/willspamphlet.pdf
5. AIDS, Condoms and the Catholic Church

Pope Benedict has recently been quoted, talking about the HIV/AIDS issue onboard the
plane travelling on his apostolic visit to Cameroon. He said that, “The problem of
HIV/AIDS cannot be overcome with mere slogans. If the soul is lacking, if Africans do
not help one another, the scourge cannot be resolved by distributing condoms; quite the
contrary, we risk worsening the problem.” He suggested that the humanisation of
sexuality and true friendship would help bring solutions and help to those who suffer.

Jon Snow claimed on channel 4 news (UK) that the Pope by this policy had “condemned
many Africans to death.” This assertion is total nonsense. The Catholic Church provides
25% of the total care given to HIV/AIDS victims, placing itself among the leading
advocates in the field. The effectiveness of typical condom use is around 80%. If
someone had a gun pointed at your head in a game of Russian roulette and said that if one
of the bullets was real you would have a 20% chance of exposing yourself to serious
injury, would you still want to play? Condoms do not provide total protection against this
deadly disease. In fact, they lull many into a false sense of security. There is considerable
risk of slippage or breakage with condom use.

HIV/AIDS dramatically reverses the role of sex as an activity that brings the gift of life to
one that ends up killing you. When sex is understood and lived as a gift between a man
and woman in an exclusive, fully committed relationship the probably of contracting
HIV/AIDS declines dramatically. Promoting monogamy and abstinence is good because
people are capable of living this life and it will stop the disease dead in its tracks.

It is ideologically flawed to promote condoms in countries where there is serious

malnutrition and even starvation. Rather than sending food, clean water, help with
education and agriculture, why should be have the patronizing arrogance to bombard
them with latex? You can’t eat condoms. Many young men in Africa refuse to wear
condoms due to personal taste, let alone eat them. A key way to support development in
Africa is by concentrating on indispensable goods rather than ideology.

A study commissioned by UNAIDS concluded, "Prevention campaigns relying primarily

on the use of condoms have not been responsible for turning around any generalized
epidemic." Researchers at the Harvard AIDS Prevention Research Project recently
reminded us that in every African country in which HIV infections have declined, this
decline has been associated with a decrease in multiple partners and often premarital sex
as well. This is not true of use of condoms. Moreover, it was found, according to the
Journal of International Development, that "the promotion of condoms at an early stage
proved to be counter-productive in Botswana , whereas the lack of condom promotion
during the 1980s and early 1990s contributed to the relative success of behaviour change
strategies in Uganda."

According to G.K. Chesterton, “Bad ideas kill.” The promotion of so called ‘safe’ sex
when there is a deadly and uncontrollable virus around is a lie that has the potential to
kill. It is undeniable that the promotion of condoms goes hand in hand with encouraging
promiscuity. Condoms symbolise value free sex where consequences are discarded for
the sake of pleasure and use. In Adams City High School in Colorado it was noted that
“In the three years since this high school became one of the first to hand out condoms, the
birth rate has soared to 31% above the national average of 58.1 births per 1,000 students
annually (USA Today, May 19th, 1992).

Cardinal William Napier of South Africa has spoken about HIV/AIDS in Africa, exposing
the reality of the situation. He said, “If the media could show us one example of when
condoms have actually succeeded in arresting the rate of infection let alone turning it
around then we could have a debate about whether condoms are the answer.” We do have
one example of a success story against HIV/AIDS in Africa. This is from Uganda, where
a clear message from the government encouraged people to change their behaviour to
dramatic effect. It decreased the rate of infection from 29% to 6%.

Botswana was a country that decided to heavily promote condoms. It went from a
country with one of the lowest rates of HIV/AIDS to one of the highest. In 2001, 38% of
pregnant women were HIV positive. A member of the Botswana parliament said its
people had a stark choice, “Abstain or die.”

There is also a lot to be learnt comparing the Philippines with Thailand. Both south-east
Asian countries have a similar population size. In 1991, the WHO predicted that by 1999,
both countries would have between 60-90,000 deaths from HIV/AIDS per annum.
Thailand promoted a 100% condom use programme. By August 2003, there were
125,000 deaths from HIV/AIDS in Thailand. In the Philippines, an abstinence message
was strongly promoted. In September 2003, there were 260 deaths from HIV/AIDS.
(http://www.hli.org/condom_facts_thailand_philippines_aids_rates.html). This is a
startling miscalculation and shows the effectiveness of abstinence education.

If we are to learn anything from these accounts, it is that chastity education can help to
eradicate HIV/AIDS and the ideal of one partner for life is a fulfilling and
accomplishable aim. The promotion of contraception promotes an increase in sexual
activity. The Catholic Church promotes chastity, monogamy, fidelity and responsibility –
these are sure ways to help end the scourge of this terrible disease.
6. The early Church and contraception

Some theologians have held that contraception is not clearly taught in the Christian
tradition. This is in part due to the scarcity of Biblical references on the issue. The sin of
Onan in Genesis 38 is one of the few passages where such a topic is insinuated. Prof
John T. Noonan in his exemplary work, Contraception: a history of its treatment by the
Catholic theologians and canonists (1967, Harvard University Press, MA) shows
precisely the contrary. He shows how theologians from the last two thousand years have
clearly taught against its practice. Contraception is not a modern invention; it has been
around for thousands of years. The Church does not oppose it because it is “unnatural.”
After all, Catholics are allowed to take medicine to treat ailments and illnesses.
St Augustine said what “food is to the health of man, intercourse is to the health of the
race” (Augustine, The Good of Marriage 16.18, CSEL 41: 210-211). Here is an
collection of statements that clearly show the Christian tradition against contraception.

St John Chrysostom held that contraception was worse than homicide as it was a
mutilation of nature. Wives were married to husbands “for companionship and the
procreation of children” (Homily 5 on 1 Thess, PG 62:426). He states that “There are
two reasons why marriage was instituted, that we may live chastely and that we may
become parents.” He goes on to say that “there is one occasion for marriage, that we may
not commit fornication.” (On those words of the apostle, “On account of fornication,” PG
51:213). St Jerome believed that marital act were lustful unless for procreation (On
Galatians 5, PL 26:443).

St Augustine wrote exhaustively on almost everything imaginable for his age. After
joining the sect of the Manichees in his early years as well as indulging in youthful lusts,
he experienced conversion after a visit to Ambrose in Milan. At one point he prayed for
chastity, but only for later in life. He claimed that lust and love had settled within him
and during his youth this had plunged him into a whirlpool of sin. Because of his past he
was, “A prisoner of habit, suffering cruel torment though trying to satisfy lust that could
never be sated” (Confessions). His will was closely attached to lust: “For my will was
perverse and lust had grown in it, and when I gave into lust, habit was born, and when I
did not resist the habit it became necessity” (Confessions). Later in life he saw his own
sin as looking for the right thing in the wrong place.

Despite the fact that he lived with a concubine for a number of years, he had a
considerable amount of sound teaching on marriage and sexuality. He believed that sex
was a life-giving process that was sacred; as co-operation with God it should be kept
immune from interference. Marriage was something that was good because it provided,
good “offspring, fidelity and symbolic stability” (Augustine, The Good of Marriage,
29.32, CSEL 41:227). The procreation of children is the first and natural and lawful
reason for marriage” (Adulterous marriages 2.12.12 CSEL 41:396).

Augustine believed that “Man’s generative parts will not obey reason” (Marriage and
Concupiscence, Augustine, 1.6.7, CSEL 42:218-9). In his scholarly attacks on the
Manichees (after his conversion), he claimed that they had made the “Bridal chamber a
brothel,” partly because they denied procreation (Against Faustus, 15.7 CSEL 25:430).
He even wrote about the beauty of spiritual paternity by saying, “In these days, indeed,
no one perfect in piety seeks to have children except spiritually” (The Good of Marriage,
3.3, 8.9, 17.19, CSEL 41:190-1, 200, 213). Overall, he provided the Church with a
substantial corpus of literature articulating the beauty and good of marriage. He taught
unequivocally, the natural good of marriage is intercourse for procreation
(Augustine, Marriage and Concupiscence1.4.5 CSEL 42:215). St Thomas Aquinas
largely reiterated what Augustine had to say about contraception. He was ready to
cheekily remark that copulation “even among the animals produces a sweet society”
(Summa Against the Gentiles 3.123).

St Cyril of Alexandria defended marriage as wholly good only when used for procreation
(Adoration in Spirit and Truth 15, PG 68:690). The first apparent Church legislation
against contraception stated that if a woman took steps so that she may not conceive
should do penance for ten years (Martin, Chapters from the Synod of the Eastern
Fathers 77, Opera p142, See Noonan, Contraception, p186).

In the thirteenth century, St Albert taught that “Every (marital) act frustrated in its
essential and natural end is vain and evil.” (on the sentences 4.31.27 obj. 3). During the
reformation, St Francis de Sales proclaimed that procreation is the “primary and principal
end of marriage.” (Introduction to the Devout Life, chapter 39). Even all of the
Protestant reformers were opposed to the practice of contraception.

These writings and references clearly show that there is a considerable amount of writing
against the practice of contraception by the Church fathers. The positive meaning of
sexuality is sometimes hidden in the negative prohibitions of writers. Nevertheless, for
two thousand years the Church has boldly proclaimed the beauty and purpose of
marriage, to be undefiled and unstained by sin, so that couples can joyfully and
peacefully live out their vocation growing in holiness.
7. Further information

Does contraception work? The damage of lies, falsehood and error

If I told you something was safe when it wasn’t, I would either be a liar or I would be
unintentionally misleading you. When life and death is at stake, promoting lies can be a
vicious concoction of deceit, fraud and ignorance.

Our young people have been misled, lied to, used and abused with a message of ‘safe’
and ‘safer’ sex. It is a message that is both devastating and dangerous. It is medically
inaccurate and insulting to women. It generates a false sense of security encouraging
risky behaviour and reduces the understanding of sex to purely genital. The message of
‘safe’ sex is an absolute joke. It is a message that states we have no trust and hope in our
young people any more. When we set the standards high and if fact say: save sex until
marriage, we give a new generation the confidence to believe in themselves and to live
for something greater.

a) The oral contraceptive pill

Let us consider how ‘safe’ the oral contraceptive pill is. The pill affects the blood clotting
ability of the body, leading to a significant increase in risk of heart disease and stroke.1
Women on the pill are up to five times more likely to have a stroke than non pill users
and three times more likely to have a heart attack.2 The birth control pill increases a
woman’s chance of having breast cancer, cervical cancer and liver cancer. Twenty one of
twenty three studies of women who took the pill before their first child showed increased
risk of breast cancer. Birth control pills meddle with a woman’s immune system, making
her more likely to contract certain STIs.

Contrary to popular belief, the birth control pill can also be an abortifacient. This means
that the pill can cause an induced abortion in early pregnancy. As the pill has the same
side effects as pregnancy, this means it brings weight gain, moodiness, skin change and
nausea. Alfred Kinsey stated, “At the risk of sounding repetitious, I would remind the
group that we have found the highest frequency of induced abortion in the group which,
in general, most frequently used contraceptives.”3

The pill can cause more than 150 biological changes in a woman according to the
textbook of contraceptive practice. This can include gallbladder disease, headache,
bleeding irregularities, ectopic pregnancy, yeast infection, changes to the curvature of the
eye, excessive hair growth in unusual places, acne, and partial or complete loss of vision.4
There are many effects of the pill that are yet to be fully understood in the way they
damage and upset the delicate yet beautiful aspects of womanhood. The pill was
supposed to bring great liberation to women, but in the words of Christopher West,
“Contraception is a sure way to keep women in chains.”5 Treating a woman’s fertility like
a disease promotes a warped view of freedom and safety.
b) The male condom

According to the authoritative publication Contraceptive Technology, after use of just 10

condoms, the probability of at least one failure is 57%. Failure results in exposure to all
the STIs that a partner has and may result in pregnancy.

Within a year, 15% of sexually active women whose partners use condoms for
contraception become pregnant, according to Contraceptive Technology. After 2 years, it
is 28%. After three years, it’s 39%. After four years, it’s 48% and after five years, it’s
56%. And maybe that’s why we have 200,000 abortions in this country. The British
medical journal showed in 10 studies worldwide that widespread availability of
contraception made no appreciable difference in the attempt to reduce abortion rates.6

Condoms do not protect against STDs

Very few people know that condoms do not prevent almost all sexually transmitted
infections (STDs). The US National Institutes of Health reported in July 2001 that
condoms did not provide universal protection against any of the eight major STDs. The
panel of researchers found just two areas of condom effectiveness, both of which were
significantly limited: the heterosexual transmission of HIV and the female to male
transmission of gonorrhea. But this in total constitutes just 2% of all STDs. There is not a
great deal of evidence to show that condoms provide suitable protection against
gonorrhea for women. This is of concern because gonorrhea can lead to ectopic
pregnancy, pelvic inflammatory disease and infertility in women.

Our generation has been forcefully told by medically inaccurate information that states:
“Be safe, use a condom.” Adverts and messages from the National Health Service attempt
to convince us of this message. Safety and protection usually things that you need against
your enemies, not your closest loved ones. A barrier in a relationship is a hindrance to
communication and intimacy. Nobody wants a love life full of compromises,
conditionality and concessions. The term ‘safe’ sex was replaced by ‘safer’ sex when it
was realised how unrealistic the notion was to begin with.

One doctor has compared the use of condoms to playing Russian roulette.7 The US
department of health reported that of 100 women whose partner uses a condom for a year,
3-36 will become pregnant.8 One study showed condoms can cause irritation or allergic
reactions.9 Up to 80% of unplanned pregnancies result from failed contraception. 10
Reliance upon condom use alone will not reduce teenage pregnancy rates if a false sense
of security encourages more intercourse. Other reports show that there have been higher
unwed birthrates among sexually experienced teens despite increased condom use.11

The risk displacement theory describes how if there is a perceived increase in safety,
there will not be a change in the risks involved. The introduction of seatbelts encouraged
many drivers to drive faster, due to a false understanding of safety. This meant that
seatbelts did not reduce the driving fatality rate. Likewise, condoms give the appearance
of safety for their customers, when in reality they have encouraged greater increases in
unsafe sex.

Increased condom use by teens is associated with increased out-of-wedlock birth rates.12
Not one country that has primarily used condoms as a primary means to prevent AIDS
has had any success.13 Father Paul Marx states, “Having travelled and worked in some 70
countries, I found no country where contraception has not led to abortion, to increasing
fornication among the young, to divorce, and to all those other evils we see today that
make up the international sex mess.”14

There is no condom for the heart or the soul. The very heart of trying to make sex “safe”
is a total contradiction in terms. Sex is supposed to be a total gift of self. There is no form
of premarital ‘safe’ sex - spiritually, physically or mentally. Full protection from
pregnancy, disease or having your heart broken is impossible. No form of contraception
is 100% effective, and our bodies are stubbornly protective of fertility. ‘Safe’ sex is not
safe for the soul. Condoms offer little or no protection against the deadly Human
papillomavirus.15

The policy underlying this message is that young people are not capable of controlling
themselves, and hence let them settle for mediocrity rather than live for greater things.
This is deeply patronizing to young people who have the capability of self control, and
are perfectly able to be called to challenges and responsibility. Worst of all is that the
government works directly with the organizations that financially profit from the
promotion of contraception and abortion.16 Given oral sex can transmit virtually every
STI17 it is time to let people know the message of ‘safe sex’ is out of date.
1
Bruce Stadel “Oral Contraceptives and the occurrence of disease” in Contraceptive Steroids: Pharmacology and Safety, ed
A.T. Gregoire and Richard Blye (NY and London: Plenum Press, 1986, p14-5).
2
Maureen Gardner, Facts about oral contraceptives, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 1984, p8,
p12.
3
Mary S. Calderone, ed. Abortion in the United States: A conference sponsored by the PPFa and the New York Academy of
Medicine, Arden House (New York, Harper and Row, 1958), p157.
4
Contem. Obstetrics & Gynaecology, 1988; 19: 315-26.
5
Christopher West, Good News about Sex and Marriage, p122.
6
A Glasier, ‘Emergency Contraception’, BMJ, 333:560–561.
7
Gardner G Promoting sexual health BMJ 1992 305 70-71.
8
US Department of health, ‘contraception, comparing the options.’
9
Family Planning Perspectives. 1999
10
Williams ES. Contraceptive failure may be a major factor in teenage pregnancy. BMJ 1995; 311: 807.
11
Physicians Resource Councils, “New Study Shows Higher Unwed Birthrates Among Sexually Experienced Teens Despite
Increased Condom Use” (10 February 1999).
12
The Consortium of State Physicians Resource Councils, “New Study Shows Higher Unwed Birthrates Among Sexually
Experienced Teens Despite Increased Condom Use” (10 February 1999).
13
N. Hearst and S. Chen, “Condom Promotion for AIDS Prevention in the Developing World: is it Working?” Studies in
Family Planning 35:1 (March 2004): 39–47.
14
Fr Paul Marx, The 40th Anniversary of Humanae Vitae: in retrospect.
15
Robert Reid M.D., condoms won’t prevent transmission of HPV, family planning news 22 (June 1992): 12, K.L. Noller,
‘Talking to the HPV patient” Ob Gyp Clinical Alert, 1993, p39.
16
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4832814.stm
17
Medical Institute for Sexual Health, "Sex, Condoms, and STDs: What We Now Know" (Austin, Tex.: Medical Institute
for Sexual Health, 2002)
8. Contraception and the environment

Joel Brind wrote recently on the dangers of unintended consequences of synthetic, anabolic,
carcinogenic, nonbiodegradable sex steroid drugs (Also known as the pill, oral contraceptives or
hormones). He explains the possible damage they do to breast tissue, the environment and human
fertility.

He states that few people are aware that the pill, morning after pill and RU 486 (the abortion pill) are
also all steroids. They use the same sort of synthetic steroids that are illegal for professional athletes. In
2006, the World Health Organization acknowledges that some birth control pills and Prem-Pro
(hormone replacement drugs) cause cancers in the breast, cervix and liver. The Osservatore Romano
(http://www.news-medical.net/news/2009/01/07/44760.aspx) has reported that these synthetic
hormones may be the cause of soaring infertility in the world today. Certainly, more studies are needed
on this pressing question.

The contraceptive pill is a major cause of male infertility in the West and is also polluting the
environment.

According to Pedro Jose Maria Simon Castellvi, President of the International Federation of Catholic
Medical Associations, the Pill "has for some years had devastating effects on the environment by
releasing tonnes of hormones into nature through female urine".

The environment lobby has yet to fully realise the damage that Oral contraceptives may be doing to our
ecosystem. Many still subscribe to the anachronistic message that humans are bad for the planet. The
macabre myth of overpopulation has very clearly been discredited, in fact, many Western nations are
rapidly making the transition to a predominantly elderly population. Pope Benedict has called for a
human ecology.
9. Conclusion

Young people desire to be told the truth. But today they are being told by adults that they “Can’t handle
the truth.”

Thomas Aquinas taught that we should follow our conscience when it is quite mistaken. He believed
that to turn one back on conscience is to turn away from moral authenticity (Summa Theologica I-II,
19, 5). The Church has said that “Everyone of is bound to obey his conscience” (Dignitas Humanae 11)
and “Conscience frequently errs from invincible ignorance without losing its dignity.” (Gaudiem et
Spes 16).

Ignorance or error is not excusable when it results from negligence in the pursuit of truth and goodness.
The Second Vatican Council said that conscience did not lose its dignity, it immediately added, “But
the same cannot be said of a man who cares but little for truth and goodness.” (GS 16). Christian
consciences are formed with the teaching of Christ, not by individualism.

Young people are being told that they are not able to control themselves sexually, and therefore they
must be appeased by latex because safety can come with a condom. This is a distortion of the truth. If
young people knew that contraception does not protect them against any STDs, promiscuity would
decline. Ignorance is not always excusable. Young people need resources to encourage them to live a
chaste life.
10. Resources
Blog on chastity and pro life issues: Loveundefiled.blogspot.com

Here is a list of useful organisations that promote natural family planning.

Free NFP Manual
NFP International
Fertility Care Centre London
Promotes the Creighton method of NFP
Billings Ovulation Method
This is a simple, scientific method of NFP, in use for over 50 years.
NFP Outreach
Useful NFP information
One more Soul
Non profit organization committed to spreading the news about the blessings of
children and the harms of contraception.
Pope Paul VI Institute
Promoting morally and professionally acceptable reproductive health services.
Family of the Americas
Useful organization promoting family life and NFP
Couple to couple League
Building healthy marriages through NFP since 1971.

Further pro life and chastity resources:

20 ways for young boys to become real men
Inside Catholic Article on reasons to be chaste
What a woman should know about contraception
Doctor's story comparing NFP to the Pill
A pastoral letter by Bishop Galeone on marriage
Information about pre-marital sex
Feminists for life organisation