The Contraceptive Revolution, and its Fruits
|
|
As the century comes to a close, we are experiencing the fallout from a revolution which may have involved our parents or our children, altered our view of the marketplace and the family, "liberated" literally millions of women, helped redefine the purpose of government, and divided policy and praxis in our church. This is the so-called sexual revolution, of which the contraceptive mentality has been the foundation.
|
As one who sees the human person as both body and soul, I want to examine some of the medical fruits of the contraceptive revolution, particularly the literally exploding number of sexually- transmitted diseases and negative contraceptive side effects. But I also want to call attention to a revolution I am witnessing in the heart of people struggling against the prevailing contraceptive mentality. In my practice at the Tepeyac Family Center, they have become for me living examples of Augustine's observation that our hearts are restless until they rest in Him.
Sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs), a major consequence of the sexual revolution and the widespread use of contraceptives, have become standard topics at gynecology conferences. Exclusivity and permanence are no longer the norms of sexual involvement. The relentless march of the contraceptive movement has encouraged such activity, worsening a problem that human beings have dealt with since prebiblical times.
The estimated total number of people newly infected annually with symptomatic STDs is about 13 million. Its consequences include relentless suffering, infertility, even death, on a scale far wider than most imagined. It is not possible to quantify the value of lives lost due to STDs, fully one-third of all reproductive mortality in the nation.
Sadly, STDs have a predilection for young people. Individuals under 25 account for the majority of cases, with 66% of reported cases of gonorrhea and chlamydia occurring in this age group.
Having briefly examined STDs as a physical consequence of the sexual revolution which, ironically, promised health and happiness, let us turn to the side effects of the contraceptives themselves.
Among the 58 million American women of reproductive age, about 60%, or 35 million, use some contraceptive method. Sterilization of women and men is the most common form of contraception today, followed in use by oral contraceptive pills, condoms, and Depo-Provera. Intrauterine devices (IUDs) and implants are each being used by only 196 of the reproductive age population.
Well over 4 million men choose vasectomy as their method of birth control. Studies show that many of them regret having used this permanent method of contraception.
Over 9 million American women have undergone sterilization. Their regret over having been sterilized is greater depending on the age of the woman and a change in her marital status, and on whether the procedure was done around the time of a pregnancy or an abortion; regret is also greater among poor women; women of Hispanic origin, and women who eventually divorce.
by John T. Bruchalski, M.D., FACOG
(Source: LIVING WORLD, Winter/Spring 1998, Vol. 11, No.1, p.12)
|
|
Re: It's not always necessary to move to a bigger house, for growing families.
