Abortion, Human Rights, Animal Rights, and Human Dignity

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There are facts and truths that "sexual libertarians" don't want society or public opinion to know, that even they don't want to know. To sum up those facts - accumulated in different human cultures and societies - we don't need sex to live a full life and be content. To define one's identity on the basis of our sexuality alone is to reduce our human value and dignity. I am a lot more than just my genitalia, and so are you. G.S.

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My purpose in these posts is to bring together significant and, where possible, representative echoes of our best human efforts to make sense of our lives - and of our human sexuality in particular - also including the voice of Jesus Christ, the one Saviour of the world, and testimonies from his Church, such as through her teaching voice, the Magisterium. The Church has been accumulating much valuable wisdom granted her by Almighty God since her foundation at Pentecost. In this way, wherever there is darkness in our human understanding, it will serve to highlight the bright and radiant truth, which is Jesus Christ: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also." John's Gospel 14:6-7 
Father Gilles Surprenant, priest & poustinik

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In considering abortion as an option, or else before or after trying to understand what might be consequences of having an abortion, it is good to remember that LOVE UNLEASHES LIFE.

Courtroom genetics testimony of Dr. Jerome Lejeune on the wonder of human conception in the Circuit Court for Blount County State of tennessee at Maryville, Tennessee on August 10th, 1989. 

Second source for this testimony

        I watched the April 12th Vision TV Current Affairs show “Test of Faith” attempt to open up the debate on abortion.  I was somewhat surprised at first that none of the guests were very willing to take the animator up on the question.  Is it that the pro-choice lobby has become so successful that there is now a generalized public impression that to even raise the question about the morality of abortion is automatically branded as a stance against women? 

        In that regard, I believe the same to be true about the debate around same-sex marriage.  The gay lobby has also been quite successful in reshaping public opinion, so that any attempt at legitimate debate on the nature and value of marriage in human society as an institution always understood to be for a man and a woman is immediately branded as an attack against gay rights.  In other words, I believe that what we are witnessing in our time and culture is the advent of inverse tolerance: we pride ourselves at being tolerant and go so far as to defend our tolerance by attacking and condemning anyone who disagrees with us, and we do it in not so subtle fashion by branding them as intolerant by simple virtue of the fact that they wish to disagree with the formerly and perhaps still minority view that is entrenching itself in the public forum as the self-appointed correct view.

        To get back to the animator’s attempt to stir up some debate on abortion, there really wasn't much debate on abortion itself.  What I remember hearing was mostly an affirmation of women's rights to make their own moral choices.  That's a fairly safe position to adopt.  Even those that are considered "conservative" Roman Catholic Christians hold to the primacy of the individual conscience.  When people like Pope John Paul II make public declarations about abortion and other moral issues, they are simply trying to carry out their mandated responsibility to express the positions that emerge from what is called the natural law - the common denominator of truth that the average human being can perceive within them - whether or not they follow it.  For example, the majority of German citizens from 1932 on knew in their conscience that what was happening to their Jewish neighbors was wrong, but for various reasons, they chose to ignore their conscience.  The debate on abortion would have been more complete and there would have been more of a chance to reach for the whole truth if more had been said about the nature of abortion and how that relates to our nature as human beings.

        The animator attempted to bring into the debate recent scientific research, but I sensed she was too polite - actually a scientist would have been in a better position to make those points.  There is an inner logic that what is conceived by a man and woman in her is human from the very first instant of fertilization.  No scientific research has been able to establish that there is any intervention whatever that takes place after fertilization that could demonstrate or prove a change in the nature of the living organism that just goes on multiplying and growing.  All the visible changes that occur are all contained in the genetic coding of the very first fertilized cell, much as the roots, trunk, branches, leaves, flowers, seeds, and fruit are all contained in the seed of a fruit tree.  An apple seed never produces anything other than an apple tree, and apples of the very same kind as the fruit from which the seed came. 

        If then, what is conceived is indeed fully human, but just so little that it cannot yet be conscious as we understand consciousness or speak for itself, then this raises two questions.  First, at what point of development does that consciousness become human?  Second, if what we are aborting is little human persons, what are the problems that emerge from this action?

        The Nazis were not the first and they won't be the last to set limits on what can be granted the status of human being.  The long standing Christian view - though there are some who claim to be Christian but deny the basic tenets of their faith - is that the essence of human dignity is that we have this dignity by the very fact of our nature.  As Genesis puts it, we have been created in the image and likeness of God.  No one can have the temerity to claim for themselves the right to grant or deny that dignity.  It is there from the first moment of independent and spontaneous self-sustaining growth, regardless of the flaws that may occur in that growth - in other words - from the first moment of fertilization.

        This implies then that whenever we abort a human life - from as early as the contraceptive pill that disallows the fertilized cell cluster from adhering to the uterine wall to as late as final term abortions or even infant killings as was practiced by the Greeks of antiquity - we are murdering a human life.  Of course this is the very discourse that all who advocate pro-choice and the rights of women to do what they want or need to do with whatever is contained within the confines of their body at times stridently refuse to hear or allow to be spoken. 

        I really do sympathize with women - especially young women - who find themselves with an unwanted pregnancy, and deeply pity the men - especially the young men - who avoid their opportunity to become men and shirk their responsibilities to the woman they have ravished and the life she has conceived.  What we have is a mess, which in many ways is of our own making.  I remember not so long ago as a child watching movies where the young adult children rebelled against their parents' restrictive moral directions and engaged in uncommitted sexual intercourse, sometimes getting away with it, and sometimes not.  What became evil was no longer the irresponsible sex, but the parental attempts to impose limits on their children's behavior.  Granted, the parenting may have often been faulty.  You can forbid and punish a young child, but an adolescent and young adult needs to be trained and prepared to make personal and responsible decisions.  If they are never allowed to decide and make mistakes, then they will deliberately go against their parents' directions simply to affirm their independence and strive to search for their innate human dignity, which they sense within them.

        On the other hand, our culture has become so allergic to authority as to become blind to anything but our own desires, views, opinions, feelings, and inclinations.  As a society, we have come to take a very adolescent stance in the face of life: we want to do what we want to do, but are in total denial of the facts of life - the laws of nature and the natural law of conscience - we want reality to be the way we want it, and when it isn't we resort to bending it out of shape so it can fit our distorted desires.  It is a massive attempt to exert mind over matter.  Because the life in the womb is defenseless, there is no longer anyone to oppose our distorted self-will.  There used to be laws that were an attempt to enshrine in human law the dictates of the natural law and human conscience, but since so many are now in denial of both, it no longer made sense to keep the law on the books.  In a way, human justice is a reflection of the common conscience of the people.  As it was in Nazi Germany, so it can be again anywhere, anytime.

        As a practitioner in the development of human consciences - through my ministry of guidance and in the Sacrament of Reconciliation where the faithful of all ages come to confess the sins of which they have become aware - it has been my experience that there truly is a natural law that is discernible by the individual human heart and conscience.  It is there even in the absence of parental restraints.  It is there even in the almost complete absence of restrains in our open, western culture.  Anytime people go against their conscience, they begin to live a life of inner torment, without inner peace.  Whenever they go along with their conscience, such as it is and often in error or not fully informed, but against the natural law, it's only a question of time before the consequences of their choices cause sufficient upheaval within them to bring to awareness at least the basic notion that all is not well within them.

        At times like that, without telling them what I think is wrong with them, a little guided tour through the landscape of their living situation and conditions, of their choices and preferences, of their opinions and views, and of how all of that compares with what is to be found in the Christian and Jewish Scriptures, usually begins to bring sufficient light within their conscience that the penny begins to drop and they can draw their own conclusions about where they have gone wrong.  No one needs to tell them.

        The problem, I think, with the sterility of the current debate is that there is a whole view - the one anyone disagrees with - that is being demonized (on both sides) with the result that there really isn't a true debate.  Only partial truths are being admitted to the debate.  Only partial conclusions can be reached.  When all is said and done, there may be the temporary comfort of having our own way, but this is not what acknowledges our human dignity in all of its stature, nor is it what respects the individual person in all their potential for living a fully human existence.  We are settling for something less that fully human, and we are condemning whole generations by attempting to lock them into partial truths.  At some point, it can only blow up in our faces, and when the younger generations some day awaken to all of the truth involved here, we can expect them to have considerable contempt for how we will have disrespected their freedom of conscience.

        I found it most interesting that the topic lined up for the following week - this past Monday - was the debate on animal rights.  Isn't it ironic that on the same planet at the same time we can find views that will on the one hand deny the humanity, dignity, and rights of the unborn human lives unwanted for whatever reasons, and on the other hand come to the defense of the rights of animals to be treated humanely?  I must admit that the contrast leaves me almost speechless.  Silence in the face of such a contradiction is in some ways the better response.  As they say in poker, "Read 'em and weep!" 

        Still, I would like to make one point here.  Through all of human history, it has been generally considered part of a woman and all women's dignity that they have the capacity and determination to generously conceive, nurture, deliver, and rear human beings, with the support of their man.  No matter the circumstances, it saddens me to observe the harm that a woman does to her own nature when the confines of her body - designed to be a place of nurture, safety, and tender care - becomes a place of deliberately dealt out death.  We all know how tragic and painful miscarriages are, and how devastated many women feel afterwards - even though it was not at all their fault - we can only begin to imagine the dire consequences for the female psyche when the life they carry is deliberately terminated. 

Even in the case of rape, though that act was so terribly wrong and such a violation, an additional wrong and violence can't make it right, but only further violates the dignity of her womb, her body, her sense of herself, her conscience.  I can only weep.  And I am outraged at attempts - without anger at those who do so with the best of intentions - to declare abortion OK, or without serious consequences, or less wrong, or whatever.  Killing is killing.  It just isn't self-defense as in war, when the one to be killed is an aggressor who fully and deliberately intends to take lives.

        In addition, it has also been generally considered part of a man and all men’s dignity that they have the capacity and determination to care for their woman or wife and for the human life she conceives, nurtures, delivers, and rears, and to defend them from all external dangers.  It saddens me to observe the disintegration of the male psyche into something base and less than human that seeks only its own comfort and ease.  I am equally outraged at attempts by men but also by parents to leave the burden of unwanted pregnancies on the shoulders and consciences of the women – it is unfair that the man be allowed to escape what the unfortunate woman cannot – since she cannot escape her own body or feminine nature.  Our notion of the male nature is so damaged that there is little or no sense of failure when the man just abandons the woman and goes back to his own narcissistic agenda and his parents are content to let the woman’s family bear the whole burden.

In conclusion, I must thank the animator for at least attempting to spark the debates.  If I may make a suggestion, it would be that animators research and find other speakers who can better represent the other facets of any given issue, so that there may be more likelihood of at least touching on the full spectrum of facets to the usually multifaceted truths of our human existence.

Fr. Gilles A. Surprenant, pastor – St. Thomas à Becket Parish – Archdiocese of Montreal, Quebec – 2003 

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My purpose in these posts is to bring together significant and, where possible, representative echoes of our best efforts as human beings to make sense of our lives in general - and of our human sexuality in particular - and to also include the voice of Jesus Christ, the one Saviour of the world, and testimonies from his Church, such as through her teaching voice, the Magisterium; given that the Church has been accumulating the wisdom granted her by Almighty God since her foundation at Pentecost. In this way, wherever there is darkness in our human understanding, it will serve to highlight the bright and radiant truth, which is Jesus Christ: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also." John's Gospel 14:6-7     G.S.

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© 2006-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2006-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC 

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GOD'S PLAN FOR HUMAN LIFE - For full meaning, purpose, and fulfillment in our life.

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There are facts and truths that "sexual libertarians" don't want society or public opinion to know, that even they don't want to know. To sum up those facts - accumulated in different human cultures and societies - we don't need sex to live a full life and be content. To define one's identity on the basis of our sexuality alone is to reduce our human value and dignity. I am a lot more than just my genitalia, and so are you. G.S.

----------------------------------------------------------------

My purpose in these posts is to bring together significant and, where possible, representative echoes of our best human efforts to make sense of our lives - and of our human sexuality in particular - also including the voice of Jesus Christ, the one Saviour of the world, and testimonies from his Church, such as through her teaching voice, the Magisterium. The Church has been accumulating much valuable wisdom granted her by Almighty God since her foundation at Pentecost. In this way, wherever there is darkness in our human understanding, it will serve to highlight the bright and radiant truth, which is Jesus Christ: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also." John's Gospel 14:6-7 
Father Gilles Surprenant, priest & poustinik

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 👉 God's Plan For Life

http://www.godsplanforlife.org 👈

Loving Plans

The Scriptures reveal that when God designed a plan for life, he used careful and loving advanced planning. In Jer 1:5, God says “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you.” This is rather surprising. God knew Jeremiah before he was born. It follows that God knows all of us even before we are born.

God's advanced loving and careful plan is confirmed by Rom 8:29-30 where Paul says:

“For those he foreknew he also pre-destined to be conformed to the image of His son, so that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.”

The same notion of foreknowledge is revealed in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, 1:3-4:

“Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him.”

Love requires advanced planning. God’s plan for life began before the world was made.

In The Beginning

The beginning of the execution of God’s plan for life is revealed in the Book of Genesis. When we read the book of Genesis, we recognize the spiritual elements that are being taught by the message. Adam represents man; Eve represents woman. He created man in his likeness, Gen 1:27. Man has some amazing capabilities. He has the ability to create, to have a sense of justice, to intercede, to rescue, to show mercy, to forgive - these alone place him far above the animals, perhaps even the angels. Man is, surprisingly, quite Godly. Furthermore, man has the ability to have a relationship with God. Man has the ability to receive the Holy Spirit - God Himself. Finally, man is destined for immortality. There is nothing more God-like than to be immortal!

The very first commandment in the Bible is “be fertile and multiply”. This is soon followed by the commandment "Fill the earth and subdue it", Gen 1:28. These are extremely important elements of God’s plan for life. They take on fresh meaning in today’s world. The earth is not yet filled and subdued. There are lots of resources and there is much unused land. God’s plan for life and the commandments that go with it are still valid.

Chastity

The importance of chastity, as part of God’s plan for life, is contained in one of the Ten Commandments, “You shall not commit adultery” Ex 20. Leviticus 18 is entirely devoted to various directives on the sanctity of procreative powers. Men were ordered not to have sex with mothers, in-laws, a neighbor’s wife or another male. Men and women were ordered not to have carnal relations with animals. All such defilements are an abomination. God has, in effect, decreed that all humans must be chaste. Singles must be chaste. The married must be chaste. Widows must be chaste.

Marriage

Only marriage with one spouse provides the loving and secure environment that fosters procreation and God’s plan for life. God’s loving procreative plan is a mutual relationship with us wherein we follow his directive to be chaste, fruitful and to multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. Through marriage we procreate human beings that he has known or foreseen before the foundation of the world. Chastity and marriage work together to promote fertility.

Children of God

God’s plan gets even bigger. Humans, through Jesus Christ, become children of God. Filled with the Holy Spirit of God himself, they fulfill the demands of chastity and generous procreativity. They multiply with joy. Also, humans possess a myriad of talents for achieving God’s plan for subduing the earth. There are workers, engineers, farmers, accountants, doctors, craftsman and scientists and people of many talents and persuasions all conceived and designed by God. Humans take pride and rejoice in fulfilling God’s plan to subdue the earth and in being one with Him.

Sodomy and Contraception Condemned

Quite early in salvation history some important lessons had to be taught. Many are familiar with the lesson of Sodom and Gomorrah, Gen 19. The cities were destroyed by God as an everlasting testament to the evils they contained, particularly sodomy, which was a significant deviation from God’s plan for life. In the Onan account (Gen 38), which is not too well known or understood, another important lesson about procreation had to be taught. Onan was one of three sons of Judah. The first son did evil in the sight of God and was killed. We are not given the reason. Under the Levirate law at the time, Onan was asked to marry his bother’s widow, Tamar, in order to procreate offspring in his brother’s name. Onan married her but when he had intercourse, he went through the motions, then spilled his seed on the ground. In medical terminology, this is called “coitus interruptus”. More commonly, it is called “withdrawal” and is a form of contraception. Onan did this because he did not want to have children under his dead brother’s name. God killed him. It is clear that God killed him because he defrauded the marriage of its procreative purpose. Tamar later went on to have illicit sex with Judah, her father-in-law. Tamar bore twins. Despite their sins, neither she, Judah, nor the twins were killed. Only Onan was killed as an everlasting testament to the evil of defrauding the marriage of its procreative purpose. Onan was not killed because he did not want to marry Tamar. The punishment for not marrying Tamar (see Deut 25) was not death. If he chose not to marry Tamar, she could remove his sandal and spit in his face publicly, thereby humiliating him. This is much less than the death penalty. Onan was killed because his action of contraception had far reaching effects and consequences. His action attacked God’s plan for life. Children were supposed to be born who were not born. We see from this account that contraception thwarts God’s plan for life and that God repudiates contraception. God essentially says 'The plan for life and creation is my plan.'

Children Are A Blessing

Children are a blessing; they are innocent and joyful. Children enrich the parents, making them less selfish. Children become adult inventors that solve the world’s problems. Children become adult apostles to proclaim the Word. Large populations raise the standard of living by providing a wide variety of goods and services. Also, these services are provided at a lower cost per person. For example, a small town with a population of 1000 people cannot afford its own water sanitation plant. At least 100,000 people are needed. Large populations are necessary to support a telephone industry or an automobile industry. The United States is the third most populous nation on earth, after China and India. Population and a free market made it prosperous. Children grow up and create prosperity!

When Does The Plan Stop?

It is not for us to know. In 2011, the population reached 7 billion people. Based on the percentage of land surface currently used for cities and farms (11%) it can hold 60 billion or more. The point is, we are nowhere close to filling the earth and subduing it. God’s plan for life is a loving plan and He can direct its fulfillment for our maximum benefit and joy. Praise the Lord!!

Humanity's Rebellion Against God's Plan For Life

Background

The Pro-Life movement is in a state of crisis because it is losing the battle. It is losing the battle because:

It does not understand the full scope of the evil that it is fighting.

It is missing a key strategy.

It does not have the full support of the Christian church in general and the Catholic Church in particular.

The movement tends to think that it is a battle to save babies. It focuses heavily on the issue of abortion. Rather, it is a battle to save God's plan for life. It is a battle that must involve every soul on the planet. It rages with every single decision by that soul to accept or reject God's plan for life.

Contraception Condemned

Contraception was condemned by God (The Onan Account, Gen 38) long before the Church was begun. 

All Christian Churches, Catholic and Protestant, condemned artificial contraception up until 1930. Martin Luther said that contraception was “far more atrocious than incest or adultery” [1]. The Onan account (Gen 38) provides a strong basis for that view. Furthermore, every Protestant theologian prior to 1930 condemned contraception. Saint Augustine condemned contraception, referring directly to the Onan account (see Castii Connubii, Vices Opposed to Christian Marriage).

Protestant Rebellion

At the Anglican Episcopalian Lambeth conference in London in the fall of 1930, contraception was deemed acceptable under special circumstances. This opened the door to the greatest evil the world has ever seen. In December of that same year, Pope Pius XI issued the encyclical “Casti Connubii” (Christian Marriage) which maintained the teaching that artificial contraception was “shameful and intrinsically vicious”. He said that “There are no special circumstances in which husband and wife cannot, strengthened by the grace of God, fulfill faithfully their duties and preserve in wedlock their chastity unspotted.” However, within three decades, the Lambeth ruling penetrated most of Protestantism and the restrictive guidelines from the conference were lost.

Secular Rebellion

Aided by a period of vast social change, a surging force in 1930 was the sexual revolution and birth control movement led by Margaret Sanger, who later founded Planned Parenthood. A vocal and bitter opponent of Christianity, Sanger urged full sexual freedom for everyone and especially for women. She also urged firm population control and particularly so among large segments she called “unfit”. Her persistent denunciation of Papal support for large Catholic families and her passionate attacks against “enslavement” of women by unwelcomed pregnancy began to take root in the popular media, in academia, in Congress and with Catholics and Protestants in the Church.

Catholic Rebellion

The great Papal encyclical, Humanae Vitae, was issued by Pope Paul VI in 1968. It re-iterated God’s plan for life, provided a morally acceptable definition of responsible parenthood and repudiated contraception. The majority of the Catholic laity did not accept it. Supported by dissident theologians, dissident priests and even a few dissident bishops, the laity ignored the teaching and continued to use contraception, especially the “pill” in ever increasing numbers. Whether or not some clergy accepted it, the vast majority of the clergy went silent on the subject. What is the price of that silence?

The Price of a Silent Clergy

The price of silence is that large numbers in our congregations are practicing some form of artificial contraception. The pews are filled with people who have had vasectomies, tubal ligations and hysterectomies. Women are on the pill and men use barrier methods. Small families abound; large families are scarce. These facts are independently proven by the very low fertility rates in every sector of society all the way up to the national level. The problem of low fertility rates extends internationally throughout the world. Fertility rates are declining in every country on the planet.

God's Plan For Life Aborted

The proof that humanity has gone completely off the track is now manifest in the world. We have stopped multiplying. Sixty one countries have fertility rates below the replacement rate. The replacement rate is 2.1 children per woman. Two are required to replace the parents and 0.1 to make up for infant mortality and women who do not procreate. A fertility rate of 2.1, in the long term, does not multiply population – it only maintains it. Some fertility rates in "Catholic countries" are staggering low - Italy (1.2), Spain (1.15), Portugal (1.37) and Ireland (1.9). Most of Europe averages to 1.4. The US is 1.99. This reality is well known by the US government which predicts that the current situation with social security which has four people working for every person receiving social security, will shrink to 2 to 1 by the year 2030. It is unlikely that the economy can support such an arrangement. Italy is burying more people than are born. Russia has lost 500,000 in total population every year since 1989. Europe will shrink to a fraction of its current population by the end of the 21st century. Japan, which has negligible immigration, will lose 25% of its population by 2050. Not only have we disobeyed God by ceasing to multiply, we have not filled the earth. Australia, a continent nearly the size of the United States only has 19 million people versus 280 million for the US. Most of South America is so sparsely populated that telephones do not exist except in major cities. The entire population of the world can fit into the State of Texas, with 1000 square feet per person, which is a slightly higher density than San Francisco but a slightly lower density than the Bronx in New York City.

Fall From Grace

What is the Holy Spirit saying to the Church? The Holy Spirit is saying that God’s loving procreative plan has been replaced with our own selfish contraceptive plan. The contraceptive mentality has infected the Church. A major effect is a fall from grace which results in a blindness to the surrounding reality. There is a loss of awe and respect for God’s loving procreative plan. Parents then develop a false fear of the economic and emotional impact of children to the point that children are not wanted. There is a loss in living faith in God as a provider. Conjugal relationships get distorted by dishonest love.

Rotten Fruit

Every single intended “benefit” of contraception, that was promised in the sixties, has not occurred. Instead, the opposite of what its promoters once promised has arisen. The pill was supposed to make marriages better by relieving parents of the worry of pregnancy in their sexual relationship. It failed to achieve that promise. In fact, the opposite occurred. The divorce rate went from 25% in 1960 to 50% in 1980 as the pill came into widespread use. Although other factors were involved in the escalating divorce rate, it is hard to make a case that the pill improved marriages. Barrier contraceptives were supposed to reduce sexually transmitted diseases. The opposite has occurred. The pill was supposed to reduce abortion. The opposite has occurred. In fact, abortion mills provide contraceptives free of charge to their clients because they know that it is good for business. About 50% of all abortions are due to contraceptive failures. The abortionists know that contraceptive failures will occur and that the woman, with or without her partner will seek an abortion.

There is loss of respect for Church moral teaching authority. People who cannot trust the Church in its moral teaching on contraception, will not trust the Church in other areas, such as abortion, as well. About 22% (60 million) of the nation is Catholic. Yet exit polls at abortion mills indicate that Catholic women are as likely as women in the general population to have an abortion. Being Catholic does not seem to make a difference!

The tap root of abortion is contraception. All of the reasons that a woman uses to abort are the same reasons that she uses to contracept. Abortion follows contraception like night follows day.

Immoral Voting

Finally we get down to the political arena where so much effort by so many people is spent struggling about the issue of abortion. People march, wave banners, pray and spend huge sums of money lobbying but the political situation is regressing. The contraceptive mentality is so perverse and pervasive, that it causes a disinterest in pro-life causes and yields immoral voting. In 1992, about 44% of the country voted for Bill Clinton. About 44% of Catholics who voted, voted for Bill Clinton. Being Catholic did not seem to make a difference. Bill Clinton twice vetoed the partial birth abortion act. After the 1996 election, exit polls showed that 53% of Catholics who voted, voted for Clinton. In 1998, in the state of California, 58% of the total votes for Governor went to Gray Davis. Gray Davis avidly promoted his pro-choice (pro-abortion) public policy position and having won the election, is now providing millions of dollars in the State budget to fund the abortion mills. Of Catholics who voted, 58% voted for Gray Davis for Governor. Again, being a Catholic did not make a difference. The non-Catholic Christian vote for Davis was somewhat lower (47%), but still a poor testimony to pro-life values. The percentage should be zero! See The Contraception Deception for more information and statistical references.

The leading pro-life political lobbying organization in the country, the National Right to Life (NRL) refuses to take a stand on contraception. They too seem blind to its role in the culture of death debacle.

Satan’s Tools

Satan wants to destroy the human race and God’s plan for life. He now has tools that far exceed the power of the plague and the sword. Contraception has already reduced the human race more than wars and disease ever have. Pope John Paul II noted in his encyclical letter, Evangelium Vitae, that the moral decline seems greatest where the "Church's teaching on contraception is rejected". He points out that "contraception and abortion are often closely connected, as fruits of the same tree." (See Evangelium Vitae, Ch1-13) It is no longer necessary to defend Humanae Vitae with fancy theological and philosophical arguments. The rotten fruit of the contraceptive generation speaks for itself. Contraception belongs to the culture of death. 

Repent and Be Saved!

For men of good conscience, the only way back is to repent and accept God’s plan for life. The laity must repent of their evil practice of contraception. The clergy must repent of their silence, their fear of speaking out and their false teaching. 

Missing Strategy

There are 300,000 Christian pulpits in the United States. Of those, 19,000 are Catholic. Each pulpit is backed by a parish organization with an annual budget averaging approximately $200,000. That amounts to a total budget of $60 billion. No one can say that the pro-death forces, which spend millions of dollars, outspend the pro-life forces. The problem is that the pulpit is paralyzed! Therefore, a successful pro-life strategy must include renewal and rejuvenation of the pulpit with moral teachings, especially God’s plan for life and the evil of artificial contraception, abortion and euthanasia.

Prophecy

The culture of death will not be defeated until there is repentance from contraception.

Restitution and Salvation

Jesus Christ is the author of life, the healer of life, the redeemer of life, the provider of abundant life and the donor of eternal life. Those who are called to preach and teach the message of salvation through Jesus Christ are therefore compelled to proclaim God’s plan for life, to warn against any evil that attacks that plan and to directly call men to repent of their rebellion against God’s plan for life. 

Legislation

Those who choose God’s plan for life will be more likely to vote pro-life. Then laws can be passed to protect all human life. Only then will contraception, abortion, euthanasia and the culture of death fade into history.

[1] Charles D. Provan, The Bible and Birth Control, Monongahelia, PA, Zimmer Printing, 1989, 81.

The Contraception Deception and the Link to Abortion

God’s Word

“Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.” Jer 1:5

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him.” Eph 1:3-4. 

What is the Holy Spirit saying to the Catholic Church in America at a time when a murderous abortion holocaust of enormous proportions has swept the land? The following perspectives will invite the vast majority of Catholics, both laity and clergy, to repent of the actions and inactions that have contributed to the growth of this evil amongst us.

Death Through Abortion

During the decade before and after the founding of this web site in 1999, each day about 4,000 babies were surgically aborted nationwide. As of 1992, thirty- five million [1] were killed since the infamous Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision of 1973 which, for the first time, allowed abortion on demand at any time during pregnancy. About 1000 babies, or one quarter of the national total have been aborted in California every day, even though California has only one sixth of the country’s total population.

Political Failure

Since the Supreme Court decision, millions of heroic people have prayed, marched, campaigned, preached and pleaded to bring about an end to this atrocity through the political and legal process. While many small victories have been achieved, freedom of abortion is still the law of the land. People who have attempted to rescue a child from being murdered in an abortion mill have been arrested, imprisoned for years and have been sued for removal of all of their cash and property. Those confiscated funds are used by the abortionists to build more “clinics”, buy more equipment and perform more abortions. What has become quite apparent is that Christians in general and Catholics in particular have not had the influence on this problem that their numbers would demand.

Immoral Behavior

Consider the following statistics:

About 22% (60 million) of the nation is Catholic [2] . Yet, exit polls at abortion mills indicate that Catholic women are as likely as women in the general population to have an abortion [3] . Being Catholic does not seem to make a difference!

In 1992, about 44% of the country voted for Bill Clinton, despite his well known strong pro-abortion position. About 44% of Catholics who voted, voted for Bill Clinton [4] . Being Catholic did not seem to make a difference. Bill Clinton twice vetoed the partial birth abortion act. Furthermore, 66% of Catholics said that President Clinton’s April 1996 veto of the bill to ban partial birth abortions would either made no difference in their choice between Clinton and Bob Dole in the presidential election - or that it would make them more likely to vote for Clinton. Just after Clinton vetoed the partial birth abortion bill, Catholics preferred Clinton over Dole by 58% to 33%, despite Dole’s well-known pro-life position [5] . After the 1996 election, exit polls showed that 53% of Catholics who voted, voted for Clinton [6] .

In 1998, in our own state of California, 58% of the total votes for Governor went to Gray Davis. Gray Davis avidly promoted his pro-choice (pro-abortion) public policy position and is now providing millions of dollars in the State budget to fund the abortion mills. Of Catholics who voted, 58% voted for Gray Davis for Governor [7].  Again, being a Catholic did not make a difference. The non-Catholic Christian vote for Davis was somewhat lower (47%), but still a poor testimony to pro-life values.

The distribution of thousands of pro-life pamphlets and voting guides in local churches and parishes throughout Los Angeles and Orange County in state and national elections for decades has yielded dismal electoral results for the pro-life cause.

The Contraception Deception

In summary, Christians in general and Catholics in particular are not making it a top priority to vote pro-life. If 100% of Christians voted pro-life, along with the Jews, Muslims, non-believers and people of good conscience who are opposed to abortion, a pluralistic majority would prevail and efforts at the national level to end abortion would have been victorious a long time ago. Why has this not happened? The Christian church in general and the Catholic Church in particular has slipped into a blindness, silence and apathy that is thwarting resolution of the problem. The root of the problem is the contraception deception and its link to abortion. The wide practice of artificial contraception and the belief that it is acceptable is entrenched within the Church.

Prophecy Fulfilled

The situation in America is well described by the Archbishop of Denver who wrote in a pastoral letter "On Human Life" that the warnings of Pope Paul VI in his encyclical, Humanae Vitae [8] have been fulfilled. As forewarned, there has been a serious decline in morality, loss of awe for the procreation of life, loss of respect for life in general within the Church and society along with its concomitant advance toward euthanasia. Pope John Paul II has pointed out that this decline seems greatest in those parts of the world where the "Church's teaching on contraception is rejected." In essence, our nation began its spiritual decline toward abortion down the slippery slope of acceptance of artificial contraception.

Papal Exhortation to America

In his 1998 address to bishops from California, Nevada and Hawaii, Pope John Paul II said "The teaching of Humanae Vitae honors married love, promotes the dignity of women, and helps couples grow in understanding the truth of their particular path to holiness. It is also a response to contemporary culture's temptation to reduce life to a commodity. As Bishops, together with your priests, deacons, seminarians, and other pastoral personnel, you must find the right language and imagery to present this teaching in a comprehensible and compelling way." (The emphasis is ours). In calling for a legal defense of human life from conception to natural death, the Pope said "What is at stake here is nothing less than the indivisible truth about the human person on which the Founding Fathers staked your nation's claim to independence. The life of a country is much more than its material development and its power in the world. A nation needs a soul. It needs the wisdom and courage to overcome the moral ills and spiritual temptations inherent in its march through history. In union with all those who favor a culture of life over a culture of death, Catholics, and especially Catholic legislators, must continue to make their voices heard in the formulation of cultural, economic, political and legislative projects which, 'with respect for all and in keeping with democratic principles, will contribute to the building of a society in which the dignity of each person is recognized and the lives of all are defended and enhanced' (Evangelium Vitae, 90). Democracy stands or falls with the values which it embodies and promotes (Evangelium Vitae, 70). In defending life you are defending an original and vital part of the vision on which your country was built. America must become, again, a hospitable society, in which every unborn child and every handicapped or terminally ill person is cherished and enjoys the protection of the law." [9] .

God has ordained the Church to be the moral compass for the world. When the Church (the people of God, both clergy and laity) fails in that mission, there is very little direction left. In many parishes, homilies on the evil of artificial contraception have been scarce for decades while the evil practice has mushroomed.

The Link Between Contraception and Abortion

The restoration of Catholic moral teaching from the pulpit and repentance by the laity of the practice of artificial contraception are of monumental importance. Here are five factors that link artificial contraception to abortion. When one embraces artificial contraception, one makes the first denial of God’s will in the area of procreation. God’s plan for life is rejected.

Now, having denied God’s will once and having used a technological intervention to prevent conception, it is much easier to deny God’s will a second time and much easier to use a technological intervention to eliminate the consequences of conception - surgical abortion.

The birth control pill frequently acts as a chemical abortifacient. This is because it does not always prevent ovulation. Some ova break through and are fertilized but the newly formed human life dies because the pill renders the lining of the womb unsuitable for implantation.

In general, the reasons used by people in an attempt to justify an abortion, are the same reasons used in an attempt to justify the use of contraception. Over 50% of all abortions are due to failed contraception.

Repentance Needed

In general, the consciences of Catholics need to be reformed. Far too many have fallen for the contraception deception. God, who loves us immensely, eagerly waits for our repentance. Only when this occurs, will our laws and institutions receive the power to put an end to the American Holocaust and restore legal protection for the unborn child. 

Rejuvenate the Pulpit

We respectfully urge pastors and associate parish priests to dedicate a full homily, once per quarter (four times per year), at all weekend masses to the subject of contraception, abortion, euthanasia and respect for life. These teachings would be based on existing sound Church doctrine and would derive much of their inspiration from papal encyclicals such as Humane Vitae, Evangelium Vitae [10] and various pastoral letters from the pope and the bishops of the United States. The teachings would address some of the social and political aspects of the subject matter, particularly where those elements underscore the importance of the moral teaching and where they relate to the call for all Catholic men and women to join in the defense of truth and life.

Summary

The majority of adult Christians in general and Catholics in particular are in serious need of repentance of sins of artificial contraception. Since general awareness of this need is very lacking, the best opportunity for them to hear a message that will lead them to repent is during the homily or sermon at Sunday services. Because of the enormous magnitude of the problem, this message needs to be proclaimed frequently - at least four times per year. 

Brian Murphy
God's Plan for Life
Coto de Caza, CA
March, 2000

References

[1] National Right to Life, http://www.nrlc.org; Source for statistics for 1973 through 1992: Stanley K. Henshaw, et al.,”Abortion Services in the United States, 1991 and 1992,” Family Planning Perspectives, vol. 26, no.3(May/June 1994), p. 101. 1994 Statistics reported in USA Today, August 14,1996, p. A17, attributed to the Alan Guttmacher Institute.

[2] PJ Kennedy & Sons, Official Catholic Directory 1996 (New Providence, NJ: R.R. Bowker, 1996)

[3] Stanley K. Henshaw & Kathryn Kost (Alan Guttmacher Institute), Family Planning Perspectives, vol. 28, no. 4(July/Aug. 1966); based on an AGI survey of 9,985 women obtaining abortions in 1994-95.

[4] Exit Polls:1992, Voter News Service.

[5] Los Angeles Times poll of 1,374 adults, 1,149 registered voters, April 13-16, 1996, MOE +/-3%; Catholic subsample 418, MOE +/-5%.

[6] Kellstedt, L.A., J. Green and J. Guth. Paper presented to the American Political Science Association Convention, Washington, D.C., 1997.

[7] “Portrait of the Electorate”, Los Angeles Times, November 5, 1998. Results of an exit poll of 3,693 voters from 60 polling places across California.

[8] Humanae Vitae, Encyclical Letter of His Holiness, Pope Paul VI, “Of Human Life”, July 25, 1968, Pauline Books and Media, Boston, 1968.

[9]ADDRESS OF THE HOLY FATHER POPE JOHN PAUL II TO THE BISHOPS OF THE EPISCOPAL CONFERENCE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (CALIFORNIA, NEVADA AND HAWAII) [Ad Limina] 2 October 1998.

[10] Encyclical Letter “The Gospel of Life”, Evangelium Vitae, John Paul II to the bishops, priests and deacons, men and women religious, lay faithful, and all people of good will on the value and inviolability of human life; Pauline Books and Media, Boston, MA 1995.

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My purpose in these posts is to bring together significant and, where possible, representative echoes of our best efforts as human beings to make sense of our lives in general - and of our human sexuality in particular - and to also include the voice of Jesus Christ, the one Saviour of the world, and testimonies from his Church, such as through her teaching voice, the Magisterium; given that the Church has been accumulating the wisdom granted her by Almighty God since her foundation at Pentecost. In this way, wherever there is darkness in our human understanding, it will serve to highlight the bright and radiant truth, which is Jesus Christ: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also." John's Gospel 14:6-7     G.S.

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© 2006-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2006-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC 

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