Contraception a no-no for our children

In the early 1960s the contraceptive pill was commercialised and since then sex has come to be considered by some simply as merely recreational with little sense of responsibility.

Free love was the battle cry of the hippie generation of the 1960s. Women, being always the more vulnerable in a couple, were made to pay a high price for all this.

For the first time in the relationship between a man and a woman the burden of avoiding a pregnancy now fell entirely on the woman.

Men at long last had been freed from any sort of responsibility in the matter.

It was up to the woman to see that she religiously took the contraceptive pill and this notwithstanding any doubts she might have had regarding any ill effects on her physical and mental health.

However, since the use of contraceptives inevitably led to less and less restraint and consequently more promiscuous behaviour, a solution had to be found to remedy the explosion of unwanted pregnancies, especially among the young. Abortion, contraception’s twin ugly sister, was gradually legalised in nearly all western countries. The culture of death had indeed come to stay.

Sex education programmes have since been drawn up in which the young are taught all about sex and how to avoid any negative consequences that might result.

This is often done by barely referring to any sense of responsibility or to any moral considerations.

As information does not beget virtue, these sexual health policies have practically failed everywhere. The more contraceptives were used, the more unwanted pregnancies increased. Again solutions had to be found. The abortifacient morning-after pill and the RU-486 abortion pill appeared on the market, making it easier to get rid of an unwanted baby.

These have led to a seeming decline in the number of surgical abortions. However, countless babies are still being aborted chemically – a swift, hidden way of getting rid of an unborn child.

Where do parents stand in all this? There are parents who might agree with the sexual health policies of their respective governments. There are others, though, who refuse to have governments, especially without consulting them, telling them what is best for their children, in such delicate and fundamental matters as sexual behaviour. There are parents who firmly believe that the concept of “safe sex” is a downright lie and this is confirmed by the fact that its promoters have, over the years, in order to protect themselves, felt the need to tone it down and call it just “safer sex”.

There are parents who consider contraceptives in the same manner that they look upon cigarettes and drugs. They tell their children that the latter are wrong and should not be used under any circumstances. One could object that since young people are already sexually active one should at least teach them how to protect themselves. This argument is not valid since parents will still insist with their children that they should not smoke or take drugs at all, even if they know that they have already taken up the habit.

Finally, committed Catholics, mindful of the Lord’s words that “Blessed are the pure of heart” believe that with the help of prayer and the sacraments, chastity is not only possible but indeed worth it. If to live chaste lives in the modern world were an impossible achievement, then Christ’s words that for those who believe in Him and in His good news everything is possible, would be merely illusory and thus worthless.