Birth control??

But you haven't shown the correlation demonstrating that birth control is murder.

Okay. But most birth control prevents fertilization, so to say that birth control (in general) is a sin is, well, inaccurate.

Even the oft debated birth control pill is designed to prevent the egg from ever being fertilized, by preventing the eggs from being released.

 

There is no contraceptive with the primary mechanism of preventing implantation. The birth control pill may cause the uterine lining to be less receptive to implantation, but its primary mechanism is the prevention of ovulation.

 

The only pill that does that it RU-486. Birth control pills in general prevent pregnancy by preventing the release of an egg.

On a sidenote, however, I think that we as a Christian community are wrong to take up the "life begins at conception" banner as a doctrine. Scripture is silent on that issue, and where scripture is silent, it befalls religious liberty. I do agree, and I think most do, that elective abortion is an issue that must be dealt with.

We don't look at a fertilized chicken egg or turtle egg and say "this is a chicken" or "this is a turtle", but when it comes to a fertilized human egg, we do so vehemently. I've never been able to figure out why. Especially since the woman's body routinely discharges fertilized eggs all the time. Most women have had fertilized eggs discharged several times without ever realizing it. We seem to ignore that fact when it suits us.

 

When did we get all "Catholic" on such issues?

 

News flash: The Roman Catholic Church has introduced its own birth control pill. Simply take the pill in your hand, and place on your left knee. Then cross your right knee over it. When the urge to have sex has subsided, then you can uncross your knees.

 

When does life start for a chicken, or a turtle, or a rabbit, etc? This is not a rhetorical question. I think it's a worthy question that we should discuss, separate of the abortion issue. What do y'all think?

To answer Fishnbread's question, life for a human starts when the kids have left for college.

 

The cold shower is a superior method because it also improves general hygiene!

Now for some happy news!

I've been researching emergency contraception. This is available in the US as two doses of 0.75 mg levonorgestrel. A single dose of 10 mg mifepristone has also been studied, but I don't believe this is approved as an emergency contraceptive in the US.

A recent review article shows that levonorgestrel is probably ineffective at preventing implantation by causing changes to the endometrium. Mifepristone at this dosage is borderline--it may cause sufficient change to prevent implantation in some cases. It appears the key mechanism for both of these is delay or prevention of ovulation, and then secondarily making the uterus much less friendly to sperm.

Gemzell-Danielsson, K.; Marions, L. "Mechanisms of action of mifepristone and levonorgestrel when used for emergency contraception." Human Reproduction Update, 2004, 10, 341.

 

Johnv

You said, "We don't look at a fertilized chicken egg or turtle egg and say "this is a chicken" or "this is a turtle", but when it comes to a fertilized human egg, we do so vehemently."

Just an observation. If you were to destroy a fertilized American Bald Eagle egg, you would be committing a felony. Why? Because Bald Eagles are endangered (or at least they used to be), and evironmentalists know from that egg will grow an eagle, so it deserves the same protection as a "hatched" eagle would.

To bad many animal lovers cannot give the same consideration to the fetilized eggs of human beings.

And scripture is not silent on the "life begins at conception" issue. Jeremiah 1:5 tells us that God knows us before we are conceived, and in fact, He is the one "forming" us in the womb. I don't see how that can be discounted in this debate.

 

What do you mean?

 

I agree with jdcanady.

 

We eat chicken's eggs every day. Is that a sin too? Personally, I believe that birth control among humans is a personal decision and often a responsible one, given the economic and social conditions of the world, particularly the Third World.

Contrary to some opinion, the Bible is not explicit on this concept. We can take a few verses, ignore the specific context, and make a doctrine, but that does not make the Bible speak on a modern dilemma. Sometimes we must use good common sense.

Perhaps we should preach more on moral values and stop the epidemic of "unwanted" children being born to young and single women; children having children.

Cheers,

Jim, responsible father of two grown children.

 

Rachel,

My comment meant that I had never heard anyone other than Roman Catholics teach that birth control was sinful, or that it was our Christian duty to have large families - until this thread.

I happen to be pro-life, but I am "responsible pro-life". I think people need to prepare for the birth of their children as much as possible, and that includes birth control.

 

I'm the same way, definitely pro-life but responsible too. lol I agree with that. We should use common sense.
One thing though I don't agree with people is the BC that destroys a ferilized egg.

 

Another thing I was thinking about, and have a question for the people that say God wants us to have as many children as possible or that BC is a sin no matter what. If families start having a bunch of kids and the parent's work and work and can't provide for them enough food etc., what should happen then? Should churches start providing for all those families? If not then alot of people are going to be on the streets.

 

Excellent question, Rachel!

And I think you're talking about the morning - after pill, and I'm totally against that.

Other birth control pills supress ovulation, which would prevent fertilization. Barrier methods also prevent fertilization.

 

If you'll look back a page you'll see I have a post about new research that shows that the morning after pill does not have its effect by preventing implantation.

The only contraceptive that works primarily by preventing implantation is the IUD.

 

How can the morning after pill not work that way? You've already either ovulated or not. You've already either been impregnanted or not.

If a man and woman engage in a sexual act, and wait 8 to 9 hours following intercourse, the egg either has or has not been fertilized.