The danger of the "contraceptive culture"
The danger of the "contraceptive culture"
Some people are concerned that "the availability of contraceptives leads to promiscuity which then leads to abortion".
Judie Brown, the founder and president of the American Life League, explains it like this:
"The contraceptive mentality suggests that man and woman have absolute and total control over their reproductive lives. Once you have that mindset and the contraceptives fail, then you can eliminate that problem [the pregnancy] as well."
Washington Monthly 1991
Contraception carries health risks
Contraception may damage the health of the individual using it in two ways; either through side effects of the contraceptive or because using contraception allows people to have more sexual partners and thus increases the possibility of catching a sexually transmitted disease.
Side effects
Some forms of contraception do have side effects that damage health while others have not been shown to have health risks.
Users considering a particular form of birth control should:
- make sure they are aware of its risks
- compare those risks to the risks of other forms of contraception
- compare those risks to the risks that go with having a baby
- take an informed decision based on that information
This is probably not an ethical objection to contraception itself, although it does involve the ethical issue of informed consent to medical treatment.
STDs
The second interpretation of this objection is that contraception increases health risks because it makes it more likely that people will have multiple sexual partners.
This increases the risk of individuals catching sexually transmitted diseases, and increases the opportunities for such diseases to spread in the population.
Contraception makes it easier for people to have sex outside marriage
This is certainly true, since sexual intercourse without contraception carries a significant risk of conceiving a child, which most of those having sex outside marriage would regard as a deterrent.
People think separating sex from marriage is wrong because:
- it makes immoral behaviour less risky
- it undermines public morality by making it more likely that people will have sex outside marriage
- it weakens the family