Birth control: Difference between revisions

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imported>Nancy Sculerati
(This is lead article that will be the general article)
imported>Chris Day
(not sure if this helps. An attempt to fix Russels comment (see talk page))
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<font size="2" color="660000">''This article is a general discussion of birth control in human society. For an article about the medical means of contraception see [[contraception (medical methods)]], for surgical means of contraception see [[Sterilization (surgical)]] and for abstinence methods see [[Natural Family Planning]] or [[Christian views on contraception]]. For spaying and neutering in animlas see [[Desexing operations]] .''</font>
see also
* [[Control_of_Contraception]]
*[[Contraception (medical methods)]]
 
== Religious Perspectives ==
 
===Christianity===
The [[Roman Catholic Church]] is morally opposed to contraception, believing that all sexual acts must be open to [[procreation]]. The only form of contraception permitted is abstinence. In [[Pope Paul VI]]'s 1968 encyclical ''Humanae Vitae'', he considered only periodic abstinence within marriage acceptable.<ref name="pope1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae_en.html|title=Humanae Vitae: Encyclical of Pope Paul VI on the Regulation of Birth, July 25, 1968|publisher=The Vatican|format=html}}</ref> Even so, Catholics have voiced significant disagreement with the Church's stance on contraception.<ref> A summary and restatement of the debate is available in Roderick Hindery. "The Evolution of Freedom as Catholicity in Catholic Ethics." ''Anxiety, Guilt, and Freedom''. Eds. Benjamin Hubbard and Brad Starr, UPA, 1990.</ref>  The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops issued probably the most heavily dissenting document, the Winnipeg Statement. In it, the bishops argued that many Catholics found it very difficult if not impossible to obey ''Vitae'', and tried to assert the Catholic principle of primacy of conscience in the matter.<ref name="winnipeg">{{Cite web|url=http://www.catholic-legate.com/articles/winnipeg.html|title=Canadian Bishops' Statement on the Encyclical "Humanae Vitae"}}</ref> Catholic theologians such as Charles Curran have criticized ''Vitae's'' stance against specifically ''artificial'' contraception.<ref>{{cite book | author = Charles E. Curran, | title = Loyal Dissent: Memoir of a Catholic Theologian (Moral Traditions) | publisher = Georgetown University Press | location = Washington, D.C | year = | id = ISBN 1-58901-087-6}}</ref>
 
Among [[Protestants]], four categories have been suggested as useful in understanding the group's views. These are the "children in abundance" group, such as Quiverfull adherents who view all contraception as a contravention of divine purpose; the "children in managed abundance" group, which accept only Natural Family Planning; the "children in moderation" group, which accepts a wide range of contraceptive conditioned upon whether the motives of users are considered moral; and, the "no children" ("child-free") group, which sees itself as within their biblical rights to define their lives around non-natal concerns. Conservative Protestants tend to view contraception use outside of marriage as morally wrong, connecting such usage as an encouragement to promiscuity.<ref name="consvprots">{{cite journal | author=Christopher G. Ellison and Patricia Goodson| title=Conservative Protestantism and Attitudes toward Family Planning in a Sample of Seminarians| journal=Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion| year=1997| volume=36| issue=4| page=512-529}}</ref>

Revision as of 01:28, 8 May 2007

This article is a general discussion of birth control in human society. For an article about the medical means of contraception see contraception (medical methods), for surgical means of contraception see Sterilization (surgical) and for abstinence methods see Natural Family Planning or Christian views on contraception. For spaying and neutering in animlas see Desexing operations .

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