Should Catholic Church change its stand on the use of contraceptives?

It has been stated by many people that the Roman Catholic Church needs to change its policy towards the use of contraceptives. In this regard, these people have given several reasons. However there are others who believe that the Catholic Church should not introduce any changes in its contraception policy. In this regard, they have given the below mentioned reasons.

Points against introducing any changes in the contraception policy by the Roman Catholic Church:-

1. First of all, these people claim that the health science clearly provides that there are very high chances of getting sexually transmitted diseases if a person engages in sexual acts with more than one partner. At the same time, these people claim that doing so is also against the fundamentals of the religion or the Ten Commandments. Therefore, these people claim that sex has been defined only for the purpose of procreation. Therefore, having sex for any other reason is not good. Similarly, a responsibility has been imposed on the woman regarding themselves as well as for their potential child. People can have sex in marriage for the purpose of having children. The persons who are not in favor of any change in the contraception policy of the Catholic Church believe that the church also believes in contraception but only if it is through abstinence. They also believe that it is a very significant issue and therefore, a strong opinion has been held by the church. These people believe that the choice in this regard should be left to the Catholics themselves.

2. The beliefs held by the Catholic Church regarding the issue of the use of contraceptives are related with their beliefs regarding sex. They strongly believe that the purpose of sex should only be to have children and they also believe that sex should have the potential of pregnancy which is a good thing. In this way, this position justifies the stance adopted by the Catholic Church against the use of contraceptives. It also needs to be noted in this regard that there are several contraceptives that kill the embryo and therefore, they can be termed as an early abortion. As the Catholic Church does not approve of abortion, the stance adopted by against contraceptives can also be justified.

3. All the religions dictate their beliefs to the persons who follow these religions. Therefore the policy adopted by the Catholic Church against contraceptives is only applicable to the followers of Catholic religion. This policy does not have any impact on the other people. In such a situation, it is within the right of the Catholic Church to make oral declarations that have to be followed by its believers. On the other hand, if the believers do not follow the tenets of their religion, they cannot be considered as the followers of that religion.

4. Joining the church is the choice of an individual and no one is forced to do so. In the same way, any person who does not agree with the tenants of the church is not under an obligation to be a part of it. However, every religion has its own set of rules and the followers of such a religion have to follow these rules. This is applicable in case of all religions and even in case of social or cultural organizations. These organizations also have their own policies and beliefs. In this way, there is no obligation on any person to become a part of the Roman Catholic Church if such person does not like the tenets of this religion. These persons can join any other religion that has a favorable policy towards the use of contraceptives. But any interference in the religious beliefs of a particular religion cannot be justified on any grounds because these tenets have to be followed by only the people who have decided to follow a particular religion.

5. Even the God has also commanded us to be fruitful and multiply. In this way, the plan that has been envisioned by God for marriage is fulfilled by husband and wife when they give birth to new life. At the same time, it has also been written in the Scriptures that engaging in sex without the chance of procreation is considered as sinful. Therefore the Catholic Church has adopted the policy against the use of contraceptives because by using birth control methods, children are prohibited from being conceived. The Catholic Church believes that sexual act should be treated as a method of expressing love to one’s spouse. It is the duty of husband and wife to raise the children that are being conceived by them. However the conception of children is prohibited by the use of contraceptives. Therefore, adopting the natural methods of family planning are the only natural as well as the safe ways to welcome the children into the lives of a married couple.

Points in favor of a change in the policy of the Catholic Church regarding contraceptives
1. On the other hand, the people who are in favor of a change in the policy of the Catholic Church regarding contraceptives believe that this debate should be seen in modern context. These days, improving the quality of life and saving the lives of the people is considered as the most important. At the same time, such a policy results in negative effects on a part of the population of the worldthat are Roman Catholics and fail to get any protection against the deadly virus of AIDS because they fail to use condoms. Therefore the change in the policy of the Catholic Church regarding the use of contraceptives can help in saving the lives of millions of people as, for example in the Sub Sahara, still the strict obedience to the teachings of the church is present. At the same time, the policy against the use of contraceptives adopted by the Catholic Church has also resulted in a large number of impoverished families with too many people to feed. Therefore in these countries even if there has been growth in the GDP, the GDP per capita is falling because the population of these countries is rising due to which, the parents find it difficult to feed their children and to provide education to them.

2. The Catholic Church is also required to acknowledge that the policy regarding the use of contraceptives is not consistent with their own logic. For example, it set up a Commission in order to decide if the policy needs to be revised during the late 1960s. This commission took advice from the perspective of faith and also regarding the practical implications of introducing a change in the policy regarding contraceptives. The decision of this commission was that such a change should be introduced in the policy however the decision was quickly overruled. But in this regard it needs to be noted that the Papal ruling was not described as the interpretation of Scripture and therefore it does not bound the future Popes. As a result, the Church can overturn this ruling. In the same way, the natural law that has been claimed by the Church in favor of this policy is also contradictory due to the belief in the separate creation of man and animals. The prohibition on the use of condoms due to the reason that they promote immorality becomes very insignificant when considered in comparison with the number of deaths caused by AIDS.

3. There are several parts of the world where the natural methods of contraception that have been advocated by the Catholic Church have not proved to be viable. For example in case of the rhythm method, observations have to be marked on the calendar for a long period of time. At the same time, it is also a question if the ordinary people, the newlyweds will have the willpower to abstain. It has also been seen that in the developed countries like Ireland, less reliable methods like withdrawal become dominant because it is very difficult to keep track of the fertility cycles. In the same way, in the Billing method, very accurate thermometers are required to take cervical temperature to decide fertility. Similarly, it is very important to keep these thermometers sterile so that no infection is caused. Due to such impracticability, the natural methods of birth control have been rejected because apart from being in practical, a high level of education is also required in case of these natural methods.

4. The position adopted by the Catholic Church regarding the use of contraceptives also encourages the involvement of politics, particularly in developing countries where efforts are being made by the governments to promote the use of contraceptives for the purpose of dealing with AIDS. Therefore, such a position has negative consequences for the Church and also for the State. For example, the regional churches in these countries have also been involved in campaigning against the organizations for distributing free contraceptives to the people. In this way, in these countries, as a result of the position adopted by the Catholic Church against the use of contraceptives commits the Catholic Church to undermine the separation of state and church that has been enshrined in the constitution of several developed countries and also to actively undermined the policies adopted by the government that have been designed with a view to protect their people.

5. At the same time, the removal of ban on the use of contraceptives will also result in increasing the membership of the church in the developed countries because a lot of people in these countries feel this stance as impractical. Therefore the change in the policy of the Catholic Church regarding the use of contraceptives will also fill the gap that is present within the church regarding the ways in which the epidemic of these can be effectively dealt with. It cannot be denied that there is a lot of pressure present on the church for introducing changes in a way that is spiritually consistent but at the same time, is also capable of dealing with the worldly matters. There are several other issues on which the Church has undergone a change, for example, it has accepted the issue of abuse present within the clergy or the wrongdoings during the genocides. In this way, it appears that the Roman Catholic Church is the only proponent of the policy against the use of contraceptives. Even the prominent Catholic politicians and bishops have accepted that the use of condoms can help in dealing with the epidemic of AIDS and therefore, particularly in case of a loving marriage, where one partner is suffering from AIDS, the use of contraceptives should be allowed. It is not the case that the Church has not undergone a change regarding an issue. Therefore, for example in the past, the church has changed its views regarding slavery and also the subordination of women when it became clear that the policy adopted by the Church regarding these issues was not relevant anymore. Therefore, there is no reason why the Catholic Church cannot change its stance regarding contraceptives.