Window or Mirror?

As I prepare to travel to Louisville for the annual CareNet conference, I reflect on some thoughts on abortion and birth control I’ve had this year. It is abundantly clear - to me – that the moment from which we should not interfere with a pregnancy is conception (God’s perfect knowledge of the future combined with verses like Job 10:11 and Psalms 139:13), but my views on what stance should we take on birth control have become more specific.

There are many positions held – by Christians – on birth control. Some take a “natural family planning” approach, some a “barrier method only” approach, yet more take a surgical approach, others take the Pill, and so on. Which of these is compatible with my personal belief at the beginning of this post?

Certainly natural family planning is compatible, since we are using only timing and conditions to decide whether or not to engage in sexual activity. Withdrawing is also compatible with this view (regardless the argument that Onan’s sin was withdrawing, his sin was rather a decision not to take on the responsibility for his brother’s wife Genesis 38:8-10). Both of these methods – when practiced with frequency – result in rather large families.

Surgical and barrier methods (condoms) also seem compatible with the premise that life begins at conception. These methods prevent a sperm and an egg from joining together in the first place, thus there is no conception to protect as a life.

Let me pause for a moment and discuss why I believe in birth control at all. There are many Christians of strong conviction that state that any form of birth control is wrong. “God should decide if and when we become pregnant”, is the general statement. Let me explain why this view is not one I personally hold. First, it is biblically unnecessary for me to hold this view. That is, the Bible does not authoritatively state that this is the case. Second, God has given me wisdom to use, to discern, and to think. It is the height of ignorance for me to throw a ball in the air and subsequently state, “If it is God’s will the ball fall back down, it will fall”. God has already put a physical construct in place that will result in that ball returning to earth in a consistent manner. Likewise, if a man and woman that are of age engage in sexual intercourse, there is – with incredible consistency – a child conceived. This is not magical, it is a result of the system that God has created. Third, reason dictates that if this were to be a “God’s specific will moment”, that there would be some rough equity in sperm and egg count. It is clear that one egg, held in a fairly confined area, flooded with hundreds of millions of sperm, is designed to result in pregnancy and not specifically designed only or necessarily* to result in a specific sperm fertilizing an egg. This tells me that God’s plan for impregnation was created to be foolproof rather than an intricate joining of two very specific things (like marriage), which is a good thing since we are fools!

Lastly, before continuing with birth control, let me discuss why I disbelieve in the concept of “sex only for the purpose of procreation”. I disbelieve this for the same reason that I think we should either tell our children to marry later in life or to save themselves until marriage; it flies in the face of reason to do it otherwise. It is abundantly clear to me in the Scriptures that God created us to be sexual beings and that this sexual union finds its fulfillment between a married man and woman as an expression of love. While sex often results in pregnancy, Paul calls out the idea that if we abstain (another form of birth control) in marriage that we should do it only for a short time and then only for the purpose of dedicated prayer (1 Cor 7:5). It is clear that Paul is saying that temptation can take hold if we abstain from proper and regular sexual activity in marriage. Also, the Bible makes it clear in Genesis 2 that woman was created to fill a relationship void in man, not just to bear children. This love and closeness bears witness to the idea that a sexual union is a relationship-builder, and not just a baby-maker.

Back to birth control and we’ve one big one left to discuss, and that’s “the Pill”. While I won’t go into all of the versions of the Pill and the specific actions of each, suffice it to say that I always viewed the Pill to be a “chemical barrier method”, and as such, thought it was perfectly fine to use. Since a barrier method fits with my first premise, my wife and I thought nothing of using this method early in our marriage to prevent pregnancy. Since then, I have changed my mind; let me explain why. Simply, the makers of the Pill are disingenuous (at a minimum) about the action of the Pill, and at the most are purposefully dishonest about its action. The Pill not only attempts to prevent the sperm coming in contact with the egg, but as a backup measure also creates an inhospitable environment for a fertilized egg in the womb. This means that when conception does occur, that the Pill creates an environment where a successfully fertilized egg is flushed from the body. Many people I’ve explained this to ask, “Come on! How often does that really happen”? Does it matter? If I take a pistol, hand it to you, and ask you to blindly fire it into a space where a hundred people could fit, would you do it? Would you do it even though it is “incredibly unlikely” that you would shoot and kill the seven people scattered in that space? The bare facts are that the Pill is designed with this “backup method” in mind and that 7% of the time it is this backup method**that protects the mother from pregnancy by flushing a fertilized egg out of the womb. This action is wholly incompatible with my first premise which is that life begins at conception. For this reason, I would now encourage my wife and daughters not to use the Pill as a method of birth control and have changed my own position on the subject.

Before I end up with a rush of email stating that my assertions about the Pill are incorrect, please just email me and I will send you my references so that you can study them for yourself.

http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=4a4dabc3bdccdb3c60bd 

*this is not to say that God does not control which of the hundreds of million sperm penetrates and fertilizes the egg, just that the design does not promote the idea

** My 7% figure is taken from a drug company’s internal literature .