Do you think that If religions like Catholicism allowed birth control it would decrese the abortion rate?

Question

I know not all woman are catholics that have abortions but i really think if religion helped prevent pregnancy then it would help decrease abortions..I'm just using catholicism as a example....I am prochoice...

As far as teaching abstinance it really is't likely to help...especially these day when girls are matureing younger and younger

Answer 1

Pre-marital sex is forbidden in Catholicism too, so why would a Catholic be so concerned with avoiding condoms? Only the non religious Catholics would have sex before marriage so they would use a condom.

Answer 2

No, it would not decrease the abortion rate.

All Christian communities - not just the Catholic Church - were opposed to contraceptives before 1931. Since that time, and especially since the 1960's, there has been a tremendous increase in the use of contraceptives. You tell me whether or not there have been fewer abortions since then.

Some of you are taking issue with the teaching of abstinence. There's nothing wrong with the teaching, but the students have to put it into practice. Those who practice abstinence simply will not get pregnant.

Gldjns, Natural Family Planning has come a long way since the days of the rhythm method. Look around on the website of "One More Soul" (link below) and see for yourself.

Answer 3

Young girls are not maturing younger and younger....they are being pressured into making more and more decisions that their parents didn't have to make until they were considerably older.

Less abortion with birth control? HA....birth control cheapens the dignity of BOTH male and female partners. Its practically a license to have sex more often -- even if only abstinance is the only 100% fail-safe way of not getting pregnant. Self-control is the only true birth control.

If a man knows that a woman is on birth control, it is practically a green light to commit rape....knowing that she is "protected" and that it will not result in an unwanted pregnancy. That's why there was such outrage several years ago when a form of birth control was invented that resembled the size of matchsticks and were inplanted in a woman's upper arm. If a man could feel them through the skin, he'd know that she was on bc's and could therefore commit rape. That form of birth control did not last long. It was an outrage against women....kind of a neon sign stating that you were on bc's.

By the way, there is no such thing as "choice". A woman's right to choose is NOT an END in itself. Choose what? There are only two options -- ever....Good or Evil. Our forefathers fought and died for the right to choose Good OVER Evil. Killing an unborn person is NEVER a greater good...or even a good at all.

Answer 4

I do not favor abortion. I am nevertheless pro-choice. And I feel that the only way to reduce the number of abortions performed is to reduce the number of unplanned pregnancies. This has little to do with the so-called evils of the flesh, and everything to do with the fact that EVERY child born, should be wanted and loved. Every birth should be a welcomed one. And the only way to ensure that, is to give people--married, single, committed or otherwise--the option of controlling their reproduction.

We need to educate not only our daughters but our sons about what is responsible ethical behavior, what its rewards are, and the consequences of irresponsible behavior.

We need to give them facts, not scare tactics--kids of all ages see right through those, if they don't try and PROVE that they're the exceptions.

Ethical behavior involves not only abstinence (which is still the only 100% effective method of birth control) but also responsible sexual behavior, how to protect yourself AND your partner.

I cannot emphasize enough that BOTH partners are responsible for what happens during sex, unless rape or coercion is involved. And when those factors come into play, choices become even more important, for someone who may be dealing with long-term (pregnancy, disease, mental trauma, etc.,) consequences of something that WASN'T a choice.

Answer 5

Conventional wisdom regarding abortion is all wrong. Most abortions are choices of married women trying to limit the size of their families. The Catholic Church sees that as direct competition; they get their main customer base from Catholic parents so they are always in favor of more children.

Birth control also is the primary choice of married or long stable women. Again, use of birth control decreases the number of little kids a woman will have. My mom, a good Catholic wife, had 7 kids. None of her children has had as many, and all of her children have used birth control. This means fewer Catholics. The Church is in complete opposition to birth control AND abortion, for self-preservation reasons.

Answer 6

Not necessarily -- at least not to the point where it would make much difference, because human nature being what it is, people don't necessarily follow the dictates of their religion. God gave us freedom of choice, and unfortunately many people make the wrong ones. Incidentally, I'm not sure that Catholics are allowed to use birth control devices, such as condoms or IUD's, or diaphragms. I'm not even sure about the pill. Unless the doctrine has changed considerably, the only method of birth control allowed is the so-called rhythm method, which at best is not very accurate. But I may be wrong. If so, I stand corrected.

Answer 7

I think we have to go back to basics and let the young women know that promiscuity leads to many hard consequences. We need better role models, better examples from parents who are also fornicating and committing adultery, we need to stop making fun of abstinence and religion. When girls are Catholic and have sex, they are in rebellion to what God says, so they aren't being taught the scriptures or given support by having friends who are encouraging them not to have sex. What they have is non-believing friends, they listen to secular music talking about sex, watching MTV which has lots of sexual content and all this adds up to is lots of temptation that they arent able to handle. In the abortion clinics they dont tell you that you are getting rid of a baby but that it is only tissue but when they see through ultrasound that it is a baby through other Christian based organizations (not-planned parenthood) they mostly chose to have the baby and not the abortion. So there are no "informed" choices yet. I used to be pro-choice until the baby in me started to kick early in my womb before I almost aborted him... it was a baby, not tissue.. (My son is beautiful and 6 yrs old now).... I hope that people get more informed and that girls will find it cool to be modest and wait.

Answer 8

I agree with Mothermayl, and I'll go one step further...
If today's parents were more involved in a parental way~and stop trying to be their child's best bud, have morals of their own to pass on to their children, and stop playing the blame game when their families fall apart ( ignoring their own hand in it all together) then maybe the abortion rates would go down. The Catholic Church teaching abstinence does not in anyway cause abortion rates to go up, and trying to blame a church for societies failings is another way to play the wonderful game called, "the blame game". It has to stop, I'm sick and tired of parents not wanting to be held accountable, saying bull crap things like,"Kids will be kids..." , "You know their going to do it, so you might as well let them.", etc. these excuses for bad behavior are sickening, and personally I'm sick and tired of it.

Answer 9

Not really,

People who refuse to use birth control and then get an abortion because it is "against their religion" are being very illogical and inconsistent.

Pre-marital sex and abortion are also "against their religion", so if they are having pre-marital sex, and then having an abortion they are already going against two rules of their religion.

They should either abstain until marriage OR

Practice birth control if they are going to break the rule about pre-marital sex.

OR, do what I did, I was raised Catholic, and eventually I decided the whole thing was a sham. I am no longer bound by the dictates of a man at the Vatican.

Answer 10

No the abortion rate has gone up since the pill came on the market. Since then, life has become less and less valued. People have become more self centred as individuals think they can control their environment.

We care less about others because we think we can do it on our own, just do what I want to do and others should take care of themselves. Look what we do to old people, they're such a drag on the economy, I certainly can't stay home from work to take care of them. And Children, you have to care for them 24/7 and then if they get sick, you have to take time off work.

Who do you think will care for your in you 80's and 90's. What will be your choice then? Prevent pregnancy, prevent life.

Answer 11

A little bit, but someone who's against contraception will probably also be against abortion.

It would definitely help population control in countries that are unable to support their population, however, and if the method used was a condom it would also help towards controlling the spread of AIDS.

People who claim condoms don't work are repeating the claims of abstinence ed people with no evidence.