It was hailed fifty years ago as liberation for women and promised to be the cure for divorces, unwanted pregnancies and abortions. In May 1960, the Food and Drug Administration gave its approval for the combination of progesterone and estrogen that became commonly known as “the pill.”
Not without controversy, the birth control pill has become part of the fabric of the contraceptive society. However, its many promises heralded by proponents both in and outside the church have never come to life.
The use of the birth control pill is widespread but the divorce rate in the United States continues to hover around 50 percent. Birth control pills are readily available and in some places freely distributed to high school aged children. Yet The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy reports more than 3 million of the 6.4 million pregnancies in the United States annually are unplanned; about 1.2 million of those result in abortions each year. The availability of birth control has not reduced abortions as proved by the nearly 50 million abortions performed since the horrific procedure was legalized in 1973.
The Catholic Church's teaching that artificial birth control is morally wrong was reaffirmed by Pope Paul VI in 1968 in the encyclical "Humane Vitae ("Of Human Life"). His prophetic teaching has been attacked and undermined by many both in and outside the church ever since the saintly pontiff issued his encyclical. Pope Paul correctly predicted that the use of artificial birth control would lead to an increase of marital infidelity, that it would lead to a general lowering of sexual morality, result in a loss of respect for women, and it would become a dangerous weapon used by authorities especially in the developing world.
As the secular world rejoices in the anniversary of the infamous birth control pill and heralds the rise of its use throughout the world, Catholics should mark the anniversary and seize the opportunity to reflect upon the wisdom of Pope Paul VI. We especially call upon Catholic married couples to reexamine their commitment to marital and conjugal love and remember the good pope’s words to them: “The transmission of human life is a most serious role in which married people collaborate freely and responsibly with God the Creator. It has always been a source of great joy to them, even though it sometimes entails many difficulties and hardships.” The fiftieth anniversary of the birth control pill is hardly an occasion to rejoice but rather to somberly reflect upon the wisdom which followed it in 1968, a wisdom known in the Catholic world as Humane Vitae!
