Less than a week after 89 percent of the undergraduate student body passed a referendum calling attention to the way in which the University treats sexual health on campus. discussion about campus health issues. The Pro-Life Club sponsored a lecture to discuss the dangers of contraception. The lecture, "Contraception: Sexual Freedom or Sexual Slavery," comprised the second of nearly two dozen in a lecture circuit sponsored by the anti-abortion organization Generation Life.
According to their mission statement, the organization "is a movement of young people committed to building a culture of life by spreading the messages of life and love to other young people." Christine Friedrich, former president of the Pro-Life Club and BC '08, is currently employed by Generation Life, and was joined by fellow speaker George Smith, a graduate of Rutgers University. In light of the referendum, Abigail Craycraft, A&S '11 and president of the Pro-Life Club, said she felt the timing of the lecture was simply a well-timed coincidence. "I think it's very providential," Craycraft said. "The subject of contraception always shows up in editorials and letters to the editor, and I think this lecture will show how contraception doesn't help and that sexual health and birth control are a problem."
Smith introduced the concept of present day America being a "culture of death," a term first coined by Pope John Paul II in reference to several modern practices, including abortion. "[John Paul II] felt the people had a disrespect of human life and a disrespect of sexuality, the source of human life," Smith said. "If we kill each other as a species [through abortion], why not kill in a gang or a war?"
The lecture began with a history of contraception, beginning with Margaret Sanger's conception of Planned Parenthood in 1921. Sanger's beliefs regarding human life were akin to Hitler's, Smith said, except she felt Hitler took an approach considered "too bombastic." Smith outlined Sanger's controversial work in the field of eugenics and charted the issue of contraception issues up to the legalization of abortion in 1973's Doe v. Bolton.
Friedrich and Smith outlined what they called 10 common myths regarding contraception. The first myth dismissed the idea of contraception as a form of safe sex, which Smith said was disproved by the expansion from two sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) to 35 since the sexual revolution of the '60s. "You'd think with protection we'd decrease the two, not get 33 more; that's where people are wrong," Smith said.
The next two myths dealt with abortion and its misunderstood concepts. Contraception does not reduce the need for abortion, Friedrich said, as the creation of the pill does not 100 percent prevent pregnancy. "The pill created unwanted pregnancy and the need for abortion because people did not expect to get pregnant," Friedrich said. Furthermore, the use of the pill itself causes a minor abortion, Friedrich said, because it deprives the endometrial layer of the cervix of nutrients, starving the egg when it reaches the endometrium during fertility.
The fourth myth introduced Generation Life's choice of birth control, natural family planning. Based on an understanding of women's fertility cycle, natural family planning is based purely on the science of the body and requires no excess hormones. "You can only not have sex five days a month; other than those days, you can do it whenever you want," Smith said. "While the Catholic Church may just consider it another form of birth control, it really isn't. The ends don't justify the means."
Myths five and six took on a personal approach in comparison to the earlier scientific approaches as Smith and Friedrich discussed marriage and women's health. According to a graph showing the relationship between time since the introduction of birth control and divorce rates, a direct correlation exists between the two. "With the introduction of birth control came the beginning of affairs and extramarital relationships," Friedrich said. "Men no longer had to worry about getting their mistresses pregnant. Obviously, marriages in the wake of these affairs ended."
Another graph showed a direct relationship between use of the pill and breast cancer, a possible side effect of the pill among many, including gallbladder disease, dry eyes, and stroke. "Women are pressured by roommates and friends to get on the pill, but they aren't told this by doctors," Friedrich said.
The final two myths discussed contraception in light of society. Contraception is not good for the environment, Smith said, a belief he attributed to the idea that less birth control results in less pollution. "In fact, it's been proven that sex hormones are present in drinking water," Smith said.
The final myth involved the Catholic church's view of contraception use, which Friedrich and Smith said is not in agreement with the values of Pope Paul VI's Humanae Vitae. As the lecture demonstrated, sexual intercourse should be saved for marriage and without the use of contraception, Friedrich said. "When you're using contraception, you're saying 'I love you, but I don't want a child with you,'" Friedrich said. "Why put that barrier between you and the one you love?"
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