To follow up from my last post, Pope John Paul II at the CSW, why did the Pope see a problem with equating the feminine movement with abortion and reproductive rights? To explain this perspective, I’ll unpack these arguments with two key concepts. First of all, why do we want to use birth control in the first place? Because we want to have sex. Why do we want to have sex? Because it feels good, or rather, it brings us to a feeling of union and intimacy that we were, ultimately, created for.
I am a firm believer that birth control is not liberating for women. In fact, I find it has the opposite effect. Love and sex is meant for more than just a feel-good experience, as discussed in Theology of the Body. Psychologically and biologically, it is proven that sex releases hormones connecting the two partners with oxytocin, a chemical released in the body that acts both as a hormone and a neurotransmitter, ultimately connecting you to your partner at an intense level. This chemical is released during sex, cuddling and when the mother gives birth creating an intensely intimate bond between mother and child. This connection is meant to keep couples and families together in times of pain and is found to be much stronger in the female body. It has been hypothesized that this connection could explain the phenomenon of women’s tendency to stay with abusive partners because of the intensity of the connection that has been created.
But what happens when this connection gets broken down? When we have multiple sexual partners? Regardless of your religious beliefs, a break down of chemicals in your brain occurs and you may have less and less of an ability to attach and emotionally connect with your partner. These connections that we may be losing are vital to keep couples together through arguments and times of stress.
So what if this happens? Why is this the end of the world? Why would it be a human rights issue? Why would the Pope care so much about this? Well, regardless of faith, regardless of political affiliation or ones beliefs on abortion, this should be deeply concerning for our society. Why?
Birth control facilitates casual sex. Which is scientifically proven to break down our connections, which could be correlated with the break down of marriages and the family. And ultimately, family is the cornerstone of our society both socially and economically.
So, we’ve established that scientifically, casual sex, fasciliated by birth control, is harmful to us as individuals, to families and to society as a whole. In my next post, I will go into more detail on the Church’s thoughts on contraceptives within marraige.
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