Natural Family Planning and Natural Law

Perhaps the most common mistake made in terms of understanding the Church’s teachings regarding the use of artificial birth control to prevent pregnancy is that it pertains to Church law alone. The teaching against unnatural methods to prevent pregnancy is then understood to be simply “religious” in nature, implying that it is also a capricious and arbitrary teaching which, at best, reflects a curious holdover from a former time which is more or less irrelevant to modern peoples or, at worst, is seen as a repressive practice promoted by an institution to dominate and control. Today the courts and the public square are wrestling with how to properly balance religious rights and personal freedoms. Is it permissible for a Muslim taxi cab driver to refuse services to someone who is carrying alcoholic beverages? Can the owner of a bakery refuse to bake a cake to celebrate an occasion which is opposed to his religious beliefs? These disputes are solved, at least in theory, by a judiciary which seeks to apply the principles of the Constitution. Ideally, both personal religious beliefs and individual rights are to be respected and live in a proper balance.

However, the Church’s teaching against artificial birth control for preventing pregnancy should not be understood as a simply “religious” law, like the obligation to attend Holy Mass every Sunday and Holy Day of Obligation or the practice of abstinence from meat on Fridays during Lent. While some teachings and practices clearly fall under the purview of purely divine law or Church law, others fall under the wider and universal teachings regarding what is objectively good or bad. This law is called natural law. The teachings of the natural law do not apply to some cultures or societies but not others. The natural law binds all people to its precepts. For example, the teaching against murder is a natural law, universally true whether it is accepted by any legislative body or populace or not. The proscription against murder stands as a solid, immovable precept which transcends any particular opinions, trends or practical exigencies. This teaching stands even in the face of legislation or popular majorities. While it is true that the natural law teaching regarding willful murder is reiterated by divine law, the fifth commandment is simply a restatement of what is already and universally true rather than the establishment of a new law.

Which leads to the question of artificial birth control. The vast majority of people – even a great deal of Catholics – believe that the teaching against the employment of artificial means to prevent pregnancy is simply a Church law, and one that is subject to change or that can be more or less ignored. However, a simple application of the principles of natural law will show that the use of artificial birth control to prevent pregnancy clearly violates objective principles that all people are morally obliged to follow.

The basic principle of natural law is that good should be done and evil avoided. This idea is brilliant in its simplicity, but requires a proper understanding of good and evil. St. Thomas Aquinas pointed out and clarified what is obvious to common sense, namely, that we understand as a first and irreducible principle that certain things are good. We recognize, for example, that human life is inherently good. We understand clearly that the existence of human beings is a good thing and that the destruction of the human race – or of any innocent person – is a tragic injustice. For this reason, we can state unequivocally that murder of an innocent person is wrong. If one needs further proof, we can simply imagine the chaos that would ensue if murder were permitted and the absolute breakdown of civil society that would take place. Interestingly, there is a hidden gem of wisdom here: when any person or society violates the principles of natural law, it does damage to itself. More on this in a moment.

If human life is understood as inherently good, then the creation of life is also inherently good. This means that sexuality is good as it is the sole instrument for bringing about the creation of life and the propagation of the species. If, then, one employs direct and intentional means to render the sexual act fruitless, one would be violating the central purpose of the sexual act.

Of course, the sexual act cannot be reduced simply to its procreative dimensions. Sexuality must also be understood within the context of a permanent, loving relationship and the great joy that it brings. The sexual act can in many ways be compared to the act of eating. While eating is necessary for nourishment, we understand eating to be a convivial and unifying activity that is also enjoyable simply in itself. However, if we altered the act of eating in such a way that the convivial or enjoyable aspects were retained while the nourishing dimension removed – such as by chewing up each bite and spitting it into a bucket – one would in fact be violating the principle purpose of eating. A person who continued to “eat” like this would starve. In the same way, to render the sexual act sterile while enjoying the other natural joys associated with the act would be to act in a manner contrary to its purpose. It would be a violation of a natural, transcendent principle pertaining to good and evil.

If it is the case that violating the principles of natural law weakens a society, then it is worth noting in what ways the use of artificial birth control has affected us. There are in fact a number of direct consequences that can be cited. Research has indicated that the widespread use of artificial birth control has led to higher rates of divorce and infidelity.¹ Additionally, the rates of sexual activity among the young and unmarried has skyrocketed and, despite the almost militant promotion of birth control among the young and the availability of free artificial birth control, the transmission rates of sexually transmitted diseases have gone up considerably. Each year one in four teenagers contracts a sexually transmitted disease.² Blessed Paul VI famously and prophetically anticipated what would transpire if artificial birth control became widely utilized. In Humanae Vitae, he predicted a “general lowering of moral standards” and that the use of contraception could “open wide the way for marital infidelity,” making it easier for people to ignore the moral law, “especially the young.” The evidence supports Paul VI’s assertions. There is no question that marital infidelity, despite the availability of divorce, is on the rise. One study shows that between 1991 and 2006 – a fifteen-year period – infidelity among married women under thirty had grown by 20% and for married men under thirty by 45%.⁴ Robert Michael, the same Stanford researcher who noted the connection between contraception and divorce, also noted a connection between contraception and adultery since artificial birth control would facilitate unfaithfulness. It should be no surprise that sexually transmitted diseases are on the rise among the young. Studies indicate that of those Americans who turned 15 between 1954 and 1963, 48% engaged in pre-marital sex by age 20 while of those who turned 15 between 1964 and 1973, 65% engaged in pre-marital sex by age 20. The percentage went up to 76 for those who turned 15 between 1984 and 1993.⁵ Whatever one can say of Paul VI and Humanae Vitae, his estimation of what would transpire should artificial birth control be widely employed was spot on. The disastrous results of the widespread violation of natural law are not only predicted by Catholic thinkers. No less than Mohandas Gandhi pointed out that artificial birth control would be dangerous for society stating that it would ultimately “degrade” women: “Any large use of the methods is likely to result in the dissolution of the marriage bond and free love . . . Birth control to me is a dismal abyss.”⁶

In a world divided by widely divergent views and ideologies it is important to have a foundation of objectivity on which all can agree. As science provides a common language and method for investigating the visible world around us, the natural law provides a commonsense approach to moral questions that all reasonable minds can share. As we can see, a great deal rests on whether or not we conform our lives as individuals and as societies to the natural law. In fact, the future of our civilization depends on it.

¹ Michael, Robert T. “Why did the U.S. Divorce Rate Double Within a Decade?” Research in Population 6 (1988): 361-99. Print.

² Minnesota Department of Health. About STD Awareness Month, STD Awareness Month Facts. MDH. Accessed March 10, 2015.

³ Paul VI. Humanae Vitae: Of Human Life. Boston: St. Paul, 1968. Print.

⁴ Riley, Naomi S. “The Young and the Restless: Why Infidelity is Rising Among 20-Somethings.” Wall Street Journal 28 Nov. 2008, W11. Print

⁵ Finer, Lawrence B. “Trends in Premarital Sex in the United States, 1954-2003.” Public Health Reports 122 (2007): 73-78. Print.

⁶ Gandhi, Mohandas. Young India 2 April 1925: 118. Print.