Sixty years ago and eleven years
before Humanae Vitae, Time Magazine reported that a (hormonal) contraceptive
pill was right around the corner [i], unwittingly hailing the start of Sexual
Revolution. Our experience of Marriage/ Family/ Sexuality has simply not
been the same.
Dr. John Rock and “the Pill”
When the “Pill” came on the
market, its entrance was trumpeted by a Catholic physician.
Dr. John
Rock “attended Mass daily and kept a crucifix on the wall above his office
desk....Rock was able to conduct the first human trials for the Pill in
Boston…. When the Pill received FDA approval in 1960, Rock's work on behalf of
the Pill came to the forefront. At age 70, Rock launched a one-man campaign to
gain Vatican approval of the Pill. Rock argued that using the Pill was a more precise
way of following the rhythm method. He strongly believed that the church should
consider it a ‘natural,’ and therefore acceptable, form of birth control....As
Rock became a familiar figure in America and abroad, his view quickly took root
among laity of the church as well as among many Catholic religious leaders.”[ii]
When the abortifacient
potential of the Pill later became known, would that have been enough to change
Dr. Rock? According to Planned Parenthood, sterilization and “the Pill”
are now the most widely used "contraceptives." [iii] In a
supposedly environmentally aware age, so many succumb to surgery and ingesting
chemicals (or placing foreign objects on or in their bodies) to
"protect" themselves against their natural fertility.
STDs
There are now 59 times more new
cases of STD infection, than there were overall infections in 1957:
- As per the Centers for Disease Control, 340,687 cases of STDs were reported in 1957. [iv]
- Presently, the “CDC estimates that nearly 20 million new sexually transmitted infections occur every year in this country, half among young people aged 15–24.” [v]
Rape/Sexual Assault
While counting methods have changed,
numbers still suggest an undeniable surge in rapes/sexual assaults:
- In 1960, there were 17,190 "forcible rapes" (9.6 per 100,000 people).[vi]
- There were 431,840 cases of rape/sexual assault in 2015.[vii]
Marriage and Divorce
While Americans have expanded the civil
definition of marriage (and are showing an increasingly favorable toward
polygamy!), fewer are marrying and those who do are more likely to
divorce:
- In 1957, there was a marriage rate of 8.9 per 1000 people and a divorce rate of 2.2 per 1000 people. [viii]
- In 2014, there was a marriage rate of 6.9 per 1000 people and a divorce (and annulment) rate of 3.2 per 1000 people. [ix]
Children of Divorce
"Primal Loss: The Now Adult Children of Divorce Speak....should
be required reading for anyone who thinks that divorce is 'good thing' for
their children—or even for them. Consider the following passage from the
book, in which a woman writes of suffering through her parent’s divorce during
her youth:
My grandparents’ generation had to deal with a lot — war,
undiagnosed PTSD, and alcoholism—but they had a noble idea: That you sacrificed
your own happiness for your children’s well-being. You took on all the
heartache so they didn’t have to. …
My parent’s generation inverted that. They decided it was better a
child should have her world torn apart than that an adult should bear any
suffering. Of course, they didn’t frame it that way. They wanted to believe
that the child would suffer less, because children were just extensions of the
mother, and the mother would theoretically be happier [p. 131]....
"That
a man and a woman should enter a stable, lifelong union makes sense because
that is what is necessary and best for children. Marriage is about children and
has its very structure directed toward what is best for them. Physically,
emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually, a child is best raised by a
father and a mother who are stably present and who manifest the masculine and
feminine genius of being human. To intentionally subject children to anything
less or anything different does them an injustice.” [x]
Anonymous Us
As children conceived through ART (Assisted Reproductive Technology) grow, they are now sharing disturbing stories about their experiences:
“The
Anonymous Us Project is a safety zone for real and honest insights regarding
third party reproduction (sperm and egg donation, and surrogacy). We aim to
share the experiences of voluntary and involuntary participants in these new
reproductive technologies, while preserving the dignity and privacy for
story-tellers and their loved ones. All stories are contributed anonymously
because ‘anonymity in reproduction hides the truth, but anonymity in
story-telling helps reveal the truth.’
“We honor and are forever thankful for the
courageous minds among the donor-conceived who have worked tirelessly before us
for justice and education on the ART (Assisted Reproductive Technology) family
experience. We hold these story-tellers, educators and leaders in high esteem
and are forever grateful for all of the sacrifices they have made to improve
family policy and thus quality of life for all parties. We also acknowledge
that many members of the ART community have serious opinions and experiences
regarding their family structure that they’d like to add to the discussion, but
feel they cannot because of a need for privacy.This project gives them an
opportunity to be heard without having to reveal their identity and potentially
hurt their loved ones. Though anonymity in reproduction hides the truth,
anonymity in story-telling will help reveal it.
“We hope that The Anonymous Us Project will fill
out the conversation on reproductive technologies. We hope it will inspire more
truth and transparency. We hope it will help shape healthier families and
happier people.”
Pornography/Erectile Dysfunction
While there may be a slowly evolving
recognition that "Porn Use [is] Linked
to Erectile Dysfunction,” are related health care expenditures appropriate?.
For example, the "DoD spends $84M a year on Viagra, similar meds"!
Silence
The “Pill”/ Sexual Revolution ushered
in ready availability of contraceptives and abortifacients, as well as
astronomically more STDs and rapes/sexual assaults. To go along with our now “expanded definition”
of secular marriage (and a growing positive attitude about polygamy), fewer are
actually marrying and more are divorcing.
While we are barely grasping the devastating impact divorce has on
children, society is deliberately setting out to separate children from their
biological parents! And no one is
talking about health care costs related to pornography!
Casti Connubii [See also, Why Johnny Can't Understand the Meaning of Marriage: A
Primer on Casti Connubii] provides a warning: “If any confessor
or pastor of souls, which may God forbid, lead the faithful entrusted to him
into these errors or should at least confirm them by approval or by guilty
silence, let him be mindful of the fact that he must render a strict account to
God, the Supreme Judge, for the betrayal of his sacred trust.”[xii]
[i] Medicine: Contraceptive Pill?,
Time Magazine, 5/6/57
[ii] People and Events: Dr. John
Rock (1890-1984), The American Experience
[iii] Facts on Contraceptive Use,
Guttmacher Institute, September 2016 www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_contr_use.html
[iv] Cases of sexually
transmitted diseases reported by state health departments and rates per 100,000
civilian population: United States, 1941-1993, CDC Wonder http://wonder.cdc.gov/wonder/STD/OSTD3202/Table_1.html
[v] Reported STDs in the United
States: 2015 National Data for Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, and Syphilis, CDC,
October 2016 https://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/newsroom/docs/factsheets/std-trends-508.pdf
[vi] United States Crime Rates
1960 - 2006 (Source: FBI, Uniform Crime Reports) www.disastercenter.com/crime/uscrime.htm
[vii] Criminal Victimization,
2015, U.S. Dept of Justice, October 2016 https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/cv15.pdf
[viii] Statistical Abstract of
the United States 2003, U.S. Census Bureau www.census.gov/prod/2004pubs/03statab/vitstat.pdf
[ix] National Marriage and
Divorce Rate Trends, CDC https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/marriage_divorce_tables.htm
[x] The Carnage of Divorce,
Msgr. Charles Pope, 6/28/17 http://blog.adw.org/2017/06/the-repercussions-of-divorce/
[xi] Pope Pius XI, Casti Conubii,
December 31, 1930 www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xi_enc_31121930_casti-connubii_en.html
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