by Patrick Looby
20 years ago, Professor Janet E. Smith wrote an article entitled “Humanae Vitae: A Prophetic Document?” where she took a close look at Pope Paul VI’s predictions of what would happen in a society that embraced artificial contraception. With all of the new technologies developed since that article was written, and the possibility that Health Care may come under government control, it is time to take another look at those predictions.
There is no doubt that Humanae Vitae is one of the most despised documents ever composed by a Pope. It seems that every time there is positive news about the Catholic Church, the media trips over itself to make a non sequitur mention of the “controversial” and “divisive” document that promotes an unselfish view of human sexuality and marital love, condemns the contraceptive and eugenic movements of modern society, and gives what has proved to be prophetic warnings about where society is headed if it embraces such movements.
The reason for this fixation on a 40 year old document – one that was summarily rejected by society even before it was formally promulgated – is that for over three decades it has been an accurate predictor of the social ills caused by our unwillingness to heed its simple warning – that a contraceptive culture will usher in a culture of death, whereby free people will eventually surrender themselves to tyranny.
We would do well then, to recall those predictions of Humanae Vitae, even though most of them have already taken hold in society. The hope is that we can hold back the inevitable – that perhaps we can begin to reverse the movement toward what will be the end of our American experiment and the beginning of what has been the fate of all the previous civilizations who were foolish enough to think they were ‘too big to fail.’
The First Prediction – “Infidelity and the general lowering of morality”
The public acceptance of artificial contraception would begin to cause the moral decay of society. The Church stated that the bodily pleasures of man are all tied to some higher good. The purpose of the pleasure is to guide human beings to obtain the good. And the seeking out of ways to enjoy the pleasure without the higher good always leads to excessive behavior and an eventual decline of morality.
The physical pleasure of eating, for instance, if separated from the higher purpose of nutrition leads to a society infected with health problems associated with such habits. Human sexuality, which provides even greater physical pleasure and also has the highest good of creation, if separated from its higher purpose would cause even greater problems for society – the first of which was predicted to be an increase in infidelity and promiscuity.
And so it has.
The biggest natural deterrent to infidelity, promiscuity, premarital sex, and the like is that sexual intercourse can create children that are the responsibility of the parents. Contraception gives the false hope (hardly a guarantee) that this need not be a worry, and people feel the freedom to seek out the pleasure for pleasure’s sake wherever and however they can.
Who can deny the fact that since the public acceptance of contraception human relationships have devolved into an embarrassing display of irresponsible animalism – not befitting a species equipped with the power of reason. From the 50% divorce rate, to the increase of promiscuity even among children, to the spreading of countless diseases, contraception has proven to be exactly what it was feared to be – not an answer to social problems, but the genesis of them. In our attempts to solve one problem, we have unleashed a Pandora’s Box of problems onto society – the effects of which plague children and the poor most especially.
And what is the next logical step for a culture that values contraception if that contraception fails to be effective? Since the creation of new life is now separated from the intention of those engaging in sexual intercourse, then whatever life is created is nothing but an unfortunate accident. There cannot be a contraceptive culture without there also being one that embraces abortion as the safety net.
The Second Prediction – Loss of Respect for Women
People are always amazed to learn that all of the early feminists who are now revered as revolutionaries were vehemently opposed to contraception and abortion. It was the eugenicists – and not the feminists - who were pushing for acceptance of contraception and abortion because eugenicists saw both as a means by which the undesirables of society could be controlled or even eliminated. In addition, the eugenicists in the late 19th and early 20th centuries were largely socialists who desired a class of workers who were ‘freed’ from domestic affairs.
Early feminists denounced such movements as just another attack on women. In fact, they feared that if abortion and contraception were accepted by society that women would become sexually enslaved to men, since there would be no way for wives to reasonably refuse the sexual advances of their husbands, and eventually men could look elsewhere to satisfy their sexual desires without fear of consequences if their wives did not submit.
And what reason could unmarried women give to reject the sexual advances of men if contraception and abortion were normalized? They feared that women would eventually be reduced to using their sexuality to get ahead in society since contraception would give men the ability to seek out sex without consequences.
The only reason abortion and contraception are now key elements of modern feminism is because socialist and population control advocate Lawrence Lader, who was struggling to help his eugenics movement find a voice, convinced a hesitant Betty Friedan – founder of the National Organization of Women (NOW) – to adopt abortion and contraception as a central tenet of neo-feminism in the late 1960’s.
This caused a rift in Friedan’s organization and only the women that sympathized with the socialist or eugenic agenda remained. The others quit and formed Feminists for Life of America in 1972. Unfortunately, FFLA could not compete with NOW’s propaganda machine which got a boost from its convenient partnership with the abortion industry. It is important to note that this unlikely partnership was yet another example of men exploiting the success of women. Lader and his eugenic ideas would have gotten nowhere in society if he had not convinced Friedan to go along.
The Final Prediction – Tyranny Through Population Control
At the time, critics of Humanae Vitae thought the claim that contraception could usher in an age of tyranny was about as far-fetched as one could get. How could something so personal and so seemingly reasonable wreak so much much havoc on society?
The greatest power given to humanity is the ability to create new life in an act of love, and then to raise that new life, passing on ones values, faith, and philosophy of life. This power is what builds up society to truly reflect the values of the people. It is this power of procreation that is the final check and balance on a democratic government, for it is the people who literally create, raise and educate the very leaders they will freely elect to govern over society.
It is no wonder, then, that in every age we have seen governments that have sought to steal this procreative power away from the masses and wield it themselves – especially when that government does not share the values of the citizens it wants to control.
With technological advances in abortion, sterilization, cloning, mass vaccinations, and as of last week even the ability to create human sperm and eggs in the lab – eliminating even the need for human sexual reproduction – and with a population that has forgotten the goal of sexuality, the stage is set for any government with the right amount of power to completely subdue its citizens – and to do so without the bloody public spectacle that made previous attempts fail.
In fact, the only thing preventing our American government from being able to accomplish such a eugenic program is that our health care system is private. Even though it is regulated and in need of improvement, it remains an endeavor of the people, and these technologies are not under the control of those in power. And it should stay that way in order to prevent the possibility of this last prediction of Humanae Vitae from becoming a reality.
The principle of subsidiarity, which has long been a tenet of Catholic social teaching, insists that “health care” is too broad of a power to be handed over to a federal government like ours. Any technology, no matter how deadly or diabolical, can be brought under the umbrella of ‘health care’ and imposed on the public if it be the will of those in power.
It does not matter which side of the political spectrum you support. You may even be an ardent supporter of this current administration and trust in their intentions to bring health care under governmental control to accomplish good. But this is shortsighted. This would be a bell that cannot be unrung. Imagine the next administration, or perhaps one decades from now when our children or grandchildren are grown, that is not so trustworthy, and is tempted to bite the apple of ultimate control with so many technologies at their fingertips and the power to wield them to ensure their continuation of power.
People of every political and religious persuasion should resist the current movement toward a government controlled health care system. What good is a democracy that continually votes itself out of power?
- Mr. Looby is a graduate of Wadhams Hall Seminary and has been teaching Theology and Philosophy for 13 years. In addition, he is a freelance writer and speaker on issues pertaining to the Catholic faith.
In an insightful new commentary on the rise of “childlessness” in America, a Catholic woman who has experienced the joys of life as a mother of nine children and nurse addresses the pain experienced by women who “bought into the myth that contraception and abortion would liberate them for an awesome career in a ‘man’s world.”
Pope Benedict XVI makes a loving and strong case today for allowing the terminally ill to live their suffering with dignity. The Pope also demonstrates the need to care for and support the terminally ill, reminding us that suffering is a part of earthly life that leads to everlasting life. 
