In Part 2 we sought to answer the question, Does the Bible permit the use of contraception and/or family planning in general?
For this final post my goal is to examine some of the more popular forms of birth control and to come to a conclusion as to whether or not the Bible permits their use.
The key issue here is abortion.
The Bible is very clear that life begins at conception, not birth, and that God is the one doing the work of forming the child inside the womb. (See Exodus 21:22-23; Psalm 139:13-14; Luke 1:41) Therefore all abortions are the murdering of an innocent child and the destruction of the work of God himself.
Producers of birth control methods typically refer to them as "contraceptives," meaning they operate to prevent the conception of a child. While this is accurate for some forms of birth control, it is somewhat misleading for some, and grossly deceptive for others.
The key to deciding which forms of birth control are acceptable is discovering which forms actually work to prevent conception and which forms work to prevent an already conceived life from continuing to fully develop. The former, I believe, is fully acceptable for married couples to use according to the principles of the Bible. The latter are abortive in their function, ending the life of an already conceived child.
To its credit the American Pregnancy Association presents this dilemma on their website here, even though they do not take the Bible into consideration. Their language, however, is extremely vague.
Barrier Methods
Barrier methods fall under the truly "contraceptive" category, and thus are acceptable forms of birth control according to the principles of the Bible. These include condoms, diaphragms, cervical caps, and spermicides.
Other Contraceptives
Other forms of contraception would include NFP or "Natural Family Planning," sometimes also referred to as the "Rhythm Method," in which a woman pays close attention to monthly menstruation periods, body temperature, ovulation periods, etc. Also included here would be withdrawal (or more crassly referred to as the "pull-out method").
The Intrauterine Device (IUD)
There are two types of IUD's - the copper IUD, which is becoming less and less popular, and the hormonal (progesterone) IUD, which most doctors prescribe today. Both types work to prevent pregnancy in two ways.
First they alter the cervical mucus inside a woman's uterus, which decreases the chance a male sperm will reach a female egg. This is purely and accurately contraceptive.
However, IUD's also thin the lining of a woman's uterus, preventing the implantation of an already fertilized egg (which is conception). If we accept that life begins at conception, this is a form of abortion. Because of this, it is my opinion that IUD's are not an acceptable form of birth control because of the chance of unintended and unnoticed abortions occurring within the woman's body.
American Pregnancy Association - Intrauterine Devices
The Birth Control Pill
The birth control pill, unquestionably the most popular form of birth control used by women in the U.S. today, works in three ways.
First, "the pill" works to prevent ovulation, which is a fully contraceptive action. Next it alters the cervical mucus inside a woman's uterus - also a contraceptive action. Finally, the pill works to thin the uterine lining preventing the implantation of a fertilized egg. As we have seen previously with the IUD, this action is abortive because it prevents the further development of an already fertilized egg ending a pregnancy after conception has already occurred.
These three ways work in tandem so if one fails the other two are still working to ensure pregnancy will not occur or develop further. The third mechanism, the only one that is abortive in nature, is actually the last line of defense so to speak. Typically the first two measures will work to ensure prevention of pregnancy. However, a small percentage of the time the third mechanism will be necessary and will prevent the development of the pregnancy by aborting the fertilized egg.
Randy Alcorn writes,
The pill is used by about fourteen million American women each year and sixty million internationally. Thus, even an "infinitesimally low" portion (say one one-hundreth of one percent) of the 780 million pill cycles per year globally could represent tens of thousands of unborn children lost to this form of chemical abortion annually. (taken from The Reproduction Revolution, ed. by John F. Kilner, p. 184)For these reasons I personally cannot recommend the Birth Control Pill as a biblically acceptable form of birth control. My wife and I have made a decision not to use it in our marriage for fear of the possibility (although low) of an abortion occurring. Our reasoning is simple... Even the tiniest percent chance that an abortion could occur is unacceptable to us. We will not even take a chance at killing an innocent human being.
American Pregnancy Association - Birth Control Pills
The Morning After Pill
The Morning After Pill, also known as "Plan B," also known as RU-486, has recently been made available over the counter without restrictions to girls as young as 15 years of age. Parents are not even required to be informed at all. And as we highlighted in Part 1, the minimum age is getting lower and lower.
This pill is much like the Birth control pill in its function - it uses the same three mechanisms. However the dosage of the hormones in the Morning After Pill is much higher than that of typical birth control pills.
Again, because of the possibility of this form causing abortions I cannot recommend it as a biblically acceptable form of birth control. Not to mention the fact that this pill encourages pre-marital sex simply because of its name and purpose.
American Pregnancy Association - Morning After Pill
In Conclusion
I hope these posts have been helpful and educational.
I realize that many reading this may be currently using one of the birth control methods I designated as abortive or at least partially abortive in their function. I would encourage you to pray about this and talk it over with your spouse.
I also realize that there are many times when young women are prescribed the Birth Control Pill by a doctor for reasons other than that they are sexually active. While I see nothing wrong with this biblically it can be very easy for that same young woman, when she becomes married, to simply continue taking The Pill as a method of birth control, and to never question whether or not it may cause abortions. This is something to pray and think through as well.
For a fuller treatment on The Birth Control Pill see Randy Alcorn's Does the Birth Control Pill Cause Abortions, which is only $1.99 in the Kindle edition.
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