Contraception: Why Not? (part 4)

This post is part of a series by Professor Janet E. Smith.

Slide: Casual, Recreational Sex

We now live in a world in which we talk about casual, recreational sex.  A young man meets a young woman and says, “Nice to meet you, would you like to have dinner, go to a movie, and then have sex?”  She says, “Sure, why not?” The only thing that is strange is the element of formality in such an encounter.

Casual sex is very common in our culture.  At one time people thought that you shouldn’t have sex unless you were in love.  You shouldn’t have sex until you were prepared for babies.  And you’re not prepared for babies until you’re married.  It’s a very clear equation.  People thought these elements made up a package deal.  And it’s not hard to figure out the justification for those premises.

In our culture we think that having babies and having sex are two entirely different activities.  You certainly don’t need to be prepared for babies when you have sex.  You certainly don’t need to be in love when you have sex.  You don’t need to be married to have babies.  In fact, you don’t have to have sex to have babies!  It’s a very curious world.  In fact, apparently people get married and don’t have sex.  We now have what are called “sexless marriages.”  You can read about them on Dr. Phil’s website.

What was once a natural package, we have completely torn asunder.  It is my contention that contraception has been one of the elements that has torn apart the natural connection between love, sex, marriage, and babies.

Slide: Accidental Pregnancy

We have come to the point where we talk about an accidental pregnancy.  It’s always been a phrase that has mystified me.  You can fall on a banana by accident; you can fall off a cliff by accident; but you can’t get pregnant by accident.

I used to work in a pregnancy help center.  Young women would come in and would tell me that they got pregnant “by accident”.  I’m this left brained philosopher and thus very logical.  It would make my brain start to cramp up when I would hear a woman say she got pregnant by accident.  I would look at these young women in a mystified way and say, “Well, you were having sex, weren’t you?”  Then, of course, their brains would start to cramp and they would look at me like I was some sort of freak and they’d say “Of course I was having sex.”  And I’d say, “Well you know if you get pregnant through an act of sexual intercourse that actually means that something has gone right, not that something has gone wrong.”

When you hit the gas pedal and the car goes forward you don’t say, “Huh, how did that happen?” We know the cause and we know the effect.   It is simply a fact that when an act of sexual intercourse leads to a pregnancy, it means that something has gone right, not that something has gone wrong.

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