Responsible Parenthood
10. "Married love, therefore, requires of husband and wife the full awareness of their obligations in the matter of responsible parenthood, which today, rightly enough, is much insisted upon, but which at the same time should be rightly understood. Thus, we do well to consider responsible parenthood in the light of its varied legitimate and interrelated aspects.
With regard to the biological processes, responsible parenthood means an awareness of, and respect for, their proper functions. In the procreative faculty the human mind discerns biological laws that apply to the human person. (9)
With regard to man's innate drives and emotions, responsible parenthood means that man's reason and will must exert control over them.
With regard to physical, economic, psychological and social conditions, responsible parenthood is exercised by those who prudently and generously decide to have more children, and by those who, for serious reasons and with due respect to moral precepts, decide not to have additional children for either a certain or an indefinite period of time.
Responsible parenthood, as we use the term here, has one further essential aspect of paramount importance. It concerns the objective moral order which was established by God, and of which a right conscience is the true interpreter. In a word, the exercise of responsible parenthood requires that husband and wife, keeping a right order of priorities, recognize their own duties toward God, themselves, their families and human society.
From this it follows that they are not free to act as they choose in the service of transmitting life, as if it were wholly up to them to decide what is the right course to follow. On the contrary, they are bound to ensure that what they do corresponds to the will of God the Creator. The very nature of marriage and its use makes His will clear, while the constant teaching of the Church spells it out. (10)"
Analysis:
This excerpt by the Pope clearly describes the boundaries married people must abide by in order to gain approval by the Church. The Pope claims that married need not use birth control to prevent conception, and instead they can engage in sexual intercourse when the woman's body is naturally infertile such as when she is breast feeding. I agree with the Pope's statement that a part of being a responsible about parent hood is to have control of sexual drives and desires but there is such a things called human flaw. Even if a couple is God fearing, they are not perfect and i do not expect the church to understand flaws nor encourage it, but from a realistic point of view, it is unreasonable for humans to consider a natural act as "forbidden or meant for just the purpose of reproducing. Susan Bordo was able to explain this human flaw with the idea of "docile bodies." Although it has been a while since we have discussed Susan Bordo in class, I believe it is relevant to talking about sexual concepts since most restrictions about sex is aimed at women. the excerpts also contains the quote: "From this it follows that they are not free to act as they choose in the service of transmitting life, as if it were wholly up to them to decide what is the right course to follow." This particular statement contradicts the Pope's expectation of married couple to control their sexual drives while still claiming that they cannot wholly control their actions. The Bible and the Church in my opinion, offer a guidelines for a moral lifestyle but ethics and responsibility must be achieved through experience and it is important for character building to let people make their own decisions.
Unlawful Birth Control Methods
14. "Therefore We base Our words on the first principles of a human and Christian doctrine of marriage when We are obliged once more to declare that the direct interruption of the generative process already begun and, above all, all direct abortion, even for therapeutic reasons, are to be absolutely excluded as lawful means of regulating the number of children. (14) Equally to be condemned, as the magisterium of the Church has affirmed on many occasions, is direct sterilization, whether of the man or of the woman, whether permanent or temporary. (15)
Similarly excluded is any action which either before, at the moment of, or after sexual intercourse, is specifically intended to prevent procreation—whether as an end or as a means. (16)
Neither is it valid to argue, as a justification for sexual intercourse which is deliberately contraceptive, that a lesser evil is to be preferred to a greater one, or that such intercourse would merge with procreative acts of past and future to form a single entity, and so be qualified by exactly the same moral goodness as these. Though it is true that sometimes it is lawful to tolerate a lesser moral evil in order to avoid a greater evil or in order to promote a greater good," it is never lawful, even for the gravest reasons, to do evil that good may come of it (18)—in other words, to intend directly something which of its very nature contradicts the moral order, and which must therefore be judged unworthy of man, even though the intention is to protect or promote the welfare of an individual, of a family or of society in general. Consequently, it is a serious error to think that a whole married life of otherwise normal relations can justify sexual intercourse which is deliberately contraceptive and so intrinsically wrong."
Analysis:
This paragraph, is a clear statement against people who consider using contraceptives to avoid having an abortion in the event the intercourse results in pregnancy. The Pope says that it is not lawful to use one evil, evil being contraceptives, to prevent yourself from engaging in another bigger evil (abortion). I believe that the Church's view of sex as something that should be only engaged in for the purpose of reproduction is becoming outdated due to the invention of birth control and contraceptives which has resulted in many social changes that the Church stands against, but humanity prefers convenience and freedom.Descartes, a philosopher, develops a conception of the mind where the senses and the imagination are also mental faculties. Further, he argues that we are essentially thinking things that can know our minds clearly and distinctly, but must work much harder to come to an understanding of our bodies. This is exactly how why it is harder and harder for people today to abide by the Church's restriction due to the fact that families today have exposure to media full of sex which has an impact on how they view as lawful and unlawful. Descartes also he draws a very sharp distinction between mind and body. He claims that the mind is essentially thinking and body is essentially extended, so the two have nothing at all in common. I do not believe in this claim because the mind does not conceive a thought without requiring an action of some form from the body. Even through abstinence, people may have worship God and prove to him that they have priorities where their faith falls first, but it is impossible to deny your body from something that is natural. . It is natural for humans to acclimate to any change that makes their lives enjoyable and comfortable which does not mean they are intending on committing an evil act, but people today are not ready to risk a child's future to please the Pope's demand for people to leave the possibility of parenthood to fate.
Social Issue: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jq9ExvMjoc
Refusal/Conscience Clause approved by George W bush in his lame duck presidential period allowing health care providers and employees in the health care facilities can refuse to participate in tasks that challenge their religious, moral or political beliefs. This includes pharmacist, who can refuse to give the customers medication if he or she does not approve of it and clinic mangers may choose to deny appointments for abortion, HPV vaccinations, STI exams, sterilization or Birth control prescription if they are against it. The clause is broad enough to cover the entire health care spectrum where even custodial staffs working in a hospital may deny complying with an order and claiming it to be offensive. The major flaw in this clause is that it does not require the people who may refuse to provide service to defer the patient to another employee for the service. Where does that leave a woman in need of HPV vaccination? Her doctor might perform the necessary service but the patient have to have the green light from the front desk and pharmacy staff to obtain the full service for the amount of money she will be paying. This bill exudes the Pope’s belief of natural design. Any action against natural design is condemned unlawful by the church, but what about resuscitation of a man dying of a disease? If God is the master of the world and no one must challenge his decision, then should we stop a heart attack from killing a man? What if that was God’s intentions?
The Church focuses so much attention on the concept of fornication, birth control and the idea of women having control of their marriage and body that they do not realize the areas where their claims do not make sense. The pope himself states that a child is the greatest gift to married couple, but it is only true when the child is conceived in a woman’s womb, but it is abomination to conceive a child through in-vitro. When a loving couple wants to be parents, should they not be provided a chance to give a happy home to a child?
Female healthcare has become too political to be even discuss it as human beings free of party restriction. Why else would President Bush pass such a discriminatory bill during his lame duck year? This bill does not only affect women but also homosexuals, transsexuals, blacks, white, Asian etc. This is a pre-civil rights movement law now recreated to include not just a racist agenda, but also a sexist one. It is now being executed through the health service because let’s face it, everyone needs a doctor at some point. As the pope encourages fear amongst young adults about pregnancy and pre-marital sex, he also claims it a crime to make these fears disappear by making contraceptives available to young people. Responsibility cannot be forced on adults or children. It is a characteristic that has to be honed through mistakes and experience, but the only reason contraceptives are available to young adults is that the society we live in today refuses to sacrifice the life of a child so that its young parents can learn to be responsible. Preventative care is being responsible. People using contraceptives are responsible enough to know when they can provide a home for a child so the child can be treasured as a “gift,” rather than a mistake. Rather than providing rationed amount of care and sustenance for five children, couples have become responsible enough to know that they can give quality care for two or three children. The law and the hospitals must consider the belief of their employees, but those beliefs are only valid as long as they do not cause harm to another human being. If an employee refuses to care of a patient, then they must be required to provide the patient with a referral. Most health care providers have taken the initiative to demand this action from them but it is still shocking to have such a hateful and flawed bill in the United States.
