In an ironic twist, today—Mother’s Day—is also the 50th anniversary of the advent of “The Pill.” There are numerous articles touting the life-changing and society-changing benefits it has brought. However, if you read closely, you can also learn that “The Pill” was not the magic elixir that all claimed it to be. Here are some things that you should know:
1) The Pill is directly in the lineage of Margaret Sanger’s legacy. Elaine Tyler May writes (approvingly, I should add): “The birth control pioneer Margaret Sanger first envisioned such a "magic pill" in 1912, two years before Congress established a national Mother's Day. She wanted to do more than honor mothers: She wanted to change their lives.” (See http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/07/AR2010050702255.html?hpid=topnews) Margaret Sanger has done more to eliminate a huge portion of the world’s population in the 20th Century than the combined efforts of all that century’s dictators.
2) Because of many “improvements” in the Pill, particularly the reduction of its strength, in many versions the goal of the Pill is no longer to prevent ovulation, but to prevent implantation. This means that many fertilized eggs are effectively being aborted, while the child’s parents are completely unaware.
3) The Pill has promoted “sexual freedom,” encouraging both pre-marital and extra-marital affairs. Deborah Kotz writes, “Of course, the pill is also credited for ushering in the sexual revolution of the 60s. Without fear of pregnancy, women may have been more "in the mood." (See http://health.usnews.com/health-news/womens-health/articles/2010/05/07/birth-control-pill-turns-50-7-ways-it-changed-lives.html?PageNr=2) How many mothers have now included a gift of “the Pill” to their teen-age daughters as part of their “birds and bees” conversation?
4) Finally, the Pill has promoted infertility. Elaine Tyler May writes, “But there is a bitter irony in the fact that the same pill that gave mothers the ability to combine childbearing and a career by controlling fertility has also led many women to delay childbearing so long that they jeopardize that fertility. Contraception makes it possible to postpone motherhood, but it doesn't solve the problem of how to combine caring for children with going to work. As a result, many women wait to have a child until they are financially secure enough to afford child care.”
Divorcing the act of marriage from the fruit of marriage was never God’s intention or design. We are bearing the consequences of the Pill’s legacy even today. May God help us to wake up and begin to change the tide!
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