Contraception Debate
Just when you thought nobody would ever debated contraception again it comes back. Planned Parenthood is very worried about a proposal to change the definition of abortion to include every pregnancy terminated after conception rather than the current definition of after implantation. What stikes me the most is how the whole question is framed around the consequences of this change. That it will result in some common birth control methods being labeled as abortificants. The question that is never really addressed is what the truth is. Should a pregnancy terminated after conception and before implantation be called an abortion? What would be the logical basis for not calling it that? Those questions don’t even get addressed. It is all about how this effects women.
This is a heresy called consequentialism. That is the idea that something is immoral if you can foresee bad consequences and is moral if you can foresee good consequences. The nature of the act itself need not be considered. As you probably guess from the word “heresy” the Catholic church has pretty much condemned consequentialism. Consequences, especially spiritual consequences, are hard to foresee. It tends to make every moral choice subjective. If I see a bad consequence to an abortion but you don’t see one then it is wrong for me and OK for you. But that subjective analysis can be biased by our own desires, prejudices, and opinions. So you can get a lot of wrong answers.
This story shows clearly how closely tied abortion and contraception are. In the minds of many the morality of contraception is settled but it won’t stay settled. It is too interconnected with issues of chastity and life. You can’t come up with a consistent ethic when you get that answer wrong. Now Planned Parenthood is mobilized and fighting this change hard. Are the social conservatives doing the same? They are pretty quiet. Sure they believe that life begins at conception. But many of their supporters are also users of birth control pills. So you can understand why they are treading lightly and hope nobody notices the inconsistency.
