The 60-Second Aquinas
Lesson
Contraception as Anti-Life
October 24, 1998
Pope John Paul II calls abortion and contraception "specifically different evils…[that] despite their differences of nature and moral gravity … are often closely connected, as fruits of the same tree" (Evangelium Vitae Ch. 13).
Contraception is primarily a sin against the sanctity of marriage because it devalues the conjugal act of love. However, the act also can be considered a sin against life.
First, the act does not allow one to "love the nature which God has made" (ST II-II, Q.64, Art. 6). Procreation and unity are two parts of conjugal love that are not to be forced apart by a manmade device. In contracepting, a couple attempts to change nature.
Second, contraception does not admit, "God is Lord of death and life" since it attempts to place the creation of life into the hands of man rather than God. The act of procreation has three participants: the husband, the wife, and God. Although men and women can create bodies, God alone can create a soul: "Since the soul is not composed of matter and form, … it cannot be brought into being except by creation. But God alone can create…" (CT Ch. 93).
Contraception thus attempts to eliminate God from this relationship.
Explanation of The 60-Second Aquinas Lesson
