The Demands of Protestants Holding Their Belief in The Pill Hostage
What would it take for Protestants to take a solid stance on hormonal contraception (HC)?
Resources from Protestants leaders on this issue are few and old. Nevertheless, I have compiled a list of their demands:
Focus on the Family
Focus on the Family published a position statement titled “Birth Control Pills and other Hormonal Contraception” in 2018. They state that the issue is “a complex matter, not only because it involves multiple biological mechanisms, but also because there are many different formulations of hormonal contraceptives.” They also say there is “controversy about changes to the uterus.”1 (Focus on the Family, 2018)
I will be investigating these biological mechanisms including changes to the uterus. I will also show you why different formulations of HC are largely irrelevant. Regardless of the formulation, they all have the same single primary method of action: manipulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis.
Focus on the Family’s Physicians Resource Council (PRC) reviewed the question of possible abortifacient effects of HC “at length in the late 1990s” and “revisited and reviewed this issue” in 2011, adding that “no new research has been carried out in the last decade.” (Focus on the Family, 2018)
Focus on the Family also published an answer to a Q&A in 2011 titled “Contraception and the Culture of Death” where they stated, “…we can’t agree that there is a necessary link between abortion and the appropriate use of birth control.”2 (Focus on the Family, 2011)
In summary, Focus on the Family demands:
- a better understanding of the biological processes involved
- persuasive evidence that HC causes changes to the uterus that might lead to abortion
- a necessary link between abortion and HC
- new studies and research
New studies and research on the effects of HC and its potential abortifacient properties are not going to appear.
But I believe that by reading between the lines of the studies we do have, we can begin to answer these questions.
Christian Medical and Dentists Association
In 2010, the CMDA had a position statement titled “Possible Post-conceptional Effects of Hormonal Birth Control.” This statement is referenced here (p. 100) and here. The CMDA included in the statement that:
“The issue at hand, however, is whether or not hormonal birth control methods have post-conceptional effects (i.e., cause abortion). CMDA has consulted many experts in the field of reproduction who have reviewed the scientific literature. While there are data that cause concern, our current scientific knowledge does not establish a definitive causal link between the routine use of hormonal birth control and abortion. However, neither are there data to deny a post-conceptional effect.”3 (CMDA, 2010)
Unfortunately, the original source is nowhere to be found. The CMDA has a Position and Public Policy Statements page, but I can find no current position on HC. An update, please? But we can see their demands from 2010:
- current scientific knowledge
- a definitive causal link
Guest-writer for Christianity Today Julie Becker in her 2015 article “Are Christians Afraid to Talk About Contraception?” referenced the “theoretical though as yet unproven possibility” of loss of fertilized eggs or that “lower hormone suppression can result in a thinner, less hospitable endometrial lining in the uterus, thereby potentially preventing implantation of the rare conceptus.”4
Demand:
- move from theoretical to proven
- prove that HC causes a less hospitable uterine lining
The Pastor
Finally, one of the more thoughtful pieces I’ve come across is by C. Ryan Fields titled “The Christian and Oral Contraceptives: An Investigation into Moral Permissibility.” His article is relatively recent and he has citations. But I plan to challenge many of his conclusions in future posts. He leaves us with this:
“Thus, while we are in agreement with the Christian Medical and Dental Associations’ statement that ‘current knowledge does not confirm or refute conclusions that routine use of hormonal birth control causes abortion,’ it is reasonable to assure believers that the burden of proof lies with those who claim that oral contraceptives have abortifacient capacity, for at this point it seems to be a safe assumption that they have the onus of proving that a ‘hostile endometrium’ is indeed caused by COCs and remains hostile at the critical moment of implantation.”5 (Fields, 2020)
Challenge accepted. And we’re going to go way beyond “hostile endometrium.”
It’s worth noting that this quote ends with a citation from the CMDA from 1998 (Board of Trustees, “Possible Post-fertilization Effects of Hormonal Birth Control,” Christian Medical and Dental Association, September 1998. It can’t be found.)
The Public
And then there are people I’ve talked to about this matter. Here are their demands:
- need adequate evidence
- need compelling evidence
- the majority feel…
- need future evidence to support
- need sufficient data to quantitate
- need to establish a definitive causal link
- need direct evidence of postfertilization preimplantation and peri-implantationeffects that directly measured the rateof fertilization and the loss of the preembryo in women takingOCs
The biggest challenge is this bunch is the demand for direct evidence. That’s a big ask for reasons already discussed. But I think adequate, compelling, future, and sufficient evidence is possible.
I’m also going to turn the tables and show you how contraceptionists are hinging their faith in the pill on mostly indirect evidence.
And if they’re going to demand direct evidence, I’m demanding it from them as well.
Gauntlet thrown down.
- Focus on the Family. (2018, January 30). Position Statement: Birth Control Pills and Other Hormonal Contraception. focusonthefamily.com. https://media.focusonthefamily.com/topicinfo/position_statement-birth_control_pills_and_other_hormonal_contraception.pdf ↩︎
- Focus on the Family. (2011). Contraception and the “Culture of Death.” focusonthefamily.com. https://www.focusonthefamily.com/family-qa/contraception-and-the-culture-of-death/ ↩︎
- Eternal Perspective Ministries. (2010, March 13). Christian Medical & Dental Association Position Statement: Possible Post-conceptional Effects of Hormonal Birth Control. epm.org. https://www.epm.org/resources/2010/Mar/13/christian-medical-dental-association-position-stat/ ↩︎
- Becker, J. (accessed 2023, December). Are Christians Afraid to Talk About Contraception? Christianity Today. https://www.christianitytoday.com/amyjuliabecker/2015/march/are-christians-afraid-to-talk-about-contraception.html (link now broken) ↩︎
- Fields, C. Ryan. (2020). The Christian and Oral Contraceptives: An Investigation into Moral Permissibility. Dignitas, Vol. 27, No. 1-4 (Spring–Winter 2020). https://www.cbhd.org/dignitas-articles/the-christian-and-oral-contraceptives-an-investigation-into-moral-permissibility ↩︎