Ryan, John

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The Linacre QuarterlyVolume 31 | Number 3 Article 8August 1964The Birth Control Controversy in the UnitedKingdomJohn RyanFollow this and additional works at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/lnqRecommended CitationRyan, John (1964) "The Birth Control Controversy in the United Kingdom," The Linacre Quarterly: Vol. 31 : No. 3 , Article 8.Available at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/lnq/vol31/iss3/8as a life of dedication of a man and a woman to each other; for our fore­fathers marriage meant a solemn vow to love, not a rescindable promise to be in love. How can we reinstill that noble ideal? It will take an enormous effort on every level of society to check that decay and disintegration of fam­ily life which is the greatest threat to the spiritual security of the nation. It is up to the intellectual and spirit­ual leaders of our age of anxiety to study the new crisis that is upon us, up to all to help them to hammer out new laws, and to radiate new ideals. I appeal to all Catholic pare ts to consider this their primary r spon­sibility-forming spiritually stro and emotionally healthy parents c · the next generation. This republic , ill be as fearlessly plundered and lai waste by barbarians in the twentiet: cen­tury as the Roman Empire was n the fifth: with this difference, th t the Huns and Vandals who ravag ::l the Roman Empire came from u ·hout,and that your Huns and Vanda , will have been engendered within yrn r own country and by your own instit tions. Conversation in Silence Eyes are a savory blend of moods and emotions. They show trust ir childhood, inspiration in youth, protection in motherhood, memories in the golden age. In business, they bargain; in anger, they defy. Their Ian guage is love, punctuated by a wink and translated by a smile. In prayer. they silently speak craving for the Almif(hty. In love, they are shininf medallions, deflecting sorrow as they radiate trust. They are detective• by instinc.t, searching the soul and measuring the love. They are sales men, mirroring the mind, selling the intangible. selling themselves. The, are a factory of dreams. Tears are but summer showers with rainbow, the reward for sorrow melted by the warm new sun. They are the stars that guide the destiny of the earth bound; they need no halo for the} always twinkle, never age. J. T. Nix, M.D., Ph.D November issue of THE LINACRE QUARTERLY . .. Chicago Number 122 Major articles supplied by members of the Chicago Catholic Phy­sicians' Guild-Human E�perimentation-Mathematics of Dangerby Vincent Collins, M.D.; Mercy Hospital, Robert L. Schmitz, M.D.; A Program of Sex Education in Public Housing, Marcella Meyer, M.D.; Moral Aspects of Maternal Deprivation, Eugene F. Diamond,M.D.; A TeleviJion Series on Catholic Medical Problems, Harold B.Haley, Jr., M.D., Activities of the Chicago Guild, by Reverend John W. Marren, Moderator, and others. LINACRE QUARTERLY The Birth Control Controversy In The United Kingdom JOHN RYAN, F.R.C.S., F.I.C.S. LONDON, ENGLAND Seldom in the United Kingdom has the Catholic point of view on a med­ico-social problem been given such publicity in the national press as during the last few months. As would be expected, the problem is birth­control, but considering the Catholic population in this country. which is below 5 million, it is of more than usual interest that our point of view should have been given- such promin­ence. The background of the general interest in this subject is the result of the flood of literature on birth con­trol, repeated references on radio and television, and the focusing of public attention on the minority group, i.e., �tholics and their objection to fam­ily planning by the generally recog­nized methods in this country. _Until quite recently the Catholic laity were prepared to accept the ruling of the Church on this question with­out going into the reasons too deeply. They were accepting the ruling as a lllatter of discipline, and some even � a matter of faith. For many years, � fact since 1948, I have suggested In articles and letters to the. Catholic press, the importance of educating the Catholic community not only to know the teaching of the Church on birth control, but also to understand the fCasons for the views we hold. I have 5!tessed that Catholic social organiza­tions and the clergy must inevitably be confronted with the question of Planned parenthood. At that time AucusT, 1964 there was still a strong core of Cath­olic opinion which considered that the sole purpose of marital sex rela­tionship was procreation. Later, in 1951, following Pope Pius XII' Dis­cussions on Moral Problems in Mar­ried Life, planned parenthood, by means morally acceptable to the Church, became more recognized as a benefit to the family and society. There followed many books on the Catholic approach to the function of sex in marriage. In one of these books, Love and Control, by Cardinal L. J. Suenens, the author clearly brings into perspective the meaning of "primary" and "secondary" purposes of marital sex relationship, in the following passage: In speaking of the primary purpose, the Church does not wish to consider the other purposes to be understood as se­condary in the modern sense of the word. For us "secondary" signifies of lesser importance and it is not in that sense that the Church wishes to express herself. It must be that the Church wishes to express herself. It must be understood that in defining procreation and its necessary corollary, education of children, the Church means that such is the more specific end of conjugal life which unites two people of opposite sex. The other ends should respect this objective orien­tation inherent in all sex activity; whence comes their qualification as secondary or subordinate in this particular respect. "Primary end," therefore, signifies the more specific end; but all other specific purposes are united with it to form a whole of which the components are in­terdependent and inseparable. 123 ( The views of the Church on marital sex relationship have to some extent been clarified, yet a recent survey by Professor David Glass concludes that 45% of Catholics in the United King­dom use means of planned parent­hood contrary to the Church's moral teaching. As a gynaecologist frequently confronted with this problem, I would state that this figure is very conserva­tive. How then has this position aris­en? In my opinion two reasons are responsible: ( 1) Some con�ider the moral objections to contraceptives open to question, or if these objections are accepted, they have no confidence in the alternative method-the "safe per­iod." ( 2) Given the moral objections to contraceptives as accepted, they are not considered to be applicable to the "pill." To add to the _confusion of thought, varied opinions have been expressed, from time to time, on the moral issues governing the use of the "pill"-and the condemnation of its use is by no means as clear as was first thought. Any condemnation of a method of planned parenthood on moral grounds depends on whether or not its use violates the Natural Law. Here again a further difficulty arises. What is the Natural Law and how does it apply to .the function of sex? Is it in­flexible? Could it be that God's over­all plan is that in the evolution of time man should understand more fully the purpose and limitations of his creative power and act accordingly? In the last few weeks the spotlight of publicity has been centered on birth control as a result of an interview given by Archbishop Roberts, S. J. to a Catholic periodical. I quote. an extract: If I were not a Catholic, would ac­cept the position taken by the Lambeth Conference, namely that there are cases where conscientious thought by the par­ties concern�d would entitle people to practice contracepti_on. How you can 124 destroy the position by reason alo is not clear to me. He concludes by saying: Those of us who can"t see why or he .v to convict of crime the millions wh see contraception as a right or duty , thin marriage_:_certainly may and must ress for the acceptance by the General C, incil of the challenge to justify by reaso 0•1r own challenge to the world made · the name of reason. Since this interview, Archr ,hop Roberts is reported as having sai, that a statement should be made a the next Vatican Council for the c 1efit of non-Catholics as well as Cat olics because the Church now "chall ged the whole world." The position in the United ring­dam has been further complica1 d by the Archbishop of W estminste - of­ficial statement by which he con emns unequivocally, not only the usual methods of contraception, but a the use of the "pill" as a means ol plan­ned parenthood. It has b�en acknowledged fo some time that the "pill" has great thera­peutic possibilities and modifi .1tions of its contents have overcomt to a large extent the minor distu )ances resulting from its use. There mr: even come a time when the "pill" 1 ,ay no longer postpone ovulation, but ,nerely enable a woman to foretell th exact day of ovulation .. If and wh, n this new development takes place, would the present objections to its ,.1se be valid? As a result of all this dis, ussion, the general trend of Catholic thinking in the United Kingdom may be sum­marized as follows: ( 1) What evidence is there in the Old and New Testa­ments for the Church's teaching against the generally accepted forms of plan· ned parenthood? ( 2) Given our pres­ent interpretation of Natural Law, will there ever be a method of planned parenthood acceptable morally, w_hichis practical? ( 3) If the Church 1s to LlNACRE QUARTERLY continue exerosmg world-wide influ­ence on family life-will this be poss­ible if the present rigid interpretation of the Natural Law is maintained? What is the Catholic doctor's posi­tion in this complex situation? There is no doubt that many consider that the use of the "safe period" from a medical point of view has very de­finite limitations. The position has not been helped by the publication of a number of books which place the onus of interpreting the fertile and infertile phases on the mother. For some this may be possible, but for the majority it is not a practical meth­od of approach. In my opinion, at least 15% of women are quite un­suitable subjects for the use of this method, even under medical direction. Furthermore, there is the very de­batable issue as to whether the Catholic �octor should advise non�Catholic pa­(tents on contraceptive methods. This issue is of great importance in this co untry as more than 90% of parents consider that forms of birth control other than the "safe period" are mar-ally permissible and medically more reliable. Again, as the proportion of mixed marriages is as high as 25%, the doctor may find that he is ad­vising one partner on a method of planned parenthood which is not ac­ceptable to the other. In more general terms, the back­ground of the present controversy in the United Kingdom may be illus­trated by an extract from the editorial of a national newspaper: ... The extraordinary thing about the Archbishop's condemnation of the "pill" is that he needed to say it. . It is rather like making a statement that the Queen is not going to abdicate to­morrow and that the Prime Minister is not flying to the Moon. Yet it was evidently considered vital that Dr. -John Heenan's statement was made without delay. The Catholic hierarchy of England and Wales saw a situation that was getting out of hand. . . . The implications of this editorial are obvious. Indeed, the situation is out of hand and the reason is there for all to see-the apparent ambi­guity of the many statements on the moral aspects of oral contraception. CATHOLIC HOSPITALS AND MEDICAL EDUCATION What are the Catholic hospitals going to do about medical educa­tion? Are they going to sit dormant while those who have built upon a firm foundation supply the b:st medical care? Is your goal the best in medical care? If it is, one would expect your dedication to propel you inevitably to your goal. Surely those who preceded you at the Car­ney Hospital were undaunted under hardships which would make the road to superior medical education look like a stroll through a garden of flowers. Were these women and men so much more dedicated than you? I think not! But you-you must prove they were not. AUGUST, 1964 -Frank M. Woolsey, Jr., M.D., Professor and Chairman, Department of Postgraduate Medi­cine, Albany Medical College. From an ad­dress �iven during the Centennial Observance of Carney Hospital, Boston, and printed in Carney Hospital Journal, 6:12-19 March 1964. . 125 ( 

The Birth Control Controversy in the United Kingdom

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The Birth Control Controversy in the United Kingdom

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