RW Religious Leaders: Out Of Touch With Their Congregations On Contracepti

[rodeodance]

http://thinkprogress.org/

Right-Wing Religious Leaders: Out Of Touch With Their Congregations On Contraception

The Bush administration has consistently increased funding for abstinence-only groups and public schools across the nation are being forced to push abstinence in sex education classes.

According to Russell Shorto in last week’s New York Times Magazine cover story, Contra-Contraception, these developments are a result of right-wing religious leaders’ growing influence on politics and public policy. He noted that according to these religious leaders, contraception “encourages sexual promiscuity, sexual deviance (like homosexuality) and a preoccupation with sex that is unhealthful even within marriage.”

What Shorto misses is the extent to which Catholics and evangelical Christians themselves use contraception. Here is the latest data:

88 percent of Catholic women currently use birth control, roughly the same rate as other Americans.

70 percent of evangelical women are sexually active and don’t wish to become pregnant. 90 percent of these women use birth control. <2002 National Survey of Family Growth>

[HockeyMom]

1. Infertile Catholics

This is nothing new. I was born in 1948. I am an only child by parents own admitted choice. Growing up and going to Catholic School in the 1950's and 1960's, I did not even know any Catholic family who had more than 3 kids. The majority had only 2 kids, even back then.

I guess God must have cursed a awful lot of Catholics with infertility even back then.

:eyes:

[NMMNG]

2. They just don't get it

All the preaching and legislation in the world is not going to change the fact that humans have sex drives. They always have and always will. Refusing them access to knowledge and safe, affordable contraception, vaccinations, medications and medical procedures will not prevent them from having sex but merely put them at risk. This is evidenced by the growing number of people afflicted with STDs, AIDS, HPV, unwanted pregnancies and myriad other problems associated with sex.