Contraception: no killers but killjoys

Mention the initials RH to a Catholic priest and you are in for a fight. And more fight if you add the words ligation, rhythm, contraceptive pill, condom or withdrawal—all known techniques for contraception.

The Church and its cohorts hate them so much that they tell people to avoid them like a plague. They say that any form of contraception cuts off life about to blossom. It’s murder, they scream.

Cutting off life that does not exist may be an oxymoron, but this is the whole issue, the centerpiece of the debate. The Church et al. don’t seem to realize this.

Why don’t we tease them a bit with a dollop of rhetorical questions and see what happens?

Look, is there life formed if a wife chooses to tamper with her fallopian tube and have it clamped to block the sperm from merging with the ovum (ligation), and preempt the conception of and stop the sixth or the 10th child from coming? Or, is there life formed if a couple marks the date and time for the next mating to fool mother nature (rhythm), and avoid a bull’s eye, or a sure hit? Is there life formed if a wife swallows permitted chemicals or substances that could re-engineer and thwart the natural process of conception and prevent an unwanted pregnancy (pill method)? Can we expect a human life to come about if the husband chooses outside instead of inside (withdrawal method), if only to deter an unwanted birth? How about using the rubber tube (condom)? No gametes fusion likewise is involved.

The opponents of the bill look at these contraceptive measures as tools that destroy human life. They say it’s like throwing a live grenade into someone’s lap. Of course, their argument is lifeless. It defies logic. It’s fallacious, and full of hokum.

We must note that none of the contraception modes mentioned will result in a real genetic combination that will lead to the conception of a nascent human life. A new human life is a heavenly gift, and celebrating it is a joy, but how can one celebrate life that is not even conceived yet in the first place?

Stopping a dictator, jueteng, abortion or other social issues of equal magnitude may fall within the ambit of the Church’s influence, and the Church may come out anytime and break the whole town if necessary to stand for what is right and fight what is evil. But it is too much of an intrusion and invasion for it to interfere with and butt in on issues that are strictly personal and intimate between husband and wife. There are matters that must stay within the confines of the conjugal bedroom, alone.

Honestly, I hate the rubber tube. It’s a killjoy, always and forever.—MANUEL BIASON, [email protected]