Dougherty and Gobry: The Church Is Right on Birth Control

“ . . . the Catholic Church is the world’s biggest and oldest organization. It has buried all of the greatest empires known to man, from the Romans to the Soviets. It has establishments literally all over the world, touching every area of human endeavor. It’s given us some of the world’s greatest thinkers, from Saint Augustine on down to René Girard. When it does things, it usually has a good reason. Everyone has a right to disagree, but it’s not that they're a bunch of crazy old white dudes who are stuck in the Middle Ages.”

In a recent commentary related to the current controversy regarding the HHS contraception mandate, Michael Brendan Dougherty and Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry, of Business Insider, reflect on concerns raised by Pope Paul VI in his 1968 encyclical, Humanae Vitae.  They remind us that Pope Paul warned of four consequences if the widespread use of contraceptives was accepted:

• a general lowering of moral standards,
• a rise in infidelity and illegitimacy,
• the reduction of women to objects used to satisfy men, and
• government coercion in reproductive matters.

To access this commentary, please visit:

Business Insider: Time To Admit It: The Church Has Always Been Right On Birth Control (8 FEB 12)

Background information:

Humanae Vitae - Encyclical Letter of His Holiness Paul VI on the regulation of birth (25 July 1968)