fbpx

The Deception of Contraception

Pandora (Detail)

Contraception has unleashed a Panroda’s Box of ills upon society [Study for Pandora, by Dante Gabriel Rosetti (detail)]

The Pro-Life Action League will hold the first-of-its-kind conference on the link between contraception and abortion on September 22 and 23, 2006 entitled, “Contraception Is Not the Answer.” League director Joe Scheidler has long believed that we will not win the abortion battle until we acknowledge the roots of abortion in the contraceptive culture and summon the courage to confront society with the truth that contraception leads inevitably to the acceptance of abortion.

The idea for the September conference began to take shape during a lively discussion of the issue of contraception with Dr. Anthony Levatino, a former abortion provider who is now staunchly pro-life. Joe and Ann Scheidler visited Tony and his wife Ceil in Las Cruces, NM in March 2004. Joe spoke at the annual banquet of the Dona Ana County chapter of New Mexico Right to Life. Tony was speaking at a fundraising banquet for the Albuquerque CareNet centers.

National Pro-Life Leaders Consulted

On the drive from Albuquerque to Las Cruces—about two hundred miles—Joe told Tony he believed it was time for the pro-life movement to squarely confront the issue of contraception. Tony did not agree that there was necessarily a link between birth control and abortion, but he did agree that the issue should be fully discussed.

After talking the idea over with a few other pro-life leaders, Joe decided to take the bull by the horns. He invited a group of pro-life leaders whose insight he valued, including Dr. Levatino, to come to Chicago for a closed-door discussion of how the pro-life movement could best address the topic of contraception.

The Chicago Forum Think Tank

That meeting in May 2005, dubbed the Chicago Forum, was extremely productive and led to a second planning session in March 2006. Participants in the discussion held a wide range of views on the role of contraception in the anti-child mentality, the morality of birth control itself and the ability of the pro-life movement to effectively communicate our concerns about the impact of birth control on the culture.

After evaluating the recommendations from the Chicago Forum participants, we selected the topics we thought should be covered in the September conference—historic and religious attitudes toward contraception, the impact of contraception on women, marriage and society, the consequences of altering natural hormones in chemical forms of birth control, the challenge of promoting abstinence in today’s sex-saturated society, and the demographic consequences of contraception, particularly in the United States.

Contraception Is Not the Answer

“Contraception Is Not the Answer” will bring together an impressive roster of nationally and internationally acclaimed speakers on these various important topics, including Sacred Heart Seminary Professor of Moral Theology Janet Smith, Acton Institute researcher and National Catholic Register columnist Jennifer Roback-Morse and demographer Andrew Pollard of EMP Intelligence Service in England.

“Contraception Is Not the Answer” will be a ground-breaking conference. It will arm the pro-life movement with the tools it needs to intelligently combat the abortion advocates’ contention that birth control is the answer to reducing the number of abortions. It is vital that the pro-life movement take the high ground in this argument and be well versed in every aspect of the debate. “Contraception Is Not the Answer” will take us to a new level in the struggle to build a culture of life. It will help us to proclaim to the world the dignity of the human person and the awesome gift of fertility.

Watch your mail this summer for more information on “Contraception Is Not the Answer,” including the complete conference schedule and registration form. Online credit card registration will also be available at the Pro-Life Action League website. This is truly a history-making event. Don’t miss it!

[Back to Top]

Links and Related Pages

Share Tweet Email