(LifeSiteNews) — We live in a world so out of touch with the desire to create and nurture families that I wasn’t even surprised to see a headline that read “99% Effective: First Hormone-Free Male Birth Control Pill Enters Human Trials.”
The article explains that “YCT-529, a hormone-free male birth control pill, has shown high effectiveness in animals and is now in human trials, marking a breakthrough in male contraception.”
The company that makes this pill says on its site that “preventing pregnancy is a lifetime’s work for men, too.” As Judie Brown, president of American Life League, recently wrote, “‘Preventing pregnancy’ does not equate with chastity before marriage and fidelity within marriage. No, it represents the idea that sex is and should be available to anyone at any time without ever having to think about the fact that children are the natural results.”
One look around the company’s website should make any visitor – man or woman – scratch their head, as there is not much to it. The site consists of just a few pages, with nothing about what’s in the drug, only that it “blocks cell division and blocks sperm release.”
Aside from the inherent dangers of putting a contraceptive drug in your body to stop it from doing something natural, this is just one more way that human beings have found to use each other for pleasure. This is the complete opposite of authentic love.
In his Theology of the Body, St. John Paul II states: “The human body, with its sex, and its masculinity and femininity seen in the very mystery of creation, is not only a source of fruitfulness and procreation, as in the whole natural order. It includes right from the beginning the nuptial attribute, that is, the capacity of expressing love, that love in which the person becomes a gift and—by means of this gift—fulfills the meaning of his being and existence.”
When you truly love someone, you want what’s best for them. Love is seeing others as gifts to be cherished and cared for. When a person – man or woman – asks another to put something artificial into their bodies, that person is putting his or her wants in front of their partner’s. They are neglecting their well-being and saying a night of pleasure takes precedence.
Our bodies are gifts, and they should be treated as such.
Many people, especially in today’s climate, think chastity is an antiquated notion. A cursory look at pop culture via social media, songs, or TV illustrates this. Most people believe that sexuality is a recreational activity that can be done with anyone at anytime, as long as both parties are willing.
They see chastity as a ridiculous or confining concept, one not even worthy of discussing or contemplating, and many likely see this new birth control alternative as “empowering.” But Catholic chastity expert Jason Evert explains that chastity is actually freeing. In a YouTube interview, he explains that “the function of chastity is to free you to love and to free you to know if you’re authentically being loved.”
Chastity is something everyone – married or unmarried – should practice, as it doesn’t mean simply not engaging in sexuality before you’re married. It means thinking about sexuality as a self-giving act that in marriage has both a unitive and procreative aspect. It means taking care of your partner’s body and mind by not watching inappropriate shows, reading pornographic materials, or making lewd jokes. And it means protecting that person from all that could harm them – physically or psychologically.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that chastity is “an apprenticeship in self-mastery which is a training in human freedom.” It goes on to explain that “the alternative is clear: either man governs his passions and finds peace, or he lets himself be dominated by them and becomes unhappy.”
We all deserve to be loved, and that is one of the things that most people long for in life. So why do so many settle for “one-night stands” or baseless relationships where it’s clear the other person does not love them as they should be loved?
I believe it’s because finding a solid and selfless relationship built on love and trust takes a lot of work, and many people don’t want to put in the effort. They want the end results, but they don’t want to work. We are so used to living in a fast-paced society where our wants and needs are immediately met that we have a difficult time contemplating working hard for something.
And now, in addition to the numerous pills and devices on the market that can kill and harm women (and newly created babies), a man can soon be beholden to a pill. This is not freeing. In fact, it is the exact opposite.
Our society needs a mindset change so that people will truly understand their innate value and the value of others. This begins at home. Parents, teach your children and teenagers that they are loved and deserve to be loved well. Adults, examine your own relationship. Does your boyfriend, girlfriend, or spouse love and want you or simply love and want your body? What would your boyfriend or girlfriend say if you told them you wanted to wait until marriage to have sexual relations? Would that person still want you?
If the answer is no, it’s time to rethink that relationship, for your own sake.
If we want to create a society that thrives and that builds up the family, we must all start seeing ourselves and others as gifts to be treasured, not used for a night of pleasure after one or both people pop a pill and hope that their act will not create a child. Only then will we truly understand the meaning of authentic love.