Britain’s new hybrid embryo bill ignores ethical concerns. Will Singapore go the same way?
Guest commentary: America - Jesuit Magazine
By Austen Ivereigh
THE BRITISH PARLIAMENTʼS decision on May 19 to allow laboratories in Britain to create a new kind of embryo, part human and part animal, was hailed as a victory for science over religious (and specifically Catholic) doctrine.
SINGAPORE – CatholicNews emailed some of our readers for their thoughts on questions on Humanae Vitae and Natural Family Planning. We received 37 responses, most of which were from people in their 20s.
NFP works as well as the pill, so why isn’t it more popular or better promoted here?
By Daniel Tay
SINGAPORE – A World Health Organization trial in five developing countries shows NFP to have an effective rate of more than 99 percent if used according to the guidelines. That is as good as oral contraceptives without any negative side effects.
Unlike contraception, Natural Family Planning predisposes a couple towards life. This is true even if the couple are using NFP to delay pregnancy until a more suitable time. But, as John and Joann Ooi shared, we have to let God be part of the plan.
Do not be misled. Natural Family Planning is not the outmoded calendar-based rhythm method. Rather, NFP is a highly scientific way of determining when a woman is fertile.
Despite kidney dialysis and a kidney transplant, Sybil conceived and gave birth to Sarah - against her doctor’s advice - thanks to Natural Family Planning.
By Daniel Tay
SYBIL ANTHONY, AN NFP instructor since the 1980s, had always wanted to have a child of her own. But since she was diagnosed with end-stage renal failure soon after her wedding in 1988, it was impossible for her to get pregnant without it being a threat to her life.
By Janet Smith
THE AMOUNT OF hostility directed at Humanae Vitae has been so great that most people are astonished when they first learn that contraception has not been a hotly debated issue since the very beginnings of the church. All Christian churches were united in their opposition to contraception until as recently as the early decades of this century.
Humanae Vitae (“Of Human Life”) is an encyclical issued by Pope Paul VI on Jul 25, 1968. Subtitled “On the Regulation of Birth”, it re-affirms the traditional teaching of the Roman Catholic Church regarding abortion, contraception, and other issues pertaining to human life.
Mainly because of its prohibition of all forms of artificial contraception, the encyclical has been controversial. The document is sometimes described as prophetic by those who believe that its predictions about the effects of contraception on society were accurate.
Pope Paul VI, saddened by the reactions to Humanae Vitae, would not issue any additional encyclicals in the remaining ten years of his pontificate.
Summary
The encyclical opens with the observation that circumstances often dictate that married couples should limit the number of children, and that the sexual act between husband and wife is still worthy even if it can be foreseen not to result in procreation. Nevertheless, it is held that the sexual act must “retain its intrinsic relationship to the procreation of human life”, and the “direct interruption of the generative process already begun” is unlawful.
Abortion, even for therapeutic reasons, is absolutely forbidden, as is sterilization, even if temporary. Similarly, every action specifically intended to prevent procreation is forbidden. This includes both chemical and barrier methods of contraception. All these are held to directly contradict the “moral order which was established by God”.
Therapeutic means which induce infertility are allowed, if they are not specifi cally intended for that purpose (double effect). Natural family planning methods (abstaining from intercourse during certain parts of the womenʼs cycle) are allowed, since they take advantage of “a faculty provided by nature”.
The acceptance of artificial methods of contraception is then claimed to result in several negative consequences: a “general lowering of moral standards” resulting from sex without consequences; the danger that men may reduce women “to being a mere instrument for the satisfaction of [their] own desires”; abuse of power by public authorities; and, a false sense of autonomy.
The encyclical acknowledges that “perhaps not everyone will easily accept this particular teaching”, but points out that the church cannot “declare lawful what is in fact unlawful”. The encyclical closes with an appeal to public authorities to oppose laws which undermine the natural moral law, an appeal to scientists to further study effective methods of natural birth control and appeals to doctors, nurses and priests to promote the method.
- Sources: Catholic Encyclopedia, Wikipedia
Related articles:
- Humanae Vitae - The encyclical that caused an explosion of dissent in the church: Forty years later
- Right choices, happy outcome
Archbishop Nicholas Chia writes about his Ad Limina visit to Rome.
THE BISHOPSʼ CONFERENCE of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei was in Rome for the Ad Limina visit to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI from Jun 2-7, 2008. Our previous Ad Limina visit was in October 2001 when we had audience with Pope John Paul II of happy memory.
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“Heart work, less pay” is okay - I have the perfect job
I FIND WILLIE Chengʼs “Heart work, less pay” (CN, May 25) very interesting. Mr Cheng is chairman of the Catholic Social and Community Council. In the article, he explores the reasons why workers in non-profit organizations get paid less than those in the commercial sector.
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