The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-04-02
Birth Control Assumes
 Revolutionary Aspect
(FRoM THE EsCoMMoNWEAL OF APRIL D

creed of social service, built on the shifting and unstable experiments, but not on the demonstrated facts, of materialistic science.
 Let us look at the birth control re- port as 8 proof of that statement. A certain number of individuals, members of a large number of vari-
 ous groups, all differing widely from each other in So far as definable principles are concerned, but united
 by certain mood, or feeling, and strongly animated by a desire to serve the best interests of humanity, according to their own best lights, form a committee to study the ques- tion of the use of contraceptives. They do so because this question is | one of great social importance, and
 'the public, therefore, has a right
 to expect guidance from the church
 on the moral aspects" of that ques- ton. In other words, these individ-
 uals, with all their separate and in-
 dividual views, after taking into ac-
 count also the conflicting reports and | opinions of other groups and indi- viduals, become, in their own view, the Christian Church. Finally, | they take vote-a majority assent ing to one View, a very small minor l ity Chree members) dissenting from the majority opinion, and two or three others refraining from public expression of their views.
 The whole committee seems. how ever, to have been united on two
 points. One we shall speak of fur ther on; the other was that the "cor- | porate conscience" of the Church" should seek guidance from the Holy | Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life." | Certainly all Christians would agree with this. The language devoted to the spiritual principles which the committee invokes is a sort of prose poem of vague mysticism-like or l gan music softly accompanying a so- biological lecture, wrapping it in an atmosphere of faint, frail religiosity. But mark what follows the panthe- istic hymn: Ut should be expected that guidance (of the Holy Spirit)
 will find expression through the re- | searches and experiences of physi-
 clans and men of science as we'll as 1 through the corporate conscience of the church."
 And then, having sought such spir- itual guidance, and having deliber- ated with the utmost conscientious ness, the committee declares by a | mere majority vote that "the careful and restrained use of contraceptives I by married people is valid and | moral" There is no hedging; no ifs 1 Or buts or perhaps; the representa- tives of twenty million Protestant Christians unequivocally pronounce in favor of the morality of birth con- trol.
 And this it does in spite of the fact
 that the committee itself asserts that
 "as to the rightness of the use of
 contraceptives. Christian opinion is ! divided" Not only that, but those other channels of the Holy Spirit, the physicians and scientists, are also
 of divided opinion; for the report, when speaking of the medical opin-
 ion of the country, says that nobody
 knows as yet the prevailing opinion" GAS a matter of fact, as The Com
 nonweal will soon offer evidence to
 show, it is certain that large num-
 Der of leading gynecologists are op-
 posed to contraceptives-not on
 moral grounds. perhaps. but because
 of the great mass of evidence show
 iEg that contraceptives seriously in-
 jure health and tend to produce ster-
 ility even when those who have em-
 ployed them desire offspring and
 give up their use.)
 That the knowledge of contra cep-
 tives is also widely disseminated,"
 az the report states, is undoubtedly
 true, and 1t is also undoubtedly true
 that the moral approval given to
 their use by the Federal Council
 will further disseminate this baneful
 knowledge among thousands of
 Still, we admit that the report does
 utter a warning to such families. The majority members of the com
 mittee feel obliged to point out that present knowledge of birth con- trol is incomplete, and that an ele- ment of uncertainty, although it is small, remains. More serious is the fact that alfmethods are as yet more
 or less subject to personal factors for their effectiveness. Married peo- pie should keep these facts in mind and welcome children. should they come" It Is to be hoped that those | parents -by-accident who may be in fiuenced by the new morality will !! heed this pious counsel, instead of | carrying the revision of morality one step further by seeking legal ap- i proval of abortion. as has been done | in Russia.
 However, the Federal Council does | recognize certain dangerous conse- quences of the growth of birth con- trol practices. It warns the public | against advertised nostrums which are beginning to appear in thinly disguised forms in reputable jour nals." How journals which accept | such advertisements can yet be termed "reputable." we must leave to the Federal Council moralists to explain. For our part. We suppose that more or less reputable" adVer- Using agencies will soon be in a po- sition to obtain endorsements" per haps accompanied by photographs of the endorsers. for the more re- liable forms of contraceptive de- vices.
 So far, the Federal Council has only been concerned with contracep- ton as used by married couples to each other of course is meant. But what about unmarried people? The Federal Council real izes that serious evils. such as extra marital sex relations may be Increased by general knowledge of But 1t hastens to dispel any alarm that this remark may occasion by the optimistic as- surance that 1t believes that ''the use of contraceptives will not be indulged in by most peo- ple.,
 Everybody must hope that the Federal Council will be justified In It's optimism. For already there are many factories turning out millions ]