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April 20,1966 THE SKYSCRAPER Page Three Rhythm versus Pill Birth Control Issue Sparks Thought This survey intends to present only a random sampling of opin ion held by ten Mundelein instruc tors and 50 students on birth con trol. No attempt was made to pre sent a complete cross section of thought or to draw any conclusions from the results. Interviews were conducted by Pat Czapar, Brenda Dinneen, Cindy Jelinek, Jennifer Joyce, Barb Ku- bicz, Kathy Riley, Sister Mary Kevin, C.S.S.F., Nancy Vanden berg, Marybeth Wagner and was compiled by Jean Durall. While birth control was a vital topic before Vatican II, it was dur ing the Council that the laity dis covered disagreement and discus sion within the hierarchy itself, a fact which encouraged their own consideration of the issue. Inter view responses indicate myriad views and understandings of birth control, with all its facets, here at Mundelein. A qualified acceptance of birth control, the most common response, is expressed by Mrs. Robert Mata sar, political science. If both individuals involved are not desirous of having children, or are not in a position financially, or if the birth would have a bad effect on their present and future life, then they should not have children. A woman should be a wife for a while before being a mother. Mary Thompson However, no one advocates a Brave New World employment of birth control, although junior Mary Catherine Jones is most emphatic in her approval. Yes, I most definitely believe in birth control in any form. Most definitely. Procreation is not the only end of marriage it is im practical and stupid to have chil dren when you don't want to. One side of the problem is ad vanced by Mr. Alfonso Patricelli, mathematics. Let's put it this way: the pri mary purpose of life is to find God. A man and woman get together with this general purpose in com mon. The expression of their love is in the marital act, and the idea of refraining from it will put blocks between these two people. Mr. Patricelli goes on to say, There are no substitutes for the marital act in marriage. Of the minority categorically op posed to birth control, freshman Kathy Goble's response is repre sentative. I don't favor birth control. I think we should allow a baby to be born. It's a life and it should have a chance. Birth control is a result of 'free love' before marriage. Pat Lenihan Sister Mary Julianne, C.S.S.F., agrees. I do not believe in birth con trol because it seems only to frus trate the couple rather than aid them. A more complex problem than actual approval or disapproval re volves around the means of birth control, with some interpreting the term to apply only to artificial contraceptive devices, and others basing their evaluation on the Church's distinction between natu ral and unnatural means. The most common response con cerning rhythm, the method ap proved by the Church, is rhythm doesn't work despite one set of statistics which states that rhythm is 85 per cent effective in 80 per There are no substitutes for the marital act in marriage. Mr. Alfonso Patricelli cent of the women. This compares with the diaphragm which is 85 per cent effective and the envoid type of pill which is 98 per cent effective. Other intra-uterine de vices such as the hoop and the ring or spiral are becoming com parable to the pill in effectiveness. Sophomore Pat Lenihan suc cinctly expresses the sentiment of the anti-pill group. good enough to use. I don't con sider this a moral issue. Another entire phase open for comment is that of the advantages and disadvantages involved in birth control. Among the advantages, sopho more Barb Walsh best states the majority view that birth control eliminates the tension in marriage that unwanted pregnancies pro duce. Senior Julia Wirry approaches the question of advantages in the negative. The real disadvantage is the Church's disapproval of birth con trol, artificial methods anyway, because it forces people to go against the law of the Church, forces them to sin and have guilt feelings about something that there is really no other answer to. mentioning . . . they stem from self-love and convenience. I often think of the ghettos and slums and of all the hungry children who are the products of uncontrolled pas sion rather than human love. In this case would birth control be advisable? Why populate the slums with uncared-for children when some cheap contraceptive would certainly solve the problem? But, would it? Or would it only allow immature and irresponsible adults to indulge in the passions without shouldering the burden of their actions. On the pragmatic level of actual regulation and dissemination of birth control information and de vices, many feel that the matter should be left entirely to the indi vidual. Others encourage strict Church or state control. mnrainta Pope Maintains Traditional Stand; Commission Considers Vital Topic At present, Pope Paul VI has directed all Catholics to follow the teachings of Pius XII con cerning birth control while his own study commis sion headed by conservative Cardinal Ottaviani continues to investigate the highly controversial subject. The commission includes 16 cardinals and bish ops three of whom are Americans: Lawrence Car dinal Shehan, Baltimore; Archbishop Leo Binz, St. Paul; Archbishop John Dearden, Detroit. It is not the commission's function to reach agreement; rather it is simply a fact-finding body divided loosely into three groups: theologians; demog raphers and population experts; physicians, psy chologists and biochemists. Therefore, until a new statement is made by the Church, a married couple considering such fac tors as financial status, general health and desire to have children are traditionally free to decide to limit the size of their family. As for the means, the Church distinguishes be tween natural, such as rhythm which has been al most universally accepted, and unnatural means such as diaphragm, jellies or the pill.'' Currently there is much debate over this distinction with theologians such as Reverend Charles Davis, professor of dogmatic theology at St. Edmund's Seminary, Ware Herts, England, feeling that rhythm is no more natural than any of the other methods of birth control. Advancing the theory that procreation is the end of marriage and not the end of each individual act of intercourse, Father Davis maintains that rhythm, with its dependence on scientific calcula tion, temperature charts, etc., is a positive action rationally undertaken to control intercourse in such a way that conception is excluded. He sees no dif ference between the ends of rhythm and those of more artificial means. Father Davis eliminates the major defense of rhythm, that it is not an inter ference in the natural process, by saying that this is to defend rhythm by its ineffectiveness. Basically, Father Davis feels the birth control controversy revolves around a new understanding of natural law, man's conscious sharing in the eternal law of God. So the natural law is what man knows about God's design for himself by his reason ... While the natural law never changes, man's understanding of it does alter as has been shown in the past by the Church's change in her stand on usury and organic transplants. However, all this thought is the result of the theological discussion encouraged by the fact that Pope Paul admits that there is question surround ing the birth control issue. Until this question is answered by a new papal decree, Catholics must continue to follow the Church's traditional teach ing. 1 favor rhythm, but not con traception. It's not natural. Sophomore Randy Cuthill has another insight. I'm not in favor of contracep tion; it's depriving a person of life. I'm sort of wary of rhythm; it's still, in a way, a device. On the other side, those who fa vor the use of contraceptives are equally out-spoken. Mary Lucy Franzman, librarian, summarizes her position in these words, Yes, I favor rhythm definitely and some of the methods of contraception, like the pill, or possibly the intra uterine devices. I believe that methods of contraception should not interfere with the marriage act, and the three that I have mentioned do not. Junior Maureen Sullivan feels that it depends on the situation. In the right one, any kind of birth control is warranted. Mrs. Matasar adds yet another dimension with her assessment of the problem. Concerning methodology, with Catholics the means used is im portant morally; with Jews it is not. Whichever is satisfactory to both partners and is successful is Discussion of the disadvantages also evokes both specific and vague responses. Sister Mary Joan The rese, B.V.M., education, considers the situation in this light. Being a mother is a natural circumstance and a woman does not normally fall to the ground in this. A woman blossoms in mater nity. I don't think any human be ing should raise himself up and be a barrier to the creation of a soul. Sophomore Anne Boylan feels that with birth control, people would tend to use sex for more animalistic reasons. The main responsibility should rest on the responsible individual. Bernadette Bartnik Junior Mary Ellen Wenthe gives this example. Birth control, I think, is not a total giving; it's a holding back with the wife almost defending herself against her husband with the pill. One scholastic repeats this idea. Frankly the advantages I see in birth control are not worth It depends so much on the situation, and I think it is per sonal in each one's mind. The gov ernment has the right to make birth control information available to the people; we can't use Catho lic standards to apply to the rest of the world, is Anita Cudia's opinion. Freshman Linda Pfundstein sees another answer to the question of regulation. Birth control should be regu lated by the Church and the indi vidual. The government should have nothing to say about it. Mrs. Edward Chobanian, history, offers another opinion with her response. I don't think birth control should be regulated. There should be centers where people can go to get contraceptives and information for fair rates, in order to get it (contraceptives) off the competi tive market. There is little divergence in opinion concerning the eventual social acceptance of birth control. And, one influencing factor in its imminent acceptance is the actual or mythical population explosion. Questioning those who warn against the world's over-population is Kathy White. I would quarrel with people who cry over the population explosion in a country like the United States or in Europe where the economic situation is not that bad ... In places like India or China the cir cumstances are different, so the answers would be, too. Sophomore Diane Lally dis agrees. She feels that The popu lation explosion is hitting us with or without the Church's approval. Others do not feel that total acceptance of birth control is as imminent as some indicate. Con cerning acceptance Kathy Carroll, sophomore, answers, Yes, but not for quite a while. A lot of people Wholesale acceptance could lead to misuse. Peggy Kelliher still have outdated ideas. The population explosion is not the main reason for using birth con trol. Is all this indicative of a new morality? The answers are under standably vague on this highly publicized topic. However, the ma jority disagree that there is a new morality but rather a new freedom of thought and discussion. Anne Boylan's reaction to the idea is, I think we've undergone a moral revolution in the last five to ten years. It's not a degenera tion of morals but more open dis cussion of morals. Birth control is part of the moral revolution. One senior is less restrained in her views. I don't think that this is really a sign of a new morality, but rather, people are getting sick and tired of being told how to run their lives. They're tired of go ing to a priest and being told the same thing, what the Church thinks. A priest can't give advice about birth control that is accept able. And, yet another idea appears in Mary Catherine Jones' assess ment. I think our standard of mo- It should not be regulated either by government or Church. Maureen Sullivan rality is fresher than it ever was. It is a personal morality. It is healthier today than it was because it is being freed from many of the restrictions and taboos from with out. Perhaps the most whimsical re sponse in the entire interview comes from Marilyn Tivener. Personally, I want three at least. Two to turn the rope while the other jumps. It's so hard to turn a rope that is attached to the back porch. Huge discounts with the International Student ID Card. Student ships for lively, informative crossings. The ID card will save you 60 on air travel in Europe and Israel. Same huge savings on hotels, admissions, meals, trains. A must for travelers. Student ships offer language classes, art lectures, international discussion forums and all the fun of a low-cost student crossing to Europe. Can you afford not to write for details? Write: Dcpt. CO. U.S. National Student Association, 266 Madison Ave., New York, N.Y. 10016.
title:
1966-04-20 (3)
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Women and Leadership Archives http://www.luc.edu/wla
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Mundelein College
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Student newspaper for Mundelein College
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