Real Marriage_ The Truth About Sex, Friendship, and Life Together - Mark Driscoll [106]
Generally speaking, hormonal birth control methods run the risk of causing an abortion. Because female hormones direct the process of ovulation, synthetic hormones can be used to keep an egg from being released so that sperm are not able to fertilize it. These same synthetic hormones can also prevent a fertilized egg from implanting in a woman’s uterus and growing into a baby.
Author, pastor, and pro-life leader Randy Alcorn has written a great deal on this subject.54 He said that there is not one but rather three purposes for birth control pills. First, the pill exists to inhibit ovulation, which is its primary means of birth control. Second, the pill thickens the cervical mucus with the effect that it becomes more difficult for sperm to travel to the egg. Third, the pill thins and shrivels the lining of the uterus so that it is unable or less able to facilitate the implantation of the newly fertilized egg. On this last point, Alcorn said, “Reproductive endocrinologists have demonstrated that Pill-induced changes cause the endometrium to appear ‘hostile’ or ‘poorly receptive’ to implantation.”55 Furthermore, “Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) reveals that the endometrial lining of Pill users is consistently thinner than that of nonusers—up to 58 percent thinner.”56
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The first two purposes of birth control pills are contraceptive in nature and therefore acceptable for use by a Christian couple. The third function of birth control pills, however, is potentially abortive in that it seeks to disrupt the ongoing life of a fertilized egg. That potentiality is incredibly controversial; thus, faithful Christians who are staunchly pro-life and believe that life begins at conception are divided over the issue. Some Christian organizations have issued extensive reports after years of examining the issue, and those with further questions would be well served by reading their findings online.57
As Christian leaders who are admittedly not medically trained, we do not encourage members of our church to use the pill, but also would not discipline a member for sin if she did, as this is a complicated and unclear issue. Upon learning these things many years ago, we stopped using the birth control pill out of conscience.
Level 5: Abortive murder. Abortion is taking a human life, or murder, by killing a fertilized egg. Abortions include medical procedures of various kinds as well as RU-486, or the morning-after pill. Other items that cause abortion are the intrauterine device (IUD) and Norplant, which do not prevent conception but prevent implantation of an already fertilized ovum. The result is an abortion, the killing of a conceived person.58
Thomas W. Hilgers, MD, of the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine in Rochester, Minnesota, studied more than four hundred articles on the subject and concluded, “The primary action of the IUD must be classified as an abortifacient.”59
Some will argue that there is a difference between a child in a mother’s womb and one outside it. Scripture uses the same word (brephos) for Elizabeth’s unborn child, John the Baptizer, in Luke 1:41, 44, as is used for the unborn baby Jesus in Mary’s womb in Luke 2:12, and also for the children brought to Jesus in Luke 18:15.60
In summary, we would support couples practicing levels 1–3 of birth control, urge those considering level 4 to prayerfully and carefully reflect on their decision, and oppose any couple considering level 5, unless there were extremely weighty extenuating circumstances, such as a tragic situation in which both the mother and her unborn child cannot both live, and