“Greater contraceptive access should not be a matter of debate,” says Dr. Jeffery Peipert in "The Politics of Contraception," (Sojourners, November 2015). But try telling that to those making the decisions for our government and churches.
As Congress debates potentially defunding Planned Parenthood, an organization that uses 80 percent of its funding to provide services that prevent unintended pregnancies for clients, and religious leaders call hormonal birth control pills “abortion causing,” these debates around access to birth control seem unending.
And as some Christian voices ring louder than others, it’s easy to think that all Christians believe the same thing.
[READ: How contraception became controversial among evangelicals]
But Christianity, like any religious group, is hardly a monolith – especially when it comes to views on birth control. Some Christians warn against a “contraceptive mentality” while other Christians declare that it’s “unthinkable for husband and wife to refrain from sexual intercourse except for procreation.”
[READ: Why most Catholics support the use of artificial contraceptives]
Scroll through the timeline below to see how the discussion around contraception and Christianity has (and maybe hasn’t) changed.
Caroline Barnett formerly served as Editorial Assistant for Sojourners. You can follow her on Twitter @Carolinesb11.
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