Pope John Paul II on Childbirth

I’m still concerned with legislation and women’s rights so I thought I’d check out more as Christians say they value life. I found that Pope John Paul II in his Apostolic Exhortation of November 22, 1981 said that it’s “to actualize in history the original blessing of the Creator-that of transmitting by procreation the divine image from person to person”. . . But the Church firmly believes that human life, even if weak and suffering, is always a splendid gift of God’s goodness. . . Thus the Church condemns as a grave offense against human dignity and justice all those activities of governments or other public authorities which attempt to limit in any way the freedom of couples in deciding about children. Consequently, any violence applied by such authorities in favor of contraception or still worse, of sterilization and procured abortion, must be altogether condemned and rejected. . . In this perspective the Second Vatican Council clearly affirmed that when there is a question of harmonizing conjugal love with the responsible transmission of life, the moral aspect of any procedure does not depend solely on sincere intentions or on an evaluation of motives. It must be determined by objective standards. These, based on the nature of the human person and his or her acts, preserve the full sense of mutual self-giving and human procreation in the context of true love. Such a goal cannot be achieved unless the virtue of conjugal chastity is sincerely practiced. . . The choice of the natural rhythms involves accepting the cycle of the person, that is the woman, and thereby accepting dialogue, reciprocal respect, shared responsibility and self-control. . . In this context the couple comes to experience how conjugal communion is enriched with those values of tenderness and affection that constitute the inner soul of human sexuality, in its physical dimension also. In this way sexuality is respected and promoted in its truly and fully human dimension, and is never used as an object that by breaking the personal unity of soul and body strikes at God’s creation itself at the level of the deepest interaction of nature and person. . . Such discipline bestows upon family life fruits of serenity and peace, and facilitates the solution of other problems; it favors attention for one’s partner, helps both parties to drive out selfishness, the enemy of true love, and deepens their sense of responsibility. By its means, parents acquire the capacity of having a deeper and more efficacious influence in the education of their offspring. . . A very valuable witness can and should be given by those husbands and wives who through the joint exercise of periodic continence have reached a more mature personal responsibility with regard to love and life. As Paul VI wrote: To them the Lord entrusts the task of making visible to people the holiness and sweetness of the law which unites the mutual love of husband and wife with their cooperation with the love of God, the author of human life. . . The right and duty of parents to give education is essential, since it is connected with the transmission of human life; it is original and primary with regard to the educational role of others, on account of the uniqueness of the loving relationship between parents and children; and it is irreplaceable and inalienable, and therefore incapable of being entirely delegated to others or usurped by others. . . In a society shaken and split by tensions and conflicts caused by the violent clash of various kinds of individualism and selfishness, children must be enriched not only with a sense of true justice, which alone leads to respect for the personal dignity of each individual, but also and more powerfully by a sense of true love, understood as sincere solicitude and disinterested service with regard to others, especially the poorest and those in most need. . . But corresponding to their right, parents have a serious duty to commit themselves totally to a cordial and active relationship with the teachers and the school authorities.” 

Chastity means the state of sexual abstinence so I got from this that no one would be having sex unless they are married, do so via true love with the intention of having a child and that the decision is mutual. If people truly practiced this ideal there would be no need for contraception.  But so-called Christian parents are not complying with their spiritual beliefs; they take only part of what is said and leave out what they don’t want to comply with. I do believe that childbirth is a gift from God if it occurs as the Church says. However, good people use the rhythm method to have sex at any time and rape is not loving or mutual. Georgia’s State Rep. Terry England’s comments are ridiculous. If it’s known that an animal is carrying a stillborn baby it is removed and women should be given the same respect. Pope John Paul II said governments or other public authorities shouldn’t attempt to limit in any way the freedom of couples in deciding about children. It is mainly because of the animalistic nature of humans that we have birth control devices and welfare, adoption and foster programs. Legislators cannot control the sexual behavior of all people. As such, they should do as the Pope said and not be making laws that won’t rid the world of babies that would come into this world in a non Christian way. Additionally if parents were cordial (pleasant) or compassionate or had a sincere solicitude (concern or kindness) with regard to others and took responsibility as Pope Paul VI said to educate and enrich their children there would be no reason for sex education in schools or the jails that house the criminals or the bullying or foolish behavior of parents. As morals come from within each individual I suggest that legislators comply with the US Constitution and maintain a separation between church and state and deal with the consequences of people’s actions instead of trying to force a religion upon them. As Pastor Rick Warren said on April 7, 2012 we need unity not uniformity.