The American Spectator

p> BIRTH CONTROL’S FALLOUT br> Re: Lisa Fabrizio’s Pro-Life Lite : /p>

I greatly admire when people can make a first class case for a conservative position without needing to mention God, the Bible, the Pope or religion, so my compliments to Lisa Fabrizio. It should put to rest liberal claims that such arguments run hopelessly afoul of the First Amendment, or at least their interpretation of one clause of it.

That said, consider how some of what are usually considered the most exacting aspects of Roman Catholic doctrine forecast consequent problems long before they happen. Consider Pope Paul VI’s 1968 Humanae Vitae, the famous “birth control” encyclical, the 55 mph speed limit of the Roman Catholic highway. I am not acquainted with any current era Catholics with families of ten or 12, so much for the Pope’s warning on artificial conception (I have two, a daughter and a son, ahem). And I don’t know any current era Catholics who might be infertile and then think twice about any of the “common” assists to correct a natural flaw (note no scare quotes). After all, Rome does get a little carried away at times, right?

Then again, consider that the entire ESCR debate that Lisa ably articulates is “unintended” collateral fallout of “common” assists to correct natural infertility. And consider that once sex and marriage were separated, and sex and the creation of family were separated, and sexual satisfaction became the first priority, the “unintended” collateral fallout of such satisfaction, i.e., children, became nuisances that only Harry Blackmun could sweep away.

p>A lot of getting carried away sure is happening. But not in Rome. br> — Frank Natoli br> Newton, New Jersey /p>

I, too, am disappointed by Dr. Frist’s discombobulated thinking but not surprised. Since Roe v. Wade, there has been tremendous pressure in the medical profession to embrace the pro-abortion view, but over the years, a truce has been reached between the two factions that boils down to: you do your thing, I’ll do mine. It took many brave doctors to stand up to those who would force their colleagues to accept abortion. I am indebted to them for creating a sort of “conscientious objector” status for those of us who wanted no part of abortion during our medical training. As the years have gone on, the majority of medical students do not have any exposure to abortion during their training, regardless of their personal views on the matter, so we have seen pressure by pro-abortion groups to make such training mandatory.