Contraception

Natural or Artificial?

Religion and science have different concepts of what is natural.

All contraceptive methods have been developed through long and careful observation of the procreative process. They all involve the application of scientific knowledge or rational calculation, and most of them require the use of chemicals or special tools, gadgets, devices or instruments such as a calendar or thermometer. In each case, human cunning prevents nature from simply taking its course. In short, contraception is always the result of a conscious decision which uses certain laws of nature to circumvent certain others.
This elementary fact has sometimes been obscured by writers who have tried to create a distinction between "natural" and "artificial" means of contraception. Such a distinction is arbitrary and unscientific. It is usually dictated by religious beliefs, based on specific interpretations of the philosophical doctrine of a so-called “natural law”. Such interpretations “naturally” differ from one place and time to another. They are essentially ideological and not open to critical argument. From the standpoint of science, any contraceptive method is as natural or artificial as any other. However, for the practical purposes of everyday life it is useful to distinguish between those contraceptive methods that require medical assistance and those that do not.

See also “Natural Law and the Laws of Nature”