indexed

I adore you.

HA!!! Brilliant!!

Sadly, they perceive a third axis that mythically can lower both.

Televised sports?

Now THATS funny! Thanks.

Unfortunately, one is not being used for sake of 'inconvenience' rather than lack of knowledge, often bolstered by the presence of the other...

For the first time, I wholeheartedly disagree with you. As the prevalence and social acceptability of contraception rose, so did the prevalence and acceptability of abortion. Immorality begets immorality...and suffering. Read more about it here: http://www.nccbuscc.org/prolife/
programs/rlp//Schu05finaleng.pdf

I agree... however, there should be a circle around the whole to indicate that this is true only in the presence of education!

Good title. I hope you have chosen this battle carefully, as this topic is going to get LOTS of comments.
Frances, be careful about labeling contraception as immorality. Often it prevents immoralities such as neglected or abused children. It may also prevent other hardships such as poverty and lack of education, which put burdens on society. And don't forget that contraception can often prevent someone from having to consider an abortion. Remember the old saying, "a stitch in time saves nine"? Well, it's still better to plan ahead and solve a small problem than to have to deal with a big one, such as an unplanned pregnancy.
In any case, think before you start plastering labels on multi-faceted issues such as contraception.
(there. I've said it. Someone will freak out and start foaming at the mouth over this comment. But that's what blogs are for. )

Very nice indeed!

This seems obvious to me...am I missing something?

I agree with paperback writer. Every day we see horrific stories of abuse and neglect towards children. If only those parents had the education and choices available to them, those little souls could've been spared.

Frances, do some more research.

Concise and to the point. I love it.

Is it supposed to be chose or choose? I don't mean to nitpick, but I'm puzzled trying to figure out the joke with "chose."

and that, kids, is how babies aren't ever made. ever.

Actually, I think that the link Frances offers is quite interesting. I don't know that I would put it in such black and white terms as immorality begets immorality as Frances did. But I think it is likely that there are unintended consequences of the prevalence of contraception and that perhaps the posited inverse correlation between contraception and abortion is not as strong as one might think.

Fatalis - if you feel so strongly about what you are saying, why don't you offer some counterpoint to article Frances cites, as well as some actual examples of the people who "die" because of ignorant fucks like him.

I think the worst kind of ignorance (and perhaps the most prevalent) is the kind that does not believe in itself and so purports to be an expert in some subject matter while calling for the head of any challenge to it's authority.

Regarding Frances' link, I would be more willing to trust findings from a neutral third party than from the Catholic Church, which opposes vehemently both abortion AND birth control.

http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/tgr/06/4/gr060407.html

just an article about the relation between abortion and contraceptives. I just read the important bits but the point frances makes is true during the introduction of contraceptives and/or abortion to several countries. This is often because the arrival of both of these comes about when woman want smaller families and tend to do it anyway possible. As well, people are not well informed about contraception and use it incorrectly. When you get more recent statistics or in countries that set up programs teaching others about proper use and such you see the rise in contraceptions and reduction of abortions.

Anyone can spew out coorelations. Understanding them is what lets you decide if they're worth listening too.

And I'd like to thank Sam for being a nice voice of reason here. Ignorance on either side of a debate sucks.

Whatever happened to responsibility? It seems like both abortion and contraception are both a way to avoid the results of choices that people willingly make.

A well-chosen battle and well-chosen opinion.

how...true!

But... but... contraception means people get to decide whether or not they'll have kids! I do not like people having power over their own lives! How EVIL of them, to think that they are not just breeding machines!

(My very special way of saying: Damn straight.)

Whatever happened to responsibility? It seems like both abortion and contraception are both a way to avoid the results of choices that people willingly make.

A person wants to avoid a pregnancy, so they take action to prevent the unwanted consequence. That sounds like responsibility to me!

Prevalence of abortion did not rise with prevalence of contraception. Prevalence of legal, safe abortion I'll admit to. But for /millennia/ now people have been aware of certain poisons that will kill a fetus in much smaller quantities than it will take to kill an adult.

And then there are the children who are killed /after/ being born.

Of these three evils, contraception is the least by far.

Here's the thing: if people use contraceptives they can have sex without any of the negative repercussions, like needing an abortion or unwanted pregnancy. The Church says "contraceptives are a sin" because sex is a sin. So fighting against contraceptives is really fighting against sex. Now if that's what you want to do, cool, you can do that, but I notice that the word "sex" is missing from these comments. Lets not forget that this debate is really about the morality/immorality of sex (in and outside of marriage).