2010 is the 50^th anniversary of the “contraceptive” Pill coming onto the market.

The advent of the Pill changed human history.

It ended the era, dating from the beginning of time, during which matters relating to sex were spoken of mainly in private — even bashfully. The new epoch of discussing it boldly at every opportunity had arrived.

Likewise it ended the age of considering the principle of contraception (interfering with the act of sex so as to deliberately make it sterile) to be unnatural. From the 1960s, it became increasingly a matter of little moral consequence one way or the other.

The main motivation for one’s actions, sexual and otherwise, switched from being something to be accounted for to God and to others, especially one’s family, to being a matter of doing what turns one on, and the others could get used to it.

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Yet the new age of self-indulgence turned out less of a triumph for carefree liberty and licence than some had hoped.

It was noticed that women and girls taking the Pill were more at risk, not only of behaviour-related sexually transmitted disease, but also of breast cancer, cervix cancer, blood clots and — now they are telling us — of weak bones (osteoporosis) as well.

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And after the Pill became available, Pope Paul VI reiterated the Church’s opposition to artificial contraception, warning that the Pill would lead to “marital infidelity and a general lowering of moral standards.”  

This was in his famous encyclical letter, Humanae Vitae, published on 25 July 1968.

Humanae Vitae  is a good read. It can be found at: www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae_en.html

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Pope Paul’s comments were initially pooh-poohed as scare-mongering. But, if anything, he under-stated the dangers. Hasn’t the whole concept of marriage as the institution keeping our families and our society stable, now been largely lost?

Even mentioning that marriage is better than de facto relationships or casual sex or same-sex coupling today risks accusations of “discrimination”, “hate-crime” etc.