Diocesan Resources
The Prevention Deception: How Not to Reduce Abortions by Richard M. Doerflinger (2007)
The Prevention Deception: How Not to Reduce Abortions by Richard M. Doerflinger
According to some members of Congress, we should agree to reduce abortions by reducing the unintended pregnancies that often end in abortion through increased access to contraception. This “Prevention First” agenda has gained more prominence with the new Democratic leadership in Congress. Even Catholics may be tempted to ask: If this approach reduces abortions, can it be all that bad?
Of course, that is what advocates of Prevention First hope we will say. At a time when half of Americans identify themselves as pro-life, Prevention First advocates see a negative side to being considered pro-abortion—and they want to finesse the issue in a way that may divide many Catholic laypeople from their Church and its teaching. There are at least four reasons to reject the “Prevention First” approach.
- Confusion about the pro-life goal - The aim of the Church’s message is not just to reduce the number of abortions by any means necessary. Our primary goal is to promote respect for human life, before and after birth.
- Modes of action: How and when do contraceptives work? - Even in the 1960s, medical experts found that some contraceptive drugs and devices may work not only by preventing fertilization, but also by preventing the newly conceived embryo from implanting in the womb and surviving. However, from a Catholic moral perspective (and the perspective of biological reality), an intervention to prevent the survival of a new embryo is abortifacient in nature.
- Coercing consciences - Prevention First has been marketed as a “non-punitive” way to reduce abortions. But its mandate for contraceptive coverage in all health plans punishes religious employers and their employees, by making it impossible for them to purchase drug coverage that is morally acceptable to them.
- Failing to reduce abortions - Studies from a variety of countries have shown that contraceptive programs do not reduce abortion rates. In fact, says one recent overview, “[m]ost studies that have been conducted during the past 20 years have indicated that improving access to contraception did not significantly increase contraceptive use or decrease teen pregnancy.”