This is regarding the letter to the editor “Birth control” (Voice of the people, Feb. 15).
Letter writer Marty Nachel’s critique of the Rev. Michael M. Boland and the Catholic Church appears to be nothing more than an unwarranted, puerile attack on the Catholic Church, and not a fair critique of the causes of abortion.
He asserts that “the Catholic Church bears a great deal of blame in the abortion issue by strictly outlawing the use of birth control.”
This claim is founded on two false premises:
First, that we live in a Catholic theocracy (which clearly is not the case).
And second, that all Catholics follow this rule.
Surely those Catholics who have abortions are not particularly concerned with the church’s stance on birth control if they go against the church and have an abortion.
The real problem is that we live in an irresponsible society.
Yes, some instances of abortion arise from the harsh economic circumstances that surround some women.
Many others, however, are the result of a desire to have one’s cake and eat it too.
Pregnancy is a natural result of sexual intercourse; any couple who engages in sexual intercourse must be aware of this and must be able to accept such a consequence.
We live in a society in which sex is mere pleasure.
We excuse rampant teenage sexual activity.
But we shun pregnant girls.
The Catholic Church is not the problem.
If anything, it is a solution.
If more people were willing to look upon sexuality as something important and God-given, we might have fewer unwanted pregnancies.
As long as we continue to glorify sex and reject responsibility for our actions, we will be forced to deal with unwanted pregnancies.
And abortion never is the answer to them.
