Contraception Study Guide

This study guide will accompany the message "Life, Abundantly," which will be delivered at Oak Lawn this Sunday. I will post the sermon here later.

When do you believe human life begins? At conception? When an egg becomes a fetus? When the fetus is viable (able to live outside of the womb)? At birth?

The CDC reported recently that teen births fell 9 percent in 2010, to 34.3 births per 1,000 girls aged 15 to 19, the lowest rate since such records were first tallied in 1940. The Los Angeles Times reported a general downward trend in recent years, with the overall teen birth rate down 44 percent over the past two decades. 

Highest teen birth rates:
Mississippi
New Mexico
Arkansas
Texas
Oklahoma

What do the United Methodist Social Principles say about contraception?
“People have the duty to consider the impact on the total world community of their decisions regarding childbearing and should have access to information and appropriate means to limit their fertility. We affirm the right of men and women to have access to comprehensive reproductive health/family planning information and services that will serve as a means to prevent unplanned pregnancies, reduce abortions, and prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS." 

What do the United Methodist Social Principles say about abortion?
"The beginning of life and the ending of life are the God-given boundaries of human existence. While individuals have always had some degree of control over when they would die, they now have the awesome power to determine when and even whether new individuals will be born.
Our belief in the sanctity of unborn human life makes us reluctant to approve abortion. But we are equally bound to respect the sacredness of the life and well-being of the mother, for whom devastating damage may result from an unacceptable pregnancy. In continuity with past Christian teaching, we recognize tragic conflicts of life with life that may justify abortion, and in such cases we support the legal option of abortion under proper medical procedures. We cannot affirm abortion as an acceptable means of birth control, and we unconditionally reject it as a means of gender selection.
We oppose the use of late-term abortion known as dilation and extraction (partial-birth abortion) and call for the end of this practice except when the physical life of the mother is in danger and no other medical procedure is available, or in the case of severe fetal anomalies incompatible with life. We call all Christians to a searching and prayerful inquiry into the sorts of conditions that may warrant abortion. We commit our Church to continue to provide nurturing ministries to those who terminate a pregnancy, to those in the midst of a crisis pregnancy, and to those who give birth. We particularly encourage the Church, the government, and social service agencies to support and facilitate the option of adoption.
Governmental laws and regulations do not provide all the guidance required by the informed Christian conscience. Therefore, a decision concerning abortion should be made only after thoughtful and prayerful consideration by the parties involved, with medical, pastoral, and other appropriate counsel."