Birth Control – Yes or No

I was brought up in a Catholic family in a very Catholic world.

We were taught that basically as Monty Python said, that every little sperm counts.

However, when I was married and babies seemed to turn up as an annual event I engaged in many arguments with my then-wife. Whose responsibility was it?

Obviously, we were very fertile. She thought pregnancy and it happened.

By the time we reached our 6^th it was time to take action. Poverty was staring us in the face; her body was reaching to end of its tether (so her dr said).

I had a vasectomy and that ended our reproductive lives. Despite that, she argued that I had removed her RIGHT to have children. I still think her argument was non-sensical at the time.

I was happy with the choice I made.

In terms of society, I think it is a woman’s right to decide what to do with her body. There are too many unwanted children in this world. There are too many unhappy mothers, unhappy fathers and families.

I think it is wrong for society to impose on the rights of women.

Too many ‘well-meaning’ ignorant people are more than happy to use religion to hide their prejudices behind.

In my case it took a long time for me to figure it all out, haunted as I was by the teachings I was brought up on.

But I saw in practice what happened to women forced to raise a child they are not capable of caring for.

Birth control should be a woman’s or family’s decision.

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