Contraception in a "Birth Control" World

So I like words. I like when we can string words together and make terms we can all understand. I like terms like 'Natural Family Planning.' I like the term 'marital act.' Though both of those get people looking at me funny. Plus there are many people who will always read 'marital' as 'martial' and wonder what the military has to do with making love.

One term that I do not use often is the term 'Birth Control.' Why don't I like the term? Gee, let me count the ways. Wait, let's not and remain charitable instead. Suffice to say I don't support the group who coined the term and it is not a clear or precise term. 'Birth Control' runs the gamut in definition. Contraception is obviously birth control, but then Natural Family Planning is too. Abstinence and abortion are both forms of birth control. Actually even being post-menopausal or pregnant can be termed as forms of birth control. It seems that the only thing not considered birth control by such loose definitions is when a baby is being born. But isn't there an old joke about not asking a woman if she is pregnant unless you actually see a baby coming out of her? I forget which comedian tells it though.

So by formal definition, contraception is a more precise term. If I have to use the other I might use the term 'Birth Regulation' instead. To paraphrase G.K. Chesterton: "With this so-called birth control there is very little birth and almost no control."

Contraception refers to an act done within the context of a sexual act. These acts include using contraceptive devices or practices (e.g. condoms; hormonal pills, rings, injections, or patches; IUDs; oral, rectal, and manual acts that mimic intercourse, yet do not achieve it; and an important note: withdrawl falls in this category.) There is nothing natural about withdrawl and it is in fact the original contraception. To practice contraception one must be engaging in a sexual act. To practice "birth control" one must only need to be breathing.

So if you are used to using those two terms interchangeably, please get un-used to it. 'Contraception' is a precise term while 'Birth Control' is a sloppy one. When a person uses as many words as I do, one tends to get precise before one runs out of air.

Contracepter, Contraceptor, Contraceptionist?

I like words. I mean I really like words. In fact, I like words so much that I tend to use them non-stop. In other words, I am a motor-mouth, a chatterbox, verbose, and generally just long-winded. The great compliment that I have been given by friends who put up with all my talking is this. They say that I only talk when I actually have something important to say. I have very generous and charitable friends.

I also like words that are well defined. It seems that the best communication between people must begin on the same page. We must first seek to understand the other's language before we can really communicate. By understanding another we can then be understood. In the words of St. Francis, "Seek not so much to be understood, but to understand."

When a concept exists that is difficult to explain we employ terms to define it. When a term falls short we may even seek to create a new term, in a way to 'conceive' a new word. To conceive is to bring forth anew. Conception can be an idea, thought, or opinion. But most importantly it can be to begin an entirely new life.

So, by definition, contraception means- "against the beginning." My primary question is, 'what is the name of a person who practices contraception?' Here is the crux of this post. In my journey out of a contraceptive mentality I was digging out of a very big hole. I was a contracepter, or maybe a contraceptor, or was a I contraceptionist? Anyway, there isn't a term so I must coin my own to entitle this blog.

My purpose in blogging is to share my journey. I do not come to condemn. Some of my best friends are contracepters and they are still just plain ole' good people. I don't get to decide who goes to heaven or hell...that is not my job...it's God's job. In fact, if I ever step out of my role as a created being and attempt to occupy the job of The Creator, I put my own soul in jeopardy. I would like to avoid that fate if at all possible. Heaven just sounds too great to pass up.

So I am coining the term 'Contracepter' to describe this little tiny side of my life. What I found was that it actually turned out to be one of the single most defining aspects of my humanity. So here is my journey: Conceive of it what you will.