—And this is the major problem I have with Catholicism and a hell of a lot of other religions - they’ve just made all this stuff up, pulled it out of a hat - and followers are obliged to blindly follow it.—
This is rather presumptuous. Catholics, at the very least, have a lot more to say on the subject in explanation and defense of their doctrines before we can accuse them of just pulling their ideas out of a hat, without any address of their reasoning.
—How about 8 billion kids wrecking the environment and dooming us all? Would that be nobody’s business?—
Personally, I don’t believe people in large familes hurt anyone but their siblings (by dividing the share of natural reasources or wealth they can inherit), and that is the parent’s choice. I don’t buy the arguement that more people necessarily means doom for anyone.
—As mentioned, the pill in the standard sense does serve as a possible abortifacient as well.—
Is this said because it prevents implantation, or because it actually damages the (already doomed if it can’t implant anyway) fertilized egg?
FTR, the former head of Operation Rescue was Randall Terry not Terry Reed, and despite his Pentecostal roots, he was very much in line with the Catholic die-hard RTL ideals (who really began the modern pro-life movement) which, as discussed, condemn all contraceptives.
Terry’s successor was Keith Tucci, a man with whom I am rather well acquainted, as he was my pastor for the brief period when my husband and I were living in Pittsburgh. He was from a far more “liberal” mindset within the RTL contingent and had no qualms about the use of barrier contraceptives. (Within marriage, of course.) His point of view seemed fairly common amongst the Protestant pro-lifers that I’ve come to know.
Of course, this isn’t well publicized. Pregnancy Centers (pro-life clinics meant to provide an alternative to Planned Parenthood) all seem to feature abstinence training and educators, though they are mainly targetted towards young, unmarried people. Churches are also, of course, on the abstinence bandwagon for unmarrieds. But within marriage, it’s a hands-off topic. I’ve never heard any pastor or teacher in any circle discuss contraceptive choices for couples, in nearly twenty years in pro-life circles.