You and your classmates differ widely in your familiarity with this topic. 1) You may be unmarried and have not thought much about it yet. 2) You may be married with a family and have used birth control at some point. 3) You may have been badly disappointed by some method of birth control. 4) You may view birth control use as unscriptural. Can you see the high value in doing some research on this as a group and then—lovingly, humbly, and modestly—sharing your conclusions with each other? This could be a tremendously valuable discussion, especially for the younger members of the course. This is an opportunity for ministry.
Scriptural statements about life's sanctity and God's authority over creation of life
The section on "Control of Birth" in your textbook's chapter on human reproduction
The course presentation entitled "Birth Control Issues"
Trusted websites considering birth control issues/methods
Below is a set of 6 general categories of birth control that you will evaluate for your classmates:
Pills/patches/rings (estrogen and progestin based)
Sympto-thermal and condom/diaphragm
Intrauterine devices (such as ParaGard, Mirena)
Surgical – vasectomy (male sterilization)
Surgical – tubal ligation (female sterilization)
Male withdrawal during sexual relations
Preparing for your thread:
Compare each of these 6 categories against the following 4 criteria:
Protects the rare new life formed while the method is in use
Protects maternal (paternal?) health
Is reversible
Is effective
It is assumed that these 4 criteria are not equally important. Ignore the following criteria: value in preventing STDs, cost, and ease of use.
Choose the category of birth control that you discover to represent the best balance of these 4 criteria. Assume that you are selecting this birth control for a young, married woman with no unusual sexual health issues. Avoid exceptional personal experiences by generalizing from the 4 reference sources above.
Sample Solution