Think Christian About Contraception
Contraception is something many evangelicals don't think much about. Evangelicals have broadly adopted the cultural norms regarding family planning, treating it as a primarily practical matter. However, younger evangelicals are asking new questions about women's health and the possible moral concerns surrounding contraception.
Birth Control vs. Contraception
Scripture does not explicitly forbid contraception, which means evangelicals must reflect and deliberate carefully on the subject. The Bible's principles of human dignity clearly forbid certain forms of birth control. For this reason, we should clarify the distinction between "birth control" and "contraception."
Birth control prevents the birth of prenatal life. Birth control supporters argue that human life is a threat to the overall health of the environment and must be limited. Advocates say that the Earth's limited resources necessitate reductions in the birth rate. While Pharaoh's motives were not entirely the same in Exodus 1:16, the principle was the same—Exodus 1:16 records population control through the termination of human life. Although the murder of innocent Jewish males took place outside the womb, our prolife convictions do not allow us to justify murder based upon the location or stage of life. Scripture condemns any form of birth control that kills prenatal life, which includes life in its embryonic stage. Thus, evangelicals must recognize that seeking to regulate the population of a family, region, or nation through any means that destroys life at any stage is immoral.
Contraception Rightly Understood
Nevertheless, whereas birth control seeks to prevent "birth," contraception aims to stop the union of sperm and egg (contra-against conception). Contraception, rightly understood, aims to prevent fertilization; therefore, no human life is conceived. This distinction matters enormously, as evangelicals believe human life begins at conception. Thus, it seems that avoiding fertilization is not the moral equivalent of birth control that ends the life of an embryo.
Objection
Some have tried to find principles against contraception in the story of Onan in Genesis 38. But a careful study of the passage appears to condemn Onan for perverting the levirate marriage. Onan was willing to engage in sex with his sister-in-law but was selfishly unwilling to raise her child and divide his inheritance. There is no indication that Onan's sin was practicing coitus interruptus in general.
Oral Birth Control
Nevertheless, evangelicals often don't realize that not all contraceptives work the same way. Consider RU-486 (mifepristone), which is universally recognized as an abortifacient. Mifepristone is not a contraceptive as defined; it is birth control as it seeks to prevent the birth of an already conceived prenatal child. Mifepristone works as an agent to expel an already implanted embryo from the uterine wall and is prescribed by the abortion industry for chemical abortions.¹
Pro-life evangelicals need to be consistent. If we believe life begins at conception, and we do, then any chemical, agent, or device that prevents the fertilized egg from implantation is morally equivalent to abortion.
Other forms of birth control, including certain oral contraceptives and IUDs, may prevent an already-conceived embryo from implanting. However, current research indicates that the primary mechanism of most oral contraceptives is preventing ovulation, with effects on implantation being secondary and less well-established.² Evangelicals should consult a pro-life physician and do their own research to ensure that any oral contraception used does not have the potential of preventing a fertilized egg from implanting in the uterine wall. We must not unwittingly participate in early abortion while thinking we're simply preventing fertilization.
Contraception
However, not all contraceptive methods carry these risks. Combination oral contraceptives primarily work by preventing ovulation, meaning fertilization never occurs.³ Natural Family Planning, growing increasingly popular among younger Christians, avoids hormonal intervention altogether. Barrier methods like condoms block fertilization without affecting embryos and do not seem to present any moral risk.
But here's a question that should make us all pause: How can evangelicals think about permanent sterilization, such as vasectomy and tubal ligation? If there is no moral risk in practicing temporary contraception, is there a concern with permanent sterilization? Catholic doctrine views permanent sterilization as violating the law of self-mutilation, which is strictly forbidden by the laws of Natural Law.⁴
However, God created the human body with built-in procreation stewardship. God naturally sterilizes the female body as each woman is given a limited number of eggs, resulting in the female procreative potential ending at a certain age. Natural sterilization allows couples to steward the goods of life appropriate to age. Thus, if contraception happens naturally and is permissible temporarily, then it does not seem clear how permanent sterilization violates any principle of nature simply by the time frame when it occurs.
This is not to say that practical wisdom does not play a role. Couples are not omniscient and can't predict the future. A couple who practices permanent contraception never knows the future circumstances that might cause them to want more children.⁵ Yet sterilization may be necessary for health concerns. A couple who has significant health risks in childbearing may opt for permanent sterilization as a means of stewarding their bodies wisely. While it doesn't seem that permanent sterilization is necessarily sinful, it may very well prove unwise in some circumstances and prudent in others.
The Fruit of Fruitfulness
Beyond the mechanics of how contraception works lies a deeper question: What kind of people are we becoming through our choices about fertility?
Evangelicals are people beyond pragmatics—we do well to think about character formation. When young couples default to contraception in early marriage to "grow closer to one another," they may be cultivating wisdom and patience, if that time is intentionally used for those ends. Is it also possible to unconsciously prioritize personal autonomy over openness to God's blessings? We must ask: Are we becoming more generous or more self-focused?
Psalm 127 calls children "a blessing from God." When we consistently reject or delay that blessing, what does it reveal about our hearts? This doesn't mean contraception is always wrong, but it does mean we should examine our motives honestly.
Since Scripture does not explicitly forbid contraception, we must ask whether our approach to family planning forms us into people who reflect God's character. Are we growing in generosity, trust, and openness to divine surprise? Or are we becoming people who view children primarily as obstacles to our predetermined life plans?
The Aims of Contraception
Procreation isn't the only purpose of marriage, but under normal circumstances, it should be a central one. This means we need to examine not just our methods but our motives. Why do we want children—or why don't we?
Some concerns are legitimate: Can we provide for a family? Do we have the emotional and physical capacity to parent well? These reflect stewardship and an honest evaluation of our creaturely limitations.
However, other motivations should also concern us: maximizing personal freedom, maintaining our current lifestyle, advancing our careers without interruption, or viewing children as expensive inconveniences.
When our "family planning" is primarily about preserving our comfort and expanding our options, we've adopted a worldview that's fundamentally at odds with Christian teaching about suffering, sacrifice, and the inherent value of human life.
The cultural pressure toward child-free living isn't neutral—it actively shapes us away from the kind of people God calls us to be. It's possible to remain open to children while making prudent decisions about timing and spacing. The key is ensuring our hearts remain oriented toward welcoming life rather than avoiding it.
A Vision We Can't Ignore
Individual family planning decisions don't happen in a vacuum. They shape the kind of society we're creating for our neighbors and our nations. The very arguments used to promote widespread contraception—population control, resource management, economic optimization—reveal assumptions about human value that should make Christians deeply uncomfortable.
Meanwhile, Western civilization is experiencing the long-term consequences of widespread contraception acceptance. Birth rates have fallen below replacement levels, creating demographic crises that threaten economic stability, elder care, and even national security.⁶ The total fertility rate in most Western countries is now well below the 2.1 replacement level needed to maintain the population without immigration.⁷ When Christians enthusiastically participate in the reduction of children, we're not just making personal choices—we're contributing to cultural trends that undermine human flourishing.
This doesn't mean every couple should have as many children as biologically possible. It does mean we should consider what Christian families bring to the world and whether our approach to contraception reflects genuine wisdom or cultural conformity.
Conclusion
The goal here isn't to pronounce contraception categorically sinful or to shame couples who use it thoughtfully. Instead, it's to encourage the kind of moral reflection that many of us have avoided for too long.
Before making decisions about contraception, ask yourself:
· Do I understand how my chosen method actually works?
· Am I consistent in my pro-life convictions?
· What kind of person am I becoming through my approach to fertility?
· Are my motives aligned with God's design for marriage and family?
· How do my choices affect not just my family but my community and culture?
These aren't easy questions, and they don't have simple answers. But they're questions that followers of Christ should be asking—especially as our culture becomes increasingly hostile to children and family life.
The stakes are higher than many of us realize. How we approach contraception reveals what we believe about human life, divine sovereignty, character formation, and cultural responsibility. In an age when these beliefs are under assault from every direction, clarity about our convictions has never been more crucial.
Footnotes
¹ U.S. Food and Drug Administration, "Mifeprex (mifepristone) Information," accessed September 2025, https://www.fda.gov/drugs/postmarket-drug-safety-information-patients-and-providers/mifeprex-mifepristone-information.
² M.E. Ortiz and H.B. Croxatto, "The mechanism of action of hormonal contraceptives and intrauterine contraceptive devices," American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 181, no. 5 (1999): 1263-1269; American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, "Progestin-Only Hormonal Birth Control: Pill and Injection," accessed September 2025, https://www.acog.org/womens-health/faqs/progestin-only-hormonal-birth-control-pill-and-injection.
³ American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, "Combined Hormonal Birth Control: Pill, Patch, and Ring," accessed September 2025, https://www.acog.org/womens-health/faqs/combined-hormonal-birth-control-pill-patch-ring.
⁴ Pope Pius XII, "Address to the Congress of Urology," October 8, 1953; Catholic Church, Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd ed. (Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1997), no. 2297.
⁵ John Piper, "Is Permanent Birth Control a Sin?" Desiring God, March 13, 2015, accessed September 2025, https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/is-permanent-birth-control-a-sin.
⁶ World Bank, "Fertility rate, total (births per woman)," accessed September 2025, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.TFRT.IN; OECD, "Fertility rates," accessed September 2025, https://data.oecd.org/pop/fertility-rates.htm.
⁷ Max Roser, "Fertility Rate," Our World in Data, accessed September 2025, https://ourworldindata.org/fertility-rate.