Question: What is the stance of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on birth control?

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Question

What is the stance of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on birth control?

Answer

The General Handbook of Instructions states:

Husbands must be considerate of their wives, who have a great responsibility not only for bearing children but also for caring for them through childhood…. Married couples should seek inspiration from the Lord in meeting their marital challenges and rearing their children according to the teachings of the gospel.^[1]

The Church has always discouraged the practice of contraceptions for selfish reasons. As President Ezra Taft Benson taught:

Mothers who enjoy good health, have your children and have them early. And, husbands, always be considerate of your wives in the bearing of children. Do not curtail the number of children for personal or selfish reasons. Material possessions, social convenience, and so-called professional advantages are nothing compared to a righteous posterity.^[2]

Yet, there has also been a recognition that the health of the mother must be the first concern of every couple.

David O. McKay wrote a letter in 1916 that was endorsed by the First Presidency in 1917:

In all this, however, the mother's health should be guarded. In the realm of wifehood, the woman should reign supreme.^[3]

In 1969, the First Presidency emphasized the need for revelation to each couple in making such decisions:

It is our further feeling that married couples should seek inspiration and wisdom from the Lord that they may exercise discretion in solving their marital problems, and that they may be permitted to rear their children in accordance with the teachings of the gospel.^[4]

Ezra Taft Benson, while discouraging contraception, made it clear that this was an individual decision for each couple, requiring revelation:

So, I would ask our young people to think seriously about these things, pray about them, fast about them. The Lord will give them the answers, because He wants them to have the blessings of a righteous posterity.^[5]

Thus, there is no absolute ban against contraception in the LDS Church. Each couple is encouraged to consider the matter prayerfully, with the health of the mother as a first priority, and the command to "multiply and replentish the earth" as a guide.

Endnotes

1. [note] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, General Handbook of Instructions (Salt Lake City, 1989), 11–14; cited in Homer S. Ellsworth, "Birth Control," in Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 4 vols., edited by Daniel H. Ludlow, (New York, Macmillan Publishing, 1992), 1:116–117.off-site
2. [note] Ezra Taft Benson, “To the Mothers in Zion," Parents' Fireside, Salt Lake City, Utah, 22 February 1987.
3. [note] David O. McKay, Relief Society Magazine (July 1916) 3:7.
4. [note]  Letter from the First Presidency, 14 April 1969.
5. [note]  Ezra Taft Benson, Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1988), 539–543. ISBN 0884946398. GospeLink

Further reading

FAIR wiki articles

• Lies and self-contradiction

FAIR web site

• FairMormon Topical Guide: Marriage and Sexuality FairMormon link
  

External links

• Various, Statements on Birth Control from LDS Leaders, lightplanet.com off-site
• Homer S. Ellsworth, "Birth Control," in Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 4 vols., edited by Daniel H. Ludlow, (New York, Macmillan Publishing, 1992), 1:116–117.off-site
• Homer S. Ellsworth, "I Have a Question: Is it our understanding that we are to propagate children as long and as frequently as the human body will permit? Is there not any kind of “gospel family-planning,” for lack of a better way to say it?," Ensign (August 1979): 23.off-site
• Terrence D. Olson, "Sexuality," in Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 4 vols., edited by Daniel H. Ludlow, (New York, Macmillan Publishing, 1992), 3:1306–1308.off-site