Why the Catholic Church Is Wise to Ban Condoms

If you've watched any of the mainstream news coverage of the Catholic Church in the past months, you've heard the charge repeated over and over: By maintaining its ban on condom use, the Catholic Church is contributing to the AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa. Condoms have been demonstrated to prevent HIV infection 90 percent of the time. The argument is that if the Vatican cared more about people's lives than a rigid doctrine that most Catholics reject, it would make an exception to allow condom use to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. Such a move would do more for "life" than would maintaining a position that allows millions to die as a result of unprotected sex.

Sounds convincing at first, doesn't it? So convincing, in fact, that most Catholics have trouble addressing it. One approach, of course, would be to explain the Catholic moral/theological position on why contraception is inherently evil. But while absolutely true, that approach isn't terribly convincing to a non-Catholic, let alone a non-Christian. But the debate over condoms in Africa need never get to that point. In fact, the whole matter can be settled without ever bringing in moral theology. You see, the fatal flaw in the pro-condom argument is both simple and devastating: Condoms aren't working to stem AIDS in Africa.

Take, for example, a March 2004 article in the medical journal "Studies in Family Planning." Titled "Condom Promotion for AIDS Prevention in the Developing World: Is It Working?," the piece was a meta-review of the scientific literature on the question. The results shocked condom advocates. In the article, researchers Sanny Chen and Norman Hearst noted, "In many sub-Saharan African countries, high HIV transmission rates have continued despite high rates of condom use." In fact, they continued, "No clear examples have emerged yet of a country that has turned back a generalized epidemic primarily by means of condom distribution."

For HIV spouses, "the loving thing to do is to abstain from sex"
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