Humanae Vitae, Women’s Rights, and Responsible Parenthood

The purpose of the article is to analyze the arguments present in Humanae Vitae which found positive resonance in the writings of women adopting the papal teaching on the nature of human sexuality and sexual ethics. According to some women, in particular the new feminists, the logic of the papal teaching concerning contraception contributes to promoting the dignity and rights of women as well as responsible parenthood. In their view, contraception does not contribute to women’s rights. Instead, it rather exacerbates the imbalance between men and women as well as sanctions the man’s irresponsible and hedonistic attitude towards a woman. Using contraception is in a deep sense anti-ecological. It is both disrespectful of the nature of woman’s fertility and destructive of relations within the family. The responsible parenthood defined by the papal teaching and by his commentators (both men and women quoted in the article) means taking responsibility for one’s sexual acts and their possible effects. The analyzed authors claim that by defending the nature of love, the nature of human beings, and the nature of the objective moral order, the encyclical Humanae Vitae defends women by defending their nature against the arbitrariness of men or society.