I cite Planned Parenthood v. Casey. In that decision . . . it says that “in several important respects, the decision to use contraceptives is the same as the decision to abort.” Or the decision to have an abortion is the same as the decision to contracept. And it goes on to explain . . . that, “For two decades, couples have based their intimate relationships on the availability of abortion should contraceptives fail.” For two decades, couples have based their intimate relationships on the availability of abortion should contraceptives fail. Now in this whole Supreme Court decision, which is on abortion, there is not one mention of the humanity of the unborn child, not one mention of whether the fetus was a person or not. It’s not even dismissed as a question. It’s not even considered. But it does say we must have abortions because we have contraceptives. It’s a necessity. For two decades, couples have counted on it should their contraceptives fail. The Supreme Court says so.

Now, again, I think in the 60’s, it was not a stupid expectation that contraceptives would make for better marriages, fewer unwanted pregnancies, fewer abortions, but I think the cultural evidence today shows absolutely the contrary. And it’s very hard for us to see because again, our culture, our president, his cabinet tell us that more and better contraceptives and more and greater access to abortion is absolutely necessary in this society, it’s a good thing.

The Church said otherwise. . . . Pope Paul VI didn’t predict this in great detail, but he certainly predicted the broad strokes of what happened. And you might say, “How did he see it when the rest of us couldn’t? How did he see it? What did he know that we didn’t know?” Well, he had a whole history of the Church behind him, some two thousand years. And some of us, of course, believe he had the guidance of the Holy Spirit and he couldn’t miss because he wasn’t using human wisdom here. Human wisdom showed something quite different and I don’t think that human wisdom was implausible, but it’s turned out, I think, to be dead wrong.