The Pill’s inventor: “catastrophe” … “horror scenario”

This is a must read from CNA:

Vienna, Jan 11, 2009 / 02:10 am (CNA).- The chemist who made a key discovery leading to the invention of the birth control pill has written a commentary calling demographic decline in Europe a “horror scenario” and a “catastrophe” brought on in part by the pill’s invention.

Mr. Carl Djerassi, now 85 years old, was one of three researchers whose formulation of the synthetic progestagen Norethisterone marked a key step in the creation of the first oral contraceptive pill, the Guardian reports.

In a personal commentary in the Austrian newspaper Der Standard, Djerassi said his invention is partly to blame for demographic imbalance in Europe. On the continent, he argued, there is now “no connection at all between sexuality and reproduction.”

This divide in Catholic Austria, a country which has on average 1.4 children per family, is now complete,” he wrote.

Djerassi described families who had decided against reproduction as “wanting to enjoy their schnitzels while leaving the rest of the world to get on with it.”

The fall in the birth rate, he claimed, was an “epidemic” far worse but less highlighted than obesity. In his view, young Austrians who fail to procreate are committing national suicide.

If it is not possible to reverse the demographic decline, an “intelligent immigration policy” will be necessary, Djerassi said.

According to the Guardian, Archbishop of Vienna Cardinal Christoph Schonborn told Austrian TV that Pope Paul VI had predicted the pill would cause a dramatic fall in the birth rate.

“Somebody above suspicion like Carl Djerassi … is saying that each family has to produce three children to maintain population levels, but we’re far away from that,” the cardinal said.

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21 Comments

  1. Giovanni says:

    They don’t listen until the things that are said come to pass… the question is will they listen now? Or will the hatred be too strong in which man will not be able to love him self enough to save him self by trusting in God?

  2. Gorgasal says:

    I just read the original commentary here: http://derstandard.at/?url=/?id=1227288533020 (in German). Djerassi nowhere expresses regret or remorse about the pill, in fact, he doesn’t mention the pill at all. Please don’t take this article to imply that he has changed his view on birth control – he (apparently) hasn’t.

  3. Mitch says:

    I did not know that…Is this type of news provided to the public and populations in these countries??? Are they aware of what is happening and on what scale? Is there any kind of awareness campaign or any indication as to how people feel about keeping their country, identities intact?? Truly, if surveyed, what are their feelings about those responsibilities? Or has it become so secular that they do not care (as a whole) and will just pass on the problem to the dwindling next generation?? Any Europeans want to chime in, please do..

  4. Maggie says:

    the folks (most of whom are secular PhD’s) over at Demographic Winter have been saying this for a long, long, time.

    The DVD is well-worth the $20.

    http://www.demographicwinter.com

  5. Long-Skirts says:

    THE
    DESERTS
    OF
    ONAN
    (Genesis 38:8-10)

    If you plant
    God’s seed
    It grows.

    With holy
    Intent
    An openness glows.

    Then to man
    God
    Provides

    Wisdom to
    Know
    Grace which guides.

    So abundance
    Will spread
    Propagate

    Feed the early
    Feed the
    Late.

    And you
    Fruitful souls
    A cornucopia fills –

    While the deserts
    Of Onan
    Remain wastelands of spills.

  6. jaykay says:

    an “intelligent immigration policy” will be necessary, Djerassi said.

    I wonder what exactly he’s trying to get across by that? I mean, Austria has had a very open immigration policy for quite some time. Is he perhaps trying to intimate that some form of “selection” is necessary? If so, what could that be? What criteria might be used?

  7. Gravitas says:

    Father, what’s your opinion on this?

    From what I can tell, we as Catholics have focused soley on abortion, completely neglecting the issue of contraception — which has traditionally been taught is more offensive to God than abortion.

    While I’m all for the fight for life, the overwhelming majority of “pro-life” Catholics are really just anti-abortion. And the priests refuse to talk about contraception — whether it’s artificial or natural contraception, i.e. NFP in cases other than dire situations.

    When will the Holy Father start demanding this be addressed in each and every parish?

  8. That’s Austria.

    Then there’s Australia. They’ve been brought so low by the pill-mentality that they have by far the highest suicide rate in the world. They don’t need three children for replacement, but four or five. But that won’t come about until people just start having children as they come, like ten or twelve or sixteen or twenty…

    Some of the Down Under crowd know they need millions of immigrants, but have their usual draconian “intelligent immigration policy” in place: preferrably white, rich and talented, in that order. Some few others may be allowed to go to the back of the bus, the out-back.

    The ugly thing is that so many of the ecclesiastics put their lives into supporting what is the equivalent of the Obama Democratic Party in the United States.

    Good Catholics suffer much in Australia.

  9. Brian Kopp says:

    And yet another study was just published in December on the link between oral contraceptives and breast cancer:

    http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/kwn360v1

  10. Roland de Chanson says:

    Andy: Thank you Mister Carl “father of the pill” Djerassi for killing us off

    You were force-fed the pill?

    In my experience, use of the pill is as much a Jewish practice as Christian. It is one of the demographic spectres haunting Israel.

  11. Roland de Chanson says:

    jaykay: Is he perhaps trying to intimate that some form of “selection” is necessary?

    I haven’t time to translate the full article but here is a portion relevant to your question:

    Since immigration must be at least part of the solution. I would suggest a change to an active policy as well as to try to bring into Austria people who can not only assimilate but also can contribute economically and socially to the development of the country.

    Eastern European countries, which could provide immigrants with the best capability for cultural assimilation, are having just as few children as Germans or Austrians and can hardly contribute to the solution of the demographic catastrophe.

    More suitable in this respect, it would seem to me, are India, Nigeria (mainly its Catholic parts) and Brasil. It is likely that these three countries in 2050 will occupy first, sixth, and seventh place in terms of population. All three countries have many universities with many young people who are interested in immigrating to Europe. The main problem with emigration into Germany or Austria is naturally the language, as German is insufficiently taught abroad.

  12. cordelia says:

    what the he** does the fact that he’s a Jew have to do with it?

  13. James II says:

    The Islamic birth rate is not immune from this trend either. The 9 predominantly Islamic countries (Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Turkey, Iran, Sudan, Alegeria, Morocco, excludes Afganistan) have a birth rate of 2.85. This is only 1/5 higher than the global average, 2.65. The replacement rate for a country is 2.1.

    Demographics traditionally favoured Catholics against Protestants. When Ireland was partitioned in 1921 the state of Northern Ireland had a population that was almost 80% Protestant. This is still reflected percentage wise among the elderly. Today NI has a population that is 51% Protestant and 43% Catholic, and among the young it falls to 40% Protestant with Catholics in a comfortable majority. The city of Belfast had less than 20 Catholic families in 1750, but today it has a slight Catholic majority. It’s hard for contemporary observers to believe that Irish cities such as Belfast and Dublin once had Protestant majorities. After the Cromwellian invasion, Ireland’s population was decimated and only 800,000 survived. 50 years later, even amid poverty, famine,disease and emigration, the population stood at 1.5 million.

  14. Hugo says:

    A lot!

    Read ” Slaught of the Cities” and “How Contraceps Cause Drive-by Shootings”

  15. Roland de Chanson says:

    I read Andy’s comment again just in case I had misinterpreted him. I don’t think I did. It seems an anti-Semitic diatribe to me and is not only not relevant to the topic under discussion but is out of place in a Catholic forum.

    And as for “killing us off”, the sad history of Christianity in Europe reveals many more incidents of Christians killing Jews than Jews killing Christians.

  16. Jenny Z says:

    They reap what they sow. Unfortunate, but not surprising.

  17. Genna says:

    I think it’s more to do with science and unintended consequences. Those who advocate embryonic stem cell research or hybrid embryos will be doing the same kind of heart-searching in another 40 years’ time. The universal availability and use of the contraceptive pill was the precursor of the campaign for “the woman’s right to choose” and abortion as a secondary form of contraception. The pill did not make women free. It made them more vulnerable to sexual predation because they could no longer use the fear of pregnancy as an excuse. No-one should underestimate the pressures on young, very young, women to have sex and the accompanying insults and emotional blackmail should they demur. Scientists by their very calling want to break the boundaries. I do believe their motivation is to make the world a better place and humankind has many times reaped the benefits. But there need to be those outside of science, ie governments, with the foresight to recognise that each breakthrough may have as many downsides as upsides and to apply the moral brake.

  18. Son of Trypho says:

    I think Fr Z is going to have to step in soon and moderate some of the comments here – they are starting to drift into the realm of the seriously offensive and/or foolish.

  19. Son of Trypho says:

    Thanks Fr Z! :)

  20. RBrown says:

    In his memoir “Inside the Third Reich”, Albert Speer talks about the temptation of scientists, that they have a hard time resisting the laboratory, regardless of what the moral consequences might be.

  21. Julian says:

    You write confidently about Australia, Fr George, but I live here in Australia and I doubt your claims, for example about suicide rates. There is no immigration policy favouring whites. And birth rates are relatively high by Western standards.

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