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Birth Control and Contraception

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The position of the Greek Archdiocese of America was given by the Orthodox bioethicist, Father Stanley S. Harakas: "Because of the lack of a full understanding of the implications of the biology of reproduction, earlier writers tended to identify abortion with contraception. However, of late a new view has taken hold among Orthodox writers and thinkers on this topic, which permits the use of certain contraceptive practices within marriage for the purpose of spacing children, enhancing the expression of marital love, and protecting health."<ref>https://www.goarch.org/-/the-stand-of-the-orthodox-church-on-controversial-issues</ref>
However there are a range The dominant view, represented by the Church of opinions Moscow<ref>https://mospat.ru/en/documents/social-concepts/xii/</ref>, the Orthodox Church in America<ref>[http://www.oca.org/DOCmarriage.asp?ID=19]</ref>, by the present day on bioethicists Engelhardt and Harakas, may be fairly described as the issue of teaching that non-abortifacient contraceptionis acceptable if it is used with the blessing of one's spiritual father, and if it is not used simply to avoid having children for purely selfish reasons.  Two dissenting positions are:
:1) There are those who hold the view that one of sex's natural purposes is the procreation of children (i.e. sex is naturally oriented towards or "for" procreation), and that to actively separate the procreative aspect of sex from its purpose of uniting husband and wife (by natural family planning or artificial contraceptive methods) is to distort it.
:2)There are those who argue that natural family planning is acceptable, because it simply involves abstinence from sex during times when fertility is likely. Such is the opinion expressed by the Church of Greece in her encyclical of October 14, 1937<ref>[www.ecclesia.gr/greek/holysynod/commitees/family/3.pdf]</ref>.
 
:3)There are those who teach that non-abortifacient contraception is acceptable if it is used with the blessing of one's spiritual father, and if it is not used simply to avoid having children for purely selfish reasons. [http://www.oca.org/DOCmarriage.asp?ID=19 The statement on marriage and family from the 10th All-American Council of the Orthodox Church in America] follows along these lines.
While some local churches have issued official statements on this issue, it is not an issue that has been clearly defined by the entire Church.
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