Think that anti-choice politicians and activists aren’t trying to outlaw contraception? Think again. Follow along in an ongoing series that proves beyond a doubt that they really are coming for your birth control.

“All of my friends are doing it!” is the sort of argument that many of us who parent try to discourage in our children. Yet in the land of the anti-choice extremist, that same rhetorical device is used to justify opposing birth control. After all, if no one you know is using it, and they all seem happy with their choice, that must mean anyone who does use it is wrong.

So says John Jalsevac, Managing Editor of LifesiteNews. In a post-Valentine’s Day assault on common sense, Jalsevac points to his own small, self-selected study group to infer that using birth control and especially condoms is a sign that you lack commitment to your partner. He’s an expert, after all, since everyone he knows practices the art of abstinence and self-control to prevent pregnancies and sexually-transmitted infections (STIs).

You see, I have been very fortunate to live amongst people where Valentine’s Day has as much to do with casual sex and condoms as it does with…I don’t know…golf, I guess. The vast majority of my friends waited until getting married to live with each other or to have sex. Most of them have happily welcomed children into their lives within the first few years of marriage. And almost none of them have ever used any form of birth control, instead relying upon self-control and the extremely effective natural family planning methods to space their children, if necessary. And the abortion rate? Non-existent.  

It’s a different way of thinking and living than the norm, I grant you. But from what I’ve seen, these friends have far more stable and happy marriages than just about anybody who has bought into the Planned Parenthood lie. Nor is this surprising. After all, if you view condom-wearing as the “ultimate sign of love,” what are the chances that you’ll be able to muster the strength of character to stick by your spouse when things like personality differences, sickness, financial misfortune and children come along? Slim to none.

On the one hand, Jalsavec at least admits that his circle isn’t “the norm,” so that is a small victory. But sadly, his very selective worldview is what is being imposed not just in the de-funding of family planning centers that offer financial assistance for contraception but also in the many schools who offer a “no touch ever” form of abstinence-only education that is causing STI rates to skyrocket out of belief that condoms actually are harmful instead of helpful in sexual encounters.

Yes, STI rates are increasing. They are increasing at the same time that an attack on the use of condoms is obviously intensifying. To deny that the two are linked is as biased as to assume that because everyone you come into contact with manages to “space their children, if necessary” that there is no need for forms of birth control for the rest of the sexually active world who don’t believe that a child ever year or two is a perfectly acceptable result for having a sexual relationship with their partners.

So, run out a get a handful of condoms for yourself, because they too are under attack by the zealots coming for your birth control.