Opponents of birth control and same-sex marriage share a common argument: "It ain't true love unless you can get pregnant."

bottle of poison via Shutterstock

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

Are you and your partner selfish for refusing to want to get pregnant every time you have sex? Of course you are, according to the unswervingly anti-birth control website LifeSiteNews.com.

In a recent piece on the site, theologist Peter Baklinski addressed the question “How do I prove contraception is wrong?” Baklinski argued that birth control isn’t just wrong because of its alleged health risks (as he incorrectly notes, birth control pills cause cancer and vasectomies sap your sex drive)—it ruins marriages, too.

[M]any contracepting couples have eventually discovered that contraception feeds a creeping selfishness that makes the man and woman focus almost exclusively on their own pleasure in sex, and not on one another. Contraception makes one person suddenly become for the other a sexual object to be used for pleasure and no longer a cherished and honored beloved. The resulting mutual sexual exploitation can devastate true love. Sex. Abortion. Parenthood. Power. The latest news, delivered straight to your inbox. SUBSCRIBE By putting fertility under lock and key and thereby closing the sexual act to the possibility of new life, the contracepting couple no longer is able to give themselves completely and totally to each other. It is true that with contraception, the lovers caught up in the sexual act still act and react in much the same fashion as without, but the inner life of the person suffers rejection and compromise. Contraception degrades and violates the person. This is why contraception turns sex into a big fat lie. It makes the lover say, “I love you, but not your fertility. I don’t want that part of you. Lock it up.” It truly poisons love between a husband and wife since nobody ever wants to be loved only conditionally.

The “it ain’t true love unless you can get pregnant” mentality goes a long way toward explaining the fascination that anti-choice zealots have with ensuring every sexual encounter has “creation” potential. It also explains their irrational fear of same-sex marriage. In their minds, if same-sex couples are allowed to have full legal rights as couples, that will create a permanent wedge between sex and creating a family—validating the belief that couples can have sex simply because they love each other and that children can come from a source besides intercourse and still make a complete and loving family.

The horror.

As we wait for the Supreme Court to hear cases that could potentially open the door for legal same-sex marriage nationwide, it’s important to remember that for many same-sex marriage opponents, their justification of “protecting marriage” goes beyond only allowing opposite-sex couples to wed. It’s also the first step in coming for your birth control.