The relationship between
contraceptive use and religion remains a subject of considerable debate. This
article argues that this relationship is rooted in context-specific
institutional and organizational aspects of religious belonging and
involvement. Drawing upon unique recent data from a population-based survey of
women conducted in a predominantly Christian high-fertility area of Mozambique,
this study examines the connections between religion and contraception from two
complementary angles. First, differences in current use of modern
contraceptives across main denominational groups are analyzed. The results show
higher prevalence of modern contraceptive use among Catholics and, to a lesser
extent, traditional Protestants net of other individual- and community-level
factors. Second, an analysis of religious involvement reveals that frequent
church attendance has a net positive association with modern contraceptive use
regardless of denominational affiliation. These findings are situated within
the historical context of religious, demographic, and socio-political dynamics
of Mozambique and similar sub-Saharan settings...
Catholics’ “contraceptive
advantage” may seem counterintuitive given the Church’s official position on
use of artificial methods of birth control. Although as Hirsch (2008) illustrated
with her study in rural Mexico, most Catholics, even those living in
religiously conservative settings, find ways to reconcile contraceptive use
with their faith and the Vatican’s official guidelines. Furthermore, in
sub-Saharan Africa, higher contraceptive prevalence among Catholics and
Protestants, compared with other religious groups, is not unusual (Heaton 2011). What makes Roman Catholics and Protestants more
receptive to contraceptive technologies? I propose that their contraceptive
edge owes to a large extent to their connections with the state and especially
the local medical establishment...
TABLE 3
Percentage of nonpregnant women practicing modern contraception, by religious affiliation and frequency of church attendance, Chibuto, Mozambique, 2008
| Characteristic | (n) | Practices modern contraception (percent) |
|---|---|---|
| Religious affiliation | ||
| Affiliated with a religion or church (any denomination) | (1,554) | 23.6 |
| Roman Catholic | (225) | 32.4 |
| Traditional Protestant | (176) | 30.1 |
| Apostolic | (215) | 23.3 |
| Zionist | (753) | 20.1 |
| Pentecostal | (185) | 20.0 |
| Nonaffiliated | (203) | 13.8 |
| Attended church in past two weeks a | ||
| Did not attend | (411) | 20.2 |
| 1–2 times | (668) | 22.9 |
| 3+ times | (488) | 27.5 |
| Total | (1,757) | 22.3 |
aIncludes only participants having a religious affiliation (n = 1,567).
Full article at:
Center for Population Dynamics, T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287
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