It’s been about 80 years since Protestants changed their position, so that hardly anyone living today remembers a time when all those claiming the title “Christian” opposed contraception. Although the Duggars of “19 and Counting” fame are Protestant, they are certainly the exception. The unified consensus against contraception fell apart in 1930, when the Seventh Lambeth Conference of the Church of England, representing the Anglican Communion, issued a statement allowing birth control “when there is a clearly felt moral obligation to limit or avoid parenthood and where there is a morally sound reason for avoiding complete abstinence.” This highly controversial decision was gradually accepted by Protestants in general so that currently 90% or more (according to a Harris Interactive poll) practicing Evangelicals support the use of contraceptives and contraceptive behavior.
Not only Catholics, but even dissenting voices such as Martin Luther and John Calvin agreed that contraception was against the natural law and the revealed will of God. Prior to 1930, all Catholics, Protestants, and Eastern Orthodox held that contraception was sinful and contrary to God’s will.
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