That tumultuous, painful and costly experience shows clearly that a law expressing a moral judgment cannot be enforced when it has little correspondence with the general view of society. That experience holds a lesson for us all in regard to birth control today.

Up to the turn of the century, contraception was condemned by all Christian churches as immoral, unnatural and contrary to divine law. This was generally reflected in the civil laws of Christian countries. Today, the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches stand virtually alone in holding that conviction. The various Lambeth Conferences, expressing the Anglican viewpoint, mirror the gradual change that has taken place among Protestants generally.

In 1920, the Lambeth Conference repeated its 1908 condemnation of contraception and issued ``an emphatic warning against the use of unnatural means for the avoidance of conception, together with the grave dangers -- physical, moral, and religious -- thereby incurred, and against the evils which the extension of such use threaten the race.'' Denouncing the view that the sexual union is an end in itself, the Conference declared: ``We steadfastly uphold what must always be regarded as the governing considerations of Christian marriage. One is the primary purpose for which marriage exists, namely, the continuance of the race through the gift and heritage of children; the other is the paramount importance in married life of deliberate and thoughtful self-control.'' The Conference called for a vigorous campaign against the open or secret sale of contraceptives.