Regarding the idea of preventing procreation: this is absolutely not permitted.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1911-Jul-12, to Ella G Cooper -- AB11370)
Birth control: parenthood, conscience, and interpretation
birth control; preventing procreation
Editorial introduction
Bahá’u’lláh describes the purpose of marriage as the raising of children who will grow up to know God, and from that purpose flows a seriousness about procreation that the Writings never relinquish. How that seriousness bears on birth control, however, has been stated differently at different times. Letters written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi in 1935, 1937, and 1949 move from firm discouragement to the acknowledgement that the Texts say nothing direct and that the matter awaits the Universal House of Justice, which has since left certain aspects to individual conscience informed by the teachings and the best medical advice. Reading these statements well means attending to their dates, their authors, and their scope rather than collapsing them into one ruling. The Qur’án calls daughters and sons gifts within God’s sovereignty [1] and in the next breath remembers those who have no children at all [2], a reminder that no single pattern of family measures a person’s worth. The subject opens naturally into marriage as a means of spiritual progress, into the bond between parents and children, and into the life of families.
Selected passages
Further quotations · supplied wording and references
But the Baha'i Teachings, when carefully studied imply that such current conceptions like birth control, if not necessarily wrong and immoral in principle, have nevertheless to be discarded as constituting a real danger to the very foundation of our social life. For Baha'u'llah explicitly reveals in His Book of Laws that the very purpose of marriage is the procreation of children who, when grown up, will be able to know God and to recognize and observe His Commandments and Laws as revealed through His Messengers. Marriage is thus, according to the Baha'i Teachings, primarily a social and moral act. It has purpose which transcends the immediate personal needs and interests of the parties. Birth control, except in certain exceptional cases, is therefore not permissible.
LG#1160 (14 Oct. 1935 on behalf of Shoghi Effendi)
We, as Baha'is, are not therefore in a position either to condemn the practice of birth control or to confirm it. Birth control, however, when exercised in order to deliberately prevent the procreation of any children is against the Spirit of the Law of Baha'u'llah, which defines the primary purpose of marriage to be the rearing of children and their spiritual training in the Cause. The Universal House of Justice will have to consider this issue and give its verdict upon it.
LG#1162 (4 Feb. 1937 on behalf of Shoghi Effendi)
Birth control and artificial insemination, not being mentioned in the teachings, are matters for the International House of Justice to decide upon. There is nothing for the present to make us believe, however, that they are wrong if practised.
(14 Jan 1949 on behalf of Shoghi Effendi)
As you have keenly observed, the Universal House of Justice may consider it untimely to make definitive rulings on certain matters to which no direct reference can be found in the Sacred Text. Among these are euthanasia and certain aspects of birth control and abortion, and until such time as rulings are made, these matters are left to the consciences of those concerned who must weigh the medical advice on the case in the light of general guidance given in the Teachings.
LG#982 (From a letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice)
As to birth control methods, the House of Justice does not wish to comment on the effectiveness or possible hazards of present-day contraceptive agents, and leaves it to individuals to decide what course of action they will take in light of the teachings and the best medical advice available...
LG#1169 (4 March 1980 on behalf of the Universal House of Justice)
Continue exploring
For thought and discussion
Questions to carry forward
- How do the different statements connect parenthood with the education and spiritual formation of children?
- What changes in our reading when we attend to a statement’s date, authorship, scope, and reference to institutional authority?
- How might the Qur’án’s acknowledgment of different family circumstances enrich a compassionate discussion of these selections?
- What responsibilities arise when conscience, spiritual commitments, and informed medical judgment meet in a personal decision?