New Book: Pill is Marital 'Cancer' -- Mentally, Physically and Spiritually

Christian Newswire reports that Irish pharmacist and pro-life leader Patrick McCrystal is in New York City this week for the U.S. launch of his second book, which deals with the devastating effect contraception has on marriages and the culture as a whole.

McCrystal's book comes on the heels of Nancy Gibb's recent expose in Time magazine, "Love, Sex, Freedom and The Paradox of the Pill," which celebrates the "first medicine ever designed to be taken regularly by people who were not sick." This was followed by the surprisingly candid commentary on the Pill by movie star and celebrity sex symbol Raquel Welch, who sees the lasting legacy of the Pill as the breakdown of marriage and the family: "I myself have been married four times, and yet I still feel that it is the cornerstone of civilization, an essential institution that stabilizes society, provides a sanctuary for children and saves us from anarchy."

"Contraception is a most potent destroyer of marital harmony," said McCrystal, author of Who's at the Centre of Your Marriage: The Pill or Jesus Christ. "Most would be surprised to see me and Raquel Welch lining up on the same side of a debate, but she makes some very smart and accurate points in her column," observed McCrystal. "While her diagnosis is correct, my book goes a step further to offer the prescription that can help heal ailing couples: re-centering their marriage on Christ."

A trained pharmacist, McCrystal stopped dispensing the contraceptive pill in 1993 because of its abortion-causing nature. This decision resulted in the loss of his job and subsequent unemployment for three years. Undaunted, he has since spent thousands of hours researching, writing and speaking internationally on contraception and related issues. He is the chairman of Human Life International's Ireland office. One who "practices what he preaches," McCrystal resides in Northern Ireland with his wife, Therese, and is the father of 5 children.

On Friday, McCrystal will be joined in New York by Tony and Ann Crowe, a young Irish couple who bear witness to how contraception almost destroyed their marriage and how they were able to reverse the toxic situation.