PLANNED PARENTHOOD SPARKS CONTROVERSY USING MORMON SYMBOLS ON CONDOMS PACKAGES

PLANNED PARENTHOOD IS ORDERED TO REMOVE LDS “CHOOSE THE RIGHT” LOGO FROM CONDOMS IN UTAH.

Discussing family planning and sexual health is never an easy topic to approach. Yet, Utah's branch of Planned Parenthood made a bold attempt to spark a discussion about this topic by using a Mormon symbol on its condom packages.

The youth wing of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints holds a campaign called CTR, “Choose the Right“, which is in fact a registered trademark owned by the Mormon Church. The CTR campaign aims at educating the youth about the importance of not having sex before or outside of marriage. As such, the use of this symbol by Planned Parenthood was meant to be a humorous irony. The Church teaches that sex is a sacred union that should be engaged in only inside marriage as it is a means through which the human race procreates.

However, the faithful have another view of this. The Mormons believe that this was a deliberate attempt by the organization to make fun of their views and malign their campaign. Critics also went on to say that this was not just a matter of morality, but also of legality, as Planned Parenthood used the registered trademark without the Church's permission. Spokespersons for the Church demand to know as to why Planned Parenthood could not have come up with their own symbols instead of using what the Church uses. Planned Parenthood posted on Facebook July 27, "Our intent was never to offend.” They claim that the Church is just biased against use of condoms and is only taking this opportunity to attack Planned Parenthood which embodies everything that the Church is actually against.

Though the LDS Church in general is against use of contraceptives and condoms, the Utah-based division is a bit more relaxed. While they continue to stand against premarital sex, they have declared that the choice to use condoms in a marriage is something left to the couples' choice. Like the Mormon Church, a number of Christian denominations have conservative views regarding birth control as it goes against “God's will.” This includes the Catholic Church. In wake of the protests and outrage by the religious community by the use of this symbol, Planned Parenthood has withdrawn the controversial packages. Whether or not a lawsuit will follow has not yet been ascertained.