Last month was the 50th anniversary of "the pill." In the 1960's the pill was heralded as a development that would liberate women from male dominance and lead to fewer divorces, fewer unwanted pregnancies and fewer abortions. It is now clear, however, that things did not turn out that way.

As the pill became more widespread, the number of divorces and abortions soared. We saw a lowering of moral standards and a rise in infidelity and promiscuity. In addition, the well-being of children declined by a variety of measures, from depression to diet to the number living in poverty and the number experiencing child abuse or neglect.

Though women now have access to places and positions that once belonged to men, they have never been seen more as sex objects than they are today.

The major disconnect caused by the arrival of the pill has been a loss of the idea that men and women make babies. As technological advances in artificial reproduction are made, the idea that God plays a role in procreation has increasingly been lost.

Sadly, the horizon does not look promising for the family. With the rapid increase in the number of activist judges with a proclivity to elitist social engineering, we will soon be seeing countless forms of sexually bonded groups that are not only unstable but seriously harmful to children.

May God help us.

Frank Henderson, Baltimore