If you were a fan of 19 Kids and Counting, you know that the use contraception is highly discouraged in the Duggar family.
After all, raising a massive brood is Michelle and Jim Bob’s claim to fame, and as adherents of the Quiverfull movement, they’ve taught their children that God wants them to bring as many offspring into the world as possible.
Now, however, Jill Duggar may be breaking with tradition (and violating her parents’ beliefs) by both using birth control herself – and encouraging others to do the same.
As you may know, Jill and her husband Derick are currently doing missionary work in El Salvador.
Like many Central American nations, El Salvador is currently under threat from the mosquito-borne Zika virus, which is known to cause microcephaly and other serious birth defects when pregnant women are infected.
The CDC has advised against pregnant women traveling to that part of the world, and the government of El Salvador has cautioned residents that they must “avoid getting pregnant between this year and next” or risk birth defects, and even infant death.
As the Duggar Family News Facebook page pointed out earlier today, that could cause a major conflict of interest for Jill and Derick:
“El Salvador is now advising women to avoid getting pregnant until 2018,” reads a status update posted by DFN.
“Will Jill follow that advice? Birth control and any type of family planning is evil according to the Duggars. It’s interfering with God’s will … Will Jill advise women in El Salvador of childbearing years to use birth control?
“I can’t imagine she would. Jill ignoring or denying the crisis could be a death sentence for a fetus or a lifelong disability.
“Jill and Derick will have to adapt to a harsh new reality or suffer the consequences. We all will if this virus keeps on spreading.”
Jill and Derick’s time in El Salvador has already been fraught with controversy.
The couple was accused of stealing donations from fans after collecting money for a missionary trip, departing, and then being photographed in their Arkansas hometown just days later.
The couple apologized, returned an undisclosed amount in donations, and headed back to El Salvador for what they described as a “much longer stay.”
Obviously, after that debacle, Jill and Derick are probably not eager to cut their trip short a second time – which means they might currently be grappling with a very tough decision.