Natural Family Planning (NFP)
You might be asking yourself, what IS Natural Family Planning? The best way to explain NFP is to tell you what it’s not. It is not the Rhythm Method and it is not Catholic contraception.
Natural Family Planning (NFP) is a very scientific approach to a very spiritual issue. The Catholic Church teaches that marital sex is for the mutual benefit of the spouses and openness to procreation. However, there are times in a couple’s married life when procreation is not a possibility and we must wisely abstain from marital relations. This should be done under a prayerful attitude and with spiritual direction.
Wait, doesn’t that sound like contraception?
Not at all. The intention of contraception is not to offer prayerful abstinence, but to thwart what is already created. NFP teaches that abstinence to prevent pregnancy offers no interference in God’s created plan of life, or “natural law”. Rather than trying to stop a moving train, we do not board it at all.
The Rhythm Method is an unreliable method created with the intention that women tend to ovulate on day 14 of their cycle. This inherently flawed method does not account for the individuality of every woman’s body and is not a reliable method for calculating fertility.
Some women can ovulate as early as day 6 or 7 or as late as day 19 or 20. Irregular cycles often result in unintended pregnancies and this method is not reliable in those instances.
The Catholic Church’s Teaching on Artificial Birth Control
Opinions about modern birth control have changed from its first introduction. Up until 1930, all Christian denominations taught contraception was wrong. Then in 1930 at the Lambeth Conference, the Angelican church broke with Christian tradition and announced birth control could be used in some circumstances.
They later caved, as well as all other protestant churches, to societal pressure to allow it in all situations. The Catholic Church alone has maintained it’s stance on birth control as inherently evil.
To understand the Church’s objections, you must first understand how artificial contraception works. The “pill” works in three different phases – 1.) prevent ovulation, 2.) inhibit sperm from traveling through the cervix and reaching the egg, and 3.) prevent implantation of the fertilized egg.
During the use of contraception, synthetic progesterone is used to suppress the release of gonadotropins. These are hormones that are released by the pituitary gland and are known as the follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and the luteinizing hormone (LH).
In normal cycles, the pituitary gland signals for these hormones to spike, which stimulates the growth of ovarian follicles in the ovary, thus instigating ovulation. If these hormones are prevented from spiking, then the ovary does not release the egg, and there is no chance of fertilization.
If the first phase of the pill fails to prevent ovulation, the secondary method is to prevent the sperm from reaching the egg by dehydrating the cervical area and thickening cervical mucus. Both of these processes make it very difficult for sperm to reach its destination and fertilize the egg.
If the first and second phases fail to prevent ovulation and fertilization, the third phase prevents the newly created zygote from implanting in the uterine wall. The hormones of contraception thin the lining of the uterus, known as the endometrium, which normally builds up after ovulation to create a sustainable environment for the newly created life. The thickened endometrium becomes the placenta to nourish the growing embryo, but with artificial contraception this can become impossible, thus inducing an abortion.
Although the pill will not necessarily induce an abortion, there is always the possibility that it may. The Church’s unrelenting stance on the sanctity of life affirms that we should do everything humanly possible to prevent anything which seeks to end a life God has created.
The Benefits of Natural Family Planning
Why should you use NFP as a practicing Catholic? Besides the moral implications of using the pill, there are also medical benefits of not using artificial contraception, as well as spiritual benefits that arise from practicing NFP.
The biggest medical advantage is you are not putting artificial hormones into your body. Some forms of birth control use have a significant increase in risk of breast cancer, according to several studies.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes hormonal birth control as a class I carcinogen and is in the same category risk as tobacco and asbestos. NFP, on the other hand, has no known medical side effects and is all-natural and effective.
Another benefit to practicing NFP is increased fertility awareness that promotes a healthier examination of a woman’s reproductive system. Awareness of your fertility signs can help identify potential infertility issues.
By charting your cervical mucus, cervical changes and basal body temperature, you have a prolonged history of your fertility signs that can be shared with your doctor so they may be able to determine reproductive issues. Without this historical data, their job of treating infertility becomes much harder.
Charting your bodily changes is also great for women with irregular cycles. By closer examination of your fertility signs, you become much more in tune to your individual body.
Another added benefit for couples who practice NFP is that they tend to have lower divorce rates than non-NFP couples. In a recent study conducted by Michael Manhart of the Couple to Couple League and Richard Fehring of Marquette University, married couples who used NFP had a significantly lower divorce rate than couples utilizing artificial contraception.
Granted, a majority of couples using NFP tend to have more religious convictions, but the study nevertheless showed a correlation between the mindset of practicing NFP and the mindset of using birth control.
The practice of marital chastity encourages a self-sacrificing attitude and promotes mortification of the flesh. Practicing these virtues encourages spouses to put the needs of the family before the needs of oneself.
Periodic abstinence also offsets the current mindset of un-prohibited sexual indulgences so prevalent in modern society.
Birth control was created with the intention of an unrestricted sex life, with none of the responsibility of the life that may be created through the act. This mindset was widely embraced by Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood. Sanger was a champion of modern birth control, but for much more malicious purposes than helping the poor who couldn’t afford to feed more mouths.
She was an avowed adulteress, racist, bigot, Nazi supporter and eugenicist (the belief of selective breeding for the purification of a particular race). Her creation of Planned Parenthood has led to the intentional murder of over 60 million innocent lives. When you factor in birth control pills, it is projected that about 14 million chemical abortions occur in the US EACH YEAR, with an excess of 610 million chemical abortions occurring between 1965 and 2009.
These staggering statistics are extremely shocking and morally detrimental to our society. To say that birth control is the most evil invention in the history of mankind is an understatement.
Summary
While these statistics may not be news to many practicing Catholics, much of society has largely been misled about the inherent evils of birth control. The Catholic Church has always been the leading defender of life and their teachings continue to direct more couples to the truth of God’s teachings on sexuality and abstinence.
The beautiful nature of NFP is that it doesn’t conflict with these teachings and can lead us to a deeper relationship with God, abiding in His infinite grace and mercy. The reality is that NFP is far more superior to all other forms of modern birth control.
Through careful practice, couples can use this method to draw closer to God’s plan for their married life. Not only can they use NFP to help bring life into this world, they are also using God’s guidance to know when to avoid pregnancy. Like all things in married life, by giving it to God for His loving grace and guidance, we are insured that no matter what happens, we are living the life He has intended for us.
Resources
The Art of Natural Family Planning
Taking Charge of Your Fertility
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