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Natural Family Planning ‘NFP’ – sometimes referred to as the ‘rhythm method’ of reproductive control – deploys the fact that there is a natural female menstrual cycle and that conception is very unlikely to occur within the menstruation period, hence intercourse can take place with a low chance of pregnancy resulting. From an ethical point of view NFP is favoured for positive and negative reasons. Positively, it is felt by some to be in harmony with the natural sequence of fertility and infertility. Negatively it is not a method of contraception, that is to say it does not involve intervening artificially to suspend fertility or to create a barrier to prevent conception, or to counter the occurrence of conception. The relevance of these ‘negative’ considerations is that some hold that contraception is morally wrong because it subverts the defining natural function of sex and thereby changes it from an integrative act that combines intimacy, marital union, and openness to procreation, diminishing it by reducing it to physical gratification.
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— What's the difference between birth control and Natural Family Planning if the both achieve the same thing: avoiding a pregnancy? Isn't it the intention that matters? And if contraception is a sin, is Natural Family Planning a sin too? In this video we're going to take a deeper look at the morality of intention as it applies to birth control and NFP. ––––––––––––––––––––– Click the link to join our Patron Community! Your monthly gift helps us continue to put out the message of Theology of the Body to the world. Thank you! https://tobinstitute.krtra.com/t/iwWmB9OY1Ea4 Want to attend a course at the Theology of the Body Institute online or in person? Click the link to view our schedule: https://tobinstitute.org/programs/tobi-schedule/ Check out our store to purchase a Theology of the Body Institute mug, and other cool merch! https://shop.corproject.com/collections/swag/products/tobi-campfire-ceramic-mug?variant=32126174822502 Click here to shop at the Theology of the Body Institute book store: https://shop.corproject.com
— This paper is based on the author's answer to a question from Theresa Notare, director of the Natural Family Planning Program of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, about what Catholic scientists and physicians can do to promote NFP and what the Catholic Church in the United States can do to help physicians and health professionals promote NFP. The paper reviews the Church's historical call for health professionals to study and to teach NFP methods, briefly analyzes the current state of NFP in Catholic health care, and provides an answer to Dr. Notare from the perspectives of research, education, and practice.
— What's the real difference between contraception and natural family planning (or NFP)? Don't both accomplish the same thing: avoiding a pregnancy? Why is the Catholic Church's teaching on birth control so severe while it promotes the practice of natural family planning? In this video, I'm going to get into the heart of this issue. –––––––––––––––––––– Click the link to join our Patron Community! Your monthly gift helps us continue to put out the message of Theology of the Body to the world. Thank you! https://tobinstitute.krtra.com/t/iwWmB9OY1Ea4 Want to attend a course at the Theology of the Body Institute online or in person? Click the link to view our schedule: https://tobinstitute.org/programs/tobi-schedule/ Check out our store to purchase a Theology of the Body Institute mug, and other cool merch! https://shop.corproject.com/collections/swag/products/tobi-campfire-ceramic-mug?variant=32126174822502 Click here to shop at the Theology of the Body Institute book store: https://shop.corproject.com
— Recorded in 1995. This course, while serving as an introduction to Catholic teaching on sexual ethics, also provides introductions to natural law ethics, personalism, the debate about proportionalism and biologism, and the role of conscience in the moral life. catholicthinkers.org
— This study showed that ever-use of natural family planning (NFP) among ever-married women was associated with 58 percent lower odds of divorce than among women who never-used NFP. Ever-use of contraceptive methods was associated with two times the odds of divorce and four times for cohabitation comp …
— TED SINIES CONFERENCE CATHOLIC BISHOPS NATURAL FAMILY PLANNING At the first stage of life, centers for natural methods of regulating fertility should be promoted as a valuable help to responsible parenthood, in which all individuals, and in the first place the child, are recognized and respected in their own right and where every decision is guided by the ideal of the sincere gift of self. (EV, #88) From the scientific point of view, these methods are becoming more and more accurate and make it possible in practice to make choices in harmony with moral values. An honest appraisal of their effectiveness should dispel certain prejudices which are still widely held, and should convince married couples, as well as health-care and social workers, of the importance of proper training in this area. (EV, #97) The Church is grateful to those who, with personal sacrifice and often unacknowledged dedication, devote themselves to the study and spread of these methods, as well to the promotion of education in the moral values which they presuppose. (EV, #97) It is therefore morally unacceptable to encourage, let alone impose, the use of methods such as contraception, sterilization, and abortion in order to regulate births. (EV, #90) In fact, as experience bears witness, not every conjugal act is followed by a new life. God has wisely disposed natural laws and rhythms of fecundity which, of themselves, cause a separation in the succession of births. (HV, #11) If, then, there are serious motives to space out births, which derive from the physical or psychological conditions of husband and wife, or from external conditions, the Church teaches that it is then licit to take into account the natural rhythms immanent in the generative functions, for the use of marriage in the in fecund periods only, and in this way to regulate birth without offending the moral principles which have been recalled earlier. (HV, #16) The Church is coherent with herself when she considers recourse to the infecund periods to be licit, while at the same time condemning, as being always illicit, the use of means directly contrary to fecundation, even if such use is inspired by reasons which may appear honest and serious. In reality, there are essential differences between the two cases; in the former, the married couple make legitimate use of a natural disposition; in the latter, they impede the development of natural processes. (HV, #16) The choice of the natural rhythms involves accepting the cycle of the person that is the woman and thereby accepting dialogue, reciprocal respect, shared responsibility and self- control. To accept the cycle and to enter into dialogue means to recognize both spiritual Natural Family Planning Program ◆ United States Conference of Catholic Bishops ◆ 3211 Fourth St., NE◆ Washington, DC 20017◆ 202/541-3240♦ [email protected] and corporal character of conjugal communion, and to live personal love with its requirement of fidelity. In this context the couple comes to experience how conjugal communion is enriched with those values of tenderness and affection which constitute the inner soul of human sexuality in its physical dimension also. In this way, sexuality is respected and promoted in its truly and fully human dimension, and is never "used" as an "object" that by breaking the personal unity of soul and body, strikes at God's creation itself at the level of the deepest interaction of nature and person. (FC, #32) In the light of the experience of many couples and of the data provided by the different human sciences, theological reflection is able to perceive and is called to study further the difference, both anthropological and moral, between contraception and recourse to the rhythm of the cycle: it is a difference which is much wider and deeper than is usually thought, one which involves in the final analysis two irreconcilable concepts of the human person and of human sexuality. (FC, #32) Periodic continence, that is, the methods of birth regulation based on self-observation and the use of infertile periods, is in conformity with the objective criteria of morality. These methods respect the bodies of the spouses, encourage tenderness between them and favor the education of an authentic freedom. In contrast, “every action which, whether in anticipation of the conjugal act, or in its accomplishment, or in the development of its natural consequences, proposes, whether as an end or as a means, to render procreation impossible" is intrinsically evil: Thus the innate language that expresses the total reciprocal self-giving of husband and wife is overlaid, through contraception, by an objectively contradictory language, namely, that of not giving oneself totally to the other. This leads not only to a positive refusal to be open to life but also to a falsification of the inner truth of conjugal love, which is called upon to give itself in personal totality.... The difference, both anthropological and moral, between contraception and recourse to the rhythm of the cycle...involves in the final analysis two irreconcilable concepts of the human person and of human sexuality. (CCC, #2370) Taking advantage of the temporary natural sterility in the Ogino-Knaus method does not violate the natural order...since conjugal relations respond to the will of the Creator. (Pius XII, Allocution to the Members of the Seventh Congress on Hematology, September 12, 1958) Free to choose the number of children they desire, the couple most be equally free to use natural methods for the responsible regulation of their fertility, for serious reasons and in conformity with the teaching of the church. These various methods deserve to be known and spread widely. Couples must be offered the means to freely exercise their responsible motherhood and fatherhood. The artificial methods of birth control as well as sterilization do not respect the human person of a woman and man because they eliminate or impede fertility, which is an integral part of the person. (PCF, The Ethical and Pastoral Dimensions of Population Trends, March 25, 1994, #76) Natural Family Planning Program ◆ United States Conference of Catholic Bishops ♦ 3211 Fourth St., NE◆ Washington, DC 20017◆ 202/541-3240♦ [email protected] Natural Family Planning Program ◆ United States Conference of Catholic Bishops ♦ 3211 Fourth St., NE◆ Washington, DC 20017◆ 202/541-3240♦ [email protected]
— TED SINIES CONFERENCE CATHOLIC BISHOPS RESPONSIBLE PARENTHOOD Parents should regard as their proper mission the task of transmitting human life and educating those to whom it has been transmitted. They should realize that they are thereby cooperators with the love of God the Creator, and are, so to speak, the interpreters of that love. Thus they will fulfill their task with human and Christian responsibility, and, with docile reverence toward God, will make decisions by common counsel and effort. (GS, #50) Let them [husband and wife] thoughtfully take into account both their own welfare and that of their children, those already born and those which the future may bring. For this accounting they need to reckon with both the material and the spiritual conditions of the times as well as of their state in life. Finally, they should consult the interests of the family group, of temporal society, and of the Church herself. (GS, #50) The parents themselves and no one else should ultimately make this judgment in the sight of God. But in their manner of acting, spouses should be aware that they cannot proceed arbitrarily, but must always be governed according to a conscience dutifully conformed to the divine law itself, and should be submissive toward the Church's teaching office, which authentically interprets that law in the light of the Gospel. That divine law reveals and protects the integral meaning of conjugal love, and impels it toward a truly human fulfillment. (GS, #50) [T]rusting in divine Providence and refining the spirit of sacrifice, married Christians glorify the Creator and strive toward fulfillment in Christ when with a generous human and Christian sense of responsibility they acquit themselves of the duty to procreate. Among the couples who fulfill their God-given task in this way, those merit special mention who with a gallant heart and with wise and common deliberation, undertake to bring up suitably even a relatively large family. (GS, #50) Married love, therefore, requires of husband and wife the full awareness of their obligations in the matter of responsible parenthood, which today, rightly enough, is much insisted upon, but which at the same time should be rightly understood. Thus, we do well to consider responsible parenthood in the light of its varied legitimate and interrelated aspects. (HV, #10) With regard to the biological processes, responsible parenthood means an awareness of, and respect for, their proper functions. In the procreative faculty the human mind discerns biological laws that apply to the human person. (HV, #10) Natural Family Planning Program ◆ United States Conference of Catholic Bishops ♦ 3211 Fourth St., NE◆ Washington, DC 20017◆ 202/541-3240♦ [email protected] With regard to man's innate drives and emotions, responsible parenthood means that man's reason and will must exert control over them. (HV, #10) With regard to physical, economic, psychological and social conditions, responsible parenthood is exercised by those who prudently and generously decide to have more children, and by those who, for serious reasons and with due respect to moral precepts, decide not to have additional children for either a certain or an indefinite period of time. (HV, #10) Responsible parenthood, as we use the term here, has one further essential aspect of paramount importance. It concerns the objective moral order which was established by God, and of which a right conscience is the true interpreter. In a word, the exercise of responsible parenthood requires that husband and wife, keeping a right order of priorities, recognize their own duties toward God, themselves, their families and human society. (HV, #10) From this it follows that they are not free to act as they choose in the service of transmitting life, as if it were wholly up to them to decide what is the right course to follow. On the contrary, they are bound to ensure that what they do corresponds to the will of God the Creator. The very nature of marriage and its use makes His will clear, while the constant teaching of the Church spells it out. (HV, #10) No difficulty can arise that justifies the putting aside of the law of God which forbids all acts intrinsically evil. There is no possible circumstance in which husband and wife cannot, strengthened by the grace of God, fulfill faithfully their duties and preserve in wedlock their chastity unspotted. (CC, #61) A particular aspect of this responsibility concerns the regulation of births. For just reasons, spouses may wish to space the births of their children. It is their duty to make certain that their desire is not motivated by selfishness but is in conformity with the generosity appropriate to responsible parenthood. Moreover, they should conform their behavior to the objective criteria of morality: When it is a question of harmonizing married love with the responsible transmission of life, the morality of the behavior does not depend on sincere intention and evaluation of motives alone; but it must be determined by objective criteria, criteria drawn from the nature of the person and his acts, and human procreation in the context of true love; this is possible only if the virtue of married chastity is practiced with sincerity of heart. (CCC, #2368) The work of educating in the service of life involves the training of married couples in responsible procreation. In its true meaning, responsible procreation requires couples to be obedient to the Lord's call and to act as faithful interpreters of his plan. This happens when the family is generously open to new lives, and when couples maintain an attitude of openness and service to life, even if, for serious reasons and in respect for the moral Natural Family Planning Program ◆ United States Conference of Catholic Bishops ♦ 3211 Fourth St., NE◆ Washington, DC 20017◆ 202/541-3240♦ [email protected] law, they choose to avoid a new birth for the time being or indefinitely. The moral law obliges them in every case to control the impulse of instinct and passion, and to respect the biological laws inscribed in their person. It is precisely this respect which makes legitimate, at the service of responsible procreation, the use of natural methods of regulating fertility. (EV, #97) Finally, it is for parents to take a thorough look at the matter and decide upon the number of their children. This is an obligation they take upon themselves, before their children already born, and before the community to which they belong-following the dictates of their own consciences informed by God's law authentically interpreted, and bolstered by their trust in Him. (Paul VI, PP, March 26, 1967, #37) The moral lawfulness of such conduct [limiting the use of the marital act to times of natural sterility] would be affirmed or denied according as to whether or not the intention to keep constantly to these periods is based on sufficient and reliable moral grounds. The sole fact that the couple do not offend against the nature of the act and that they are willing to accept and bring up the child that is born notwithstanding the precautions they have taken, would not of itself alone be sufficient guarantee of a right intention and of the unquestionable morality of the motives themselves. (Pius XII, Allocution to Midwives, October 29, 1951) To embrace the married state, to make frequent use of the faculty proper to it and lawful only in that state, while on the other hand, always and deliberately to seek to evade its primary duty without serious reason, would be to sin against the very meaning of married life. (Pius XII, Allocution to Midwives, October 29, 1951) Serious reasons, often put forward on medical, eugenic, economic and social grounds, can exempt from that obligatory service even for a considerable period of time, even for the entire duration of the marriage. It follows from this that the use of the infertile periods can be lawful from the moral point of view and, in the circumstances which have been mentioned, it is indeed lawful. If, however, in the light of a reasonable and fair judgment, there are no such serious personal reasons, or reasons deriving from external circumstances, then the habitual intention to avoid the fruitfulness of the union, while at the same time continuing fully to satisfy sensual intent, can only arise from a false appreciation of life and from motives that run counter to true standards of moral conduct. (Pius XII, Allocution to Midwives, October 29, 1951) Responsible fatherhood and motherhood include not only the couple's prudent decisions but also the refusal of artificial methods of birth control and, when there are serious reasons, the choice of the natural regulation of fertility. (PCF, The Ethical and Pastoral Dimensions of Population Trends, March 25, 1994, #46) A truly responsible fatherhood and motherhood begin with the couple's responsibility before the author and Lord of life. Such fatherhood and motherhood are based upon generosity within marriage and the respect of the unborn child's right to life. (PCF, The Natural Family Planning Program ◆ United States Conference of Catholic Bishops ♦ 3211 Fourth St., NE◆ Washington, DC 20017◆ 202/541-3240♦ [email protected] Ethical and Pastoral Dimensions of Population Trends, March 25, 1994, #73) Through their own experience spouses come to learn the meaning of responsible fatherhood and motherhood. They learn it also from the experience of other couples in similar situations and as they become more open to the findings of the various sciences. One could say that "experts" learn in a certain sense from "spouses", so that they in turn will then be in a better position to teach married couples the meaning of responsible procreation and the ways to achieve it. (John Paul II, Gratissimam sane, February 2, 1994, #12) They then experience a moment of special responsibility, which is also the result of the procreative potential linked to the conjugal act. At that moment, the spouses can become father and mother, initiating the process of a new human life, which will then develop in the woman's womb. If the wife is the first to realize that she has become a mother, the husband, to whom she has been united in "one flesh", then learns this when she tells him that he has become a father. Both are responsible for their potential and later actual fatherhood and motherhood. (John Paul II, Gratissimam sane, February 2, 1994, #12) Natural Family Planning Program ◆ United States Conference of Catholic Bishops ♦ 3211 Fourth St., NE◆ Washington, DC 20017◆ 202/541-3240♦ [email protected]
— Sometimes myths can teach the good as in stories where virtues are learned. And, other times myths can cause harm since they distort reality. In NFP education w...
— In the weeks following publication of his pastoral letter, Archbishop Chaput answered some common questions about family planning and related issues in his regular Denver Catholic Register column.