NFP As Effective As Contraception
— Posted by Annie (February 22, 2007 at 4:43 pm)
In a comment on John’s post, Bad Ideas and Good Ideas, Michael-2 gave a link to an article on a study done in Germany about Natural Family Planning. I think it’s worth posting about. You gotta love hearing positive things about NFP in the news. Although the article focuses on the effectiveness of NFP as a contraceptive, it’s a step in the right direction. When a couple uses NFP, they can’t help but begin to view the body differently.
On a side note, though I realize for Catholics NFP has a moral base to it, I marvel at how well the Catholic Church takes care of her children spiritually and physically. Not only is NFP good for the soul (and relationships), but it’s healthy for the body. When practicing NFP, a woman’s body is not poisoned with chemicals and there is no need for self mutilation for either partner, which by the way may cause dementia in men! And if you need to avoid pregnancy for some good reason - it’s effective!
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Young Christian Woman says:
Wouldn’t not contracepting at all be better for a relationship than using NFP not to conceive?
Comment posted February 23rd, 2007 at 9:09 am
Annie says:
Young Christian Woman says:
Wouldn’t not contracepting at all be better for a relationship than using NFP not to conceive?
I’m confused. A couple can use NFP in order to avoid pregnancy if that is the decision they come to together in prayer. And I’m assuming we’re talking about a Christian, usually Catholic couple here.
Comment posted February 23rd, 2007 at 11:48 am
Michael-2 says:
Young Christian Woman asks “Wouldn’t not contracepting at all be better for a relationship than using NFP not to conceive? ”
Many Catholics, including the institutional Church does not consider NFP as “contraception”. The word “contraception” was coined about 70 years ago or so to replace the word “anticonception” and “anticonception” is still used in some areas of the world to describe active direct methods of birth control.
Whether there are theoretical or abstract or fabricated differences can be debated and argued and screamed about until the proverbial “cows come home”. It depends upon how one views the relationship between the procreative and unitive aspects of sex; either from the broad viewpoint or the specific view of the sex act itself.
But inductively in broad strokes the fruits are glaringly different. NFP serves life, other more active methods more of less serve death.
In Christ
Comment posted February 24th, 2007 at 12:14 am
Mike says:
Question –
Can anyone post links to the studies saying those who use NFP have between a 2-4% divorce rate? I have seen information saying those who use NFP are practically divorce free.
I know the Couple to Couple League website has some information. Where can I find information on more studies about this?
Mike
Comment posted February 25th, 2007 at 4:30 pm
Rosie says:
http://www.physiciansforlife.org/content/view/193/71/
http://www.pureloveclub.com/chastity/index.php?id=7&entryid=121
Comment posted February 25th, 2007 at 4:52 pm
mary kay says:
http://keyword.netscape.com/ns/boomframe.jsp?query=divorce+rate+NFP&page=1&offset=1&result_url=redir%3Fsrc%3Dwebsearch%26requestId%3Daaac6a4f4cd931c2%26clickedItemRank%3D1%26userQuery%3Ddivorce%2Brate%2BNFP%26clickedItemURN%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fccli.org%252Fnfp%252Fmarriage%252Fmaritalduration.php%26invocationType%3D-%26fromPage%3DnsBrowserRoll%26amp%3BampTest%3D1&remove_url=http%3A%2F%2Fccli.org%2Fnfp%2Fmarriage%2Fmaritalduration.php
Comment posted February 26th, 2007 at 5:21 am
mary kay says:
Mike,
Try the above link.
MK
Comment posted February 26th, 2007 at 5:21 am
Mike says:
Wow Mary Kay and Rosie,
You both are great!!!
Mike
Comment posted February 26th, 2007 at 6:31 pm
Michael-2 says:
Remember people, for a married couple to practice NFP in it’s purest form is a very significant discipline for most, especially the young. Especially if you are determined not to conceive. There was a time when people would consider that if they could not be perfect and sinless, they would not try it and submit to general contraception. This was a huge mistake. Perhaps this was because in the Catholic culture any single act of impurity would be considered as heavy as a whole lot of it. Mortal sin = mortal sin. But sins can be forgiven and there is more at stake than the immediate celestrial scorecard.
But do not let your imperfections stop you from taking the NFP road. The stakes are too high both to your marriage and to society to either crow about Catholic continuity on contraception or to let your own weakness take you off the road. Steps at a time. Also 21 caret gold will sometimes look and wear almost as good as 24 caret gold. And the 21 caret gold can be turned into 24 karet gold a lot easier than 0 caret gold.
Peace
Comment posted February 26th, 2007 at 10:30 pm
Generations for Life » Blog Archive » Teaching Teens Fertility Awareness says:
[…] There was an interesting article in the Washington Post the other day on whether or not teen aged girls should be taught about their fertility. It seems like both sides are afraid to teach Fertility Awareness (also known as Natural Family Planning or NFP). Those in favor of “comprehensive sex ed” say it’s too complicated and teens won’t follow through. Teens would rely on only part of the method and not be fully “protected.” (Funny – we say the same thing when it comes to teens and birth control – teens won’t follow through). The abstinence-only folks think that it will cause teens to become sexually active since they will now know when to avoid sex to avoid pregnancy. […]
Comment posted March 24th, 2007 at 8:33 am