Contraception vs. NFP

Humanae Vitae  Pope Paul VI, our school’s namesake, was prophetic when he wrote about the Church’s teaching on contraception in his 1968 Encyclical Humanae Vitae.  Contrary to popular opinion and prevailing wisdom, he warned that the widespread use of contraception would lead to the following:

PVI’s Predictions…. Increase of marital infidelity. General lowering of moral standards especially among the youth. Men losing respect for women, treating them as mere instruments of their own enjoyment Contraception would become a dangerous tool in the hands of governments and public authorities who care little about the moral law. Leading man to think that he has unlimited dominion over his own body.

Contraception and NFP Differ in 4 Major Ways 1. The morality of the act 2. Some contraceptives work by causing an early abortion 3. Adverse side effects caused by contraceptives 4. The benefits/fruits of NFP

1. The Morality of the Act  Sexual intercourse is a powerful form of marital communication.  The sexual act can be thought of as the wedding vows made flesh-renewing the wedding vows; the couple’s promise that their love will be free, faithful, total, and open to life (fruitful).  It is not avoiding pregnancy in itself is wrong, but the reason and method that is used affects the morality of the act.  Birth control views fertility as an enemy that needs to be ‘protected’ from; it uses a barrier, hormones or chemicals to prevent pregnancy or implantation.  NFP (Natural Family Planning) relies on the knowledge of when a woman is fertile (fertility awareness) to either avoid or achieve pregnancy.

Morality cont’d..  Contraception deliberately interrupts, sterilizes and works against (contra) conception.  NFP couples respect the way God ordained conception to occur; they accept and work with the natural cycles of woman’s fertility.  Contraception alters the marital act of total self giving and receiving, since one’s fertility is withheld (pregnancy is treated as a disease).  In the language of the body, instead of saying ‘I give myself’ with contraception the body says “I refuse to give all of myself or receive all of you”  NFP couples are acting and working with the way God has designed fertility; it in no way disrupts or sterilizes the act of intercourse.

2.Some Contraceptives Work by Causing Abortions  The birth control pill, the morning after pill (Plan B Emergency Contraception), the patch, the intrauterine device (IUD), and the Depo-Provera shot sometimes work by preventing a newly conceived child from attaching to the uterus (implantation).  This causes a first trimester abortion to occur – without the mother even knowing it. Video link here:

 Most of the potential adverse side effects of all contraceptives affect the woman.  Many side effects include but are not limited to a heightened risk of breast cancer, of contracting a sexually transmitted disease (STD), migraine headaches, high blood pressure, fatal blood clots, increased fetal abnormalities, and toxic shock syndrome.  Hormonal contraceptives give a false sense of security since they do not protect against STDs contracted by genital contact (such as HPV). 3. Adverse Side Effects Due to Contraception

4. The Benefits of NFP NFP requires and therefore helps foster good communication in marriage. NFP couples are in a much better position to teach their teens about sexual self-control. A couple should not expect their children to follow the Church’s teachings on sexuality outside of marriage if they as parents are not willing to follow the Church’s teachings on sexuality within marriage NFP offers a better understanding of how to time intercourse to achieve pregnancy. While statistics show that more than half of all marriages end in divorce; couples who use NFP have a divorce rate of 1 to 3 percent

Birth Control Facts  1 out of every 6 teenage girls will become pregnant during her first year of using birth control.  Planned Parenthood’s research institute had to admit that most high school pregnancies are caused by contraceptive failure, not by the failure to use them.  Now consider that a woman can get pregnant only a few days of the month, but you can get an STD on any day.  Birth control pills interfere with a woman’s immune system, making her more likely to contract certain STDs.