NFP is against Birth/Conception, so it is contraception.
Castii Cannubii mentions repeatedly that the conjugal act is intrinsically connected to procreation.
Also Catholic Dogma teaches:
St Augustine in Casti Connubii:
The Primary end must be suborinate:
NFP subordinates the primary endpoint of marriage to other things via intentionally endeavoring the avoidance of children, that is avoidance of the primary end, whilst having marital relations.
So there is only a miniscule difference:
Artificial contraception frustrates the power of the marriage act itself, while NFP frustrates its primary purpose.
We must consider the use of **‘natural reasons either of time or of certain defects’ ** in Casti Connubii:
This concerns menopause and infertility, so that these Married couples may morally have sexual relations (intercourse), knowing that there is no possibility of procreation from the act.
Just a few Words to Contemplate:
By NFP standards we would not have many of the saints today, including
St Catherine of Siena (the 25th child in her family).
Questions:
If NFP is not a sin and is ‘Natural’ as it is termed; Can married couples use this method of NFP to have no children?
If so, if all women use NFP, then by this standard there will be no more children, is this correct?
This post makes a lot of sense. NFP, when used to avoid conception, is just another method available to prevent children. The intention of NFP, when used to avoid having children, and the intention of those using ABC is exactly the same, to prevent conception, while at the same time to enable the couple to enjoy the marital bed. When your goal is to enjoy the marital embrace and at the same time to avoid conception, you are placing the unitive primary and the procreative in abeyance. The Traditional teaching of the Church before Vatican II was that the procreative is primary and the unitive is secondary.
Another thing that bothers me about NFP is the early embryonic death which is associated with its use. Here I am talking about a human life which is trying to attach itself to the womb, but becasue the couple has deliberately chosen to have sex during a certain time as determined by their use of artificial charts, thermometric measurements, calendars, arithmetical calculations and their knowledge of the female reproductive cycle, it becomes nearly impossible for the embryo to do this, and 99% of the time he or she will die. Here we are reading about human embryos which are dying. This is according to an article by Luc Bovens, in the Journal of Medical Ethics, (vol 32, p 355).
“If you’re concerned about embryonic death,” Bovens says, “you’ve got to be consistent here and give up the rhythm method.”
newscientist.com/article/dn9219.html
According to the article, the rhythm method of contraception increases the risk of early embryonic death.
nytimes.com/2006/06/13/he…gewanted=print
jme.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/32/6/355
Can the use of NFP be morally justifiable, if it is responsible for a much higher number of embryonic deaths than other non-approved contraceptive techniques.