NFP vs. Contraception

[xmydreamsfadex]

why is NFP morally acceptable for family planning, but not contraceptives like condoms? don’t they both work the same way?
thanks.

 

[Scottgun]

Try this thread: forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=227657

 

[Good_Daughter]

why is NFP morally acceptable for family planning, but not contraceptives like condoms? don’t they both work the same way?
thanks.

They certainly both have the same goal (postponing pregnancy) but they work quite differently. All contraceptive birth control from withdrawl to sterilization works by thwarting human fertility in some way.

Non-contraceptive birth control, like fertility awareness/NFP, works by informing a couple of their relative fertility at any given point in a wife’s menstrual cycle. With this information, a couple decides how likely sex is to result in conception and whether the marital embrace would be advisable (a faithful Catholic couple would do this prayerfully).

Unlike contraception, NFP allows the *natural end *of sex to stay intact. That, according to Catholic teaching, is the most important part.

 

[kleary]

why is NFP morally acceptable for family planning, but not contraceptives like condoms? don’t they both work the same way?
thanks.

Condoms? No. Because using a piece of latex to come between the man and woman is not the marital act.

Contraceptives? No. Because you, a human being and not God, are rendering your body infertile.

Ken

 

[sheila0405]

The “N” in NFP stands for “natural”. So, it is NATURAL family planning. Anything mechanical which renders either the husband or wife infertile is not natural. Couples who use NFP use planned abstinence to avoid pregnancy. However, when they do have sex, they realize that there is always the chance that a child could be conceived. So, they are what we call “open” to life. NFP involves both the man and the woman, is meant to be a means by which each one grows in holiness in their faith, as they submit in love and respect to the wishes and desires of each other.

 

[xmydreamsfadex]

thanks for the replys. this was more for my wife than me although i was stumped on the issue.

 

[ProVobis]

The “N” in NFP stands for “natural”. So, it is NATURAL family planning. Anything mechanical which renders either the husband or wife infertile is not natural. Couples who use NFP use planned abstinence to avoid pregnancy. However, when they do have sex, they realize that there is always the chance that a child could be conceived. So, they are what we call “open” to life. NFP involves both the man and the woman, is meant to be a means by which each one grows in holiness in their faith, as they submit in love and respect to the wishes and desires of each other.

Applies to those couples that are past the point of conceiving as well, I would think. Sex is certainly not forbidden to any married couple, regardless of their ages. (I’m not including those who have had intentional surgeries to strip away their ability to have children.)

 

[itsjustdave1988]

why is NFP morally acceptable for family planning, but not contraceptives like condoms? don’t they both work the same way?
thanks.

Fr. Gerald Kelly, S.J. explained the moral distinction between natural methods of regulating birth and artificial birth control very accurately and succinctly in his book, *Medico-Moral Problems (1958):
*

“The Church teaches that contraception is a sin because it means doing what is evil. It is not the same with [Natural Family Planning (NFP)]. Those who practice [NFP] do nothing evil. They simply omit doing something good — that is, they abstain from intercourse at the time when it might be fertile. Therefore, the morality of using [NFP] must be judged in the same way as other omissions: if the abstinence from intercourse is a neglect of duty, it is sinful; if it does not imply a neglect of duty, it is not sinful.”

See more here: What is the morally correct level of children?