Only 4% of Catholics use NFP

[patg]

At a prayer group in a previous parish of mine somewhere down South, it emerged that every one of the married couples was using artificial contraception. This was a voluntary prayer group on a weekday evening, that is to say, the members were not just practising Catholics, but the committed, activist nucleus of the parish.

I think it is obvious that every long-married couple eventually does something purely to avoid conception. Just how many families of 20 or more children are there?

 

[Pug]

the members were not just practising Catholics, but the committed, activist nucleus of the parish.

That must have been VERY discouraging. I know so many active folks in the parish. If they are all using ABC, well, that would be really sad. However, I have to say that the only ones I’ve heard vocally support NFP are currently in a life situation where nfp can’t apply to their life. I’ve not heard a peep one way or the other from younger folk, not that it is a topic you’d really expect to come up, though.

:crying:

Wait, no, there is one family I am sure doesn’t use contraception. Size does matter.

 

[adrift]

I think it is obvious that every long-married couple eventually does something purely to avoid conception. Just how many families of 20 or more children are there?

What makes this obvious. Even when birthcontrol was not prevelant, families rarely had 20 plus children. I have been married 34 years is that long term. Your statement is untrue about me so I guess your statement is false. It is this attitude that fuels the idea that contraception is desirable and normal. I know many families who wished to have more children but it didn’t happen. They ended up with one two and three children and I guess you point to them as proving your point. YOU cannot know and you shouldn’t speculate either why couples do or do not have children.

 

[Island_Oak]

You could also look at it like this:

If a couple has been married “n” years and they don’t have about “n” children, then they are probably “sinning” (assuming “n” doesn’t go past menopause and there are no physical reasons preventing pregnancy…or sex).

Since even NFP is not allowed for avoiding pregnancy, the only reason for the “number of children < n” situation is avoidance of sex. So do even those 4% have “n” children? Or do they just avoid sex altogether?

Taking a look around at all the couples in my world, I’d say everyone is avoiding pregnancy quite often…and is it all just random chance?? Not likely…

patg:

I think it is obvious that every long-married couple eventually does something purely to avoid conception. Just how many families of 20 or more children are there?

These posts are a veritable treasure trove of misinformation, faulty assumptions and unreliable conclusions. Please employ some more serious consideration before posting utter nonsense on such a sensitive topic.

 

[Leeta]

Patg

You can’t assume that because a family doesn’t have 20 children, that they were doing something like contraception or sterilization. Some are more fertile and some because of poor health due to whatever factors, nutrition or inheritance, for example.

One other factor is that physicians do discourage large families and many births and so they try to scare women. Also, most OB-GYNs have little training in how to help a mother stay healthy before and during pregnancy and so many are tempted to resort to immorality. Being unhealthy decreases fertility and makes pregnancy a lot more strenuous.

But that is why taking an NFP class from the Couple to Couple League and also an ecological breastfeeding class is a big help in resisting temptations in this area at all stages of life.

 

[HoppityRedux]

These posts are a veritable treasure trove of misinformation, faulty assumptions and unreliable conclusions. Please employ some more serious consideration before posting utter nonsense on such a sensitive topic.

This if from post #8 of this thread. it’s taken from the US bishops site. it tell us there is virtually no difference in the use of ABC between catholic women and the general population. The very last sentence is also very interesting.

*According to data from the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG), 3,130 out of the 10,847 respondents or about 29% listed themselves as Roman Catholic. Of the 3,130 Catholic women respondents between the ages of 14 and 44, 34% were not using any method of family planning either because they were pregnant, early post-partum, not sexually active, sexually active and not using a method or had been sterilized for medical reasons. Therefore, 66% of the Catholic respondents were using some form of family planning. This percentage of women responders is slightly higher than the percent (64%) of the total group of respondents who were using some method of family planning.1 Of the 64% of Roman Catholic women who reported using some form of family planning only 3.7% reported using a natural method, i.e., calendar rhythm, basal body temperature (BBT) or NFP in the last month prior to the date of interview. Of these, only 13 women, or 0.6% of the total, were using a modern method of NFP. *

 

[mark_a]

At a prayer group in a previous parish of mine somewhere down South, it emerged that every one of the married couples was using artificial contraception. This was a voluntary prayer group on a weekday evening, that is to say, the members were not just practising Catholics, but the committed, activist nucleus of the parish.

I find this very believable. There just can’t be that many couples out there having trouble concieving.

But as we all learn about abc and nfp, study the teachings of the Church, and realize how wrong we were to contracept, etc., we’ll teach our children better and the Catholic population will explode, right?

 

[Lrning]

Since NFP is never supposed to be used to allow sex and avoid having children, I contend that even the 4% “not sinning” comment is ridiculous since there are so insignificantly few really large families.

Your statement above regarding NFP is incorrect. It** is** permitted to use Natural Family Planning to avoid sex during fertile times when a couple has serious reasons to avoid pregnancy.

From the CCC:

2370 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

 

[patg]

Your statement above regarding NFP is incorrect. It** is** permitted to use Natural Family Planning to avoid sex during fertile times when a couple has serious reasons to avoid pregnancy.

Then I guess that not wanting children is a serious reason. That’s not exactly the interpretation I hear around here.

 

[SeekerJen]

I think it is obvious that every long-married couple eventually does something purely to avoid conception. Just how many families of 20 or more children are there?

:banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

Again with the lack of compassion. I am an only child of parents who have been married for 35 years. My mother had to have surgery before she could even become pregnant with me, and she was never able to become pregnant again. My aunt and uncle have three children after 40 years of marriage. They tried for years, finally adopted two boys, and had a surprise change of life baby 10 years after that. Another aunt and uncle have one adopted son after many, many miscarriages. By your math, my husband and I should have at least two children, maybe three (3.5 years of marriage). Unfortunately due to infertility it would take a miracle of God for us to have even one that is ours biologically. Good grief, have you completely forgotten our exchange from earlier? Again, go read the Infertility thread on the Family Life page and educate yourself.

I apologize for any typos. This post made me so angry that I can barely type.

 

[HoppityRedux]

If only 13 of 3,130 Catholic women between ages 14 and 44 are using a modern method of NFP, then it’s all talk.

 

[Pug]

I think some couples never communicate to their families about miscarriages. It is often a silent suffering, with no funeral, no standard path.

 

[patg]

:banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

Again with the lack of compassion. I am an only child of parents who have been married for 35 years. My mother had to have surgery before she could even become pregnant with me, and she was never able to become pregnant again. My aunt and uncle have three children after 40 years of marriage. They tried for years, finally adopted two boys, and had a surprise change of life baby 10 years after that. Another aunt and uncle have one adopted son after many, many miscarriages. By your math, my husband and I should have at least two children, maybe three (3.5 years of marriage). Unfortunately due to infertility it would take a miracle of God for us to have even one that is ours biologically. Good grief, have you completely forgotten our exchange from earlier? Again, go read the Infertility thread on the Family Life page and educate yourself.

I apologize for any typos. This post made me so angry that I can barely type.

What part of "…and there are no physical reasons preventing pregnancy…" don’t you understand? How could I be any clearer? Once again, I’m not talking about you and I’m not at all insensitive to your situation.

I’m sure there are very many specific situations for which my comments do not apply. I was merely making the very simplistic observation that if there was anyone following the church teachings exactly, we would see at least some really large families. My only point is that it appears that almost all “faithful catholics” who have no difficulties whatsoever with pregnancy, will eventually set a personal limit on their procreativeness - purely for the sake of avoiding pregnancy.