H
Hoosier_Daddy
Guest
It is important to distinguish two facts.Not that I agree with Prodgirl, because I’d never do that,but NFP sure seems like it could be used as a form of contraception, with a wink and a nod. Why else is it called Natural Family Planning? It’s a way of timing pregnancies. Which means there are times when a couple uses it to have a baby. And there are, by definition, times when a couple uses it to not have a baby.
Otherwise, what’s the point? Just do it all the time, I guess. Sometimes she’s fertile, sometimes she’s not. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t.
As soon as you start charting, you identify the fertile periods (supposedly–I have my doubts). Therefore, you identify infertile periods. So unless a couple is chaste during the infertile periods, and only having sex during the fertile periods, they are necessarily practicing a form of non-pharmaceutical contraception.
My wife and I did it for a while when we were trying to have our first child. She exhibited what were thought to be fertility problems, so we wanted to know for sure what was going on. Turns out it didn’t matter. What medical science and NFP both told us was wrong: she got pregnant despite the data.
And…and! And on this very forum, whenever a person posts about risks a woman may face with pregnancy–situations where a doctor has warned against pregnancy–the advice is always “practice NFP.” Practive NFP to avoid the risk of a dangerous pregnancy. Which is…drum roll…contracepting.
The Church teaches that NFP may indeed be employed by a couple for serious/just/grave reasons.
The Church does not teach that one must use NFP at all.
NFP is a choice. One may choose to employ it or not. And either choice is valid.