One of the Side Benefits of Natural Family Planning

How Knowing Your Fertility Can Catch Diseases Early

I taught Natural Family Planning (NFP) at Providence Hospital in Washington, D.C. for 15 years with my husband. It was a great experience. And what a blessing NFP was for our marriage especially when I had cancer and was on chemo and my cycles went haywire!

Our bodies are integrated. If something is going wrong in one part of the body, it's likely to affect other parts. NFP is a wonderful way to understand the gift of fertility with which we've been blessed. It's especially helpful for couples having infertility problems. I once had a client who came to a follow up class and told me her infertility doctor asked her where she "learned to do that." (i.e., chart her cycles) It eliminated several tests he would have run. Another client had a doctor who was treating her to get rid of the normal discharge associated with ovulation! I think I'd switch doctors.

It's a good idea to take some responsibility for your own health, and NFP can be part of that. It truly is part of the good news for the family.

Record 87 Abortion Mills Closed in 2013

Death Throes of the Death Industry: A Record 87 Surgical Abortion Clinics Close in 2013
Mark Crutcher of Life Dynamics has always said one of the best ways to end abortion is to limit access. So this is good news indeed. As the Our Father says, "Lead us not into temptation." Many women will not choose abortion if the temptation is not available. Legalization gives a veneer of respectability to an unthinkable horror. So let's make that horror unthinkable in the minds of our neighbors. Raise a new year's toast to these heroic warriors:

Good News for Women, Couples, and Families: Natural Family Planning!

I never apologize for the Catholic Church's teaching on human life and love. The Church's condemnation of artificial birth control is morally correct and a life-affirming doctrine. NFP is not "Catholic birth control," but a way of life that respects and honors the "word" of love spoken between a man and woman. And the proof of God's blessing is evident in the outcome.

Those who practice contraception have high rates of divorce; 96% of NFP couples stay together. Contracepting couples also have higher rates of suicide, breast cancer, and sexual dysfunction. When you defy the natural law, results are rarely positive.

Chemical contraceptives are poison; most are also abortifacient. Not only do they damage women, but "endocrine disrupting chemicals" (EDCs) which are also used in fertilizers, pesticides, etc.) have a broader impact on the population and the environment. Many of the articles on EDCs don't mention hormonal birth control (It's not politically correct.), but the Guttmacher Institute, Planned Parenthood's research arm, acknowledged as early as 1997 that birth control drugs fit into that class of chemicals:

NFP: It's About Planning to Have Families

Earlier today, I read a blog entry about Human Life International and did a double take at a comment accusing Fr. Paul Marx, HLI founder, of "supporting birth control." Reading on, I realized the individual was talking about natural family planning (NFP) which he obviously considered immoral and one more item in the Planned Parenthood inventory. As a long-time NFP teacher, I couldn't disagree more.

NFP is all about being open to life and planning to have families.