NFP on the rise?

Okay, okay...so I'm becoming more and more crunchy with every passing day. From a blog that I subscribe to, Simple Organic (yes, yes, alright), comes this post that's somewhat encouraging. It talks about using NFP (Natural Family Planning) because it is...go figure...ORGANIC! Imagine that!

Now, I do believe that NFP proponents have been hounding this message for years. Primarily a Catholic movement because of its (bafflingly) uncommon teaching on birth control, NFP has experienced few proponents and many misconceptions. So, the method has persisted mostly out of strictly obligatory motivation. What I mean is that most people who choose to practice NFP do so because it is their only option for conception regulation. Consequently, many of the professional sources that support NFP reflect this religious background. I believe that because it seems to be such a catholic practice, secular professionals have labeled it as backwards and ineffective (the now age-old myth: Catholic = Dark Ages = close-minded, superstitious, backward, anti-science, etc.). They persist in equating it with the much less effective rhythm method and wave bad statistics in the air saying, "See, SEE! It's ineffective!"

When NFP is dismissed, people who want to regulate birth are forced to choose between barrier methods with higher failure rates (compared to NFP) or hormonal regulation (either an oral contraceptive or injected contraceptive) that will have negative side effects and a negative impact on the environment. People who teach NFP know this, so they have been highlighting the benefits for years.

So, now we liberal-leaning people double-checking NFP effective rate and concluding that, yes, it is effective enough to use, despite the misconceptions. It is delightful that the advent of the "green" movement--by most standards a liberal movement--should raise supportive NFP awareness.

I say it's delightful, but not a surprise. It's just another piece of evidence that true open-mindedness and objective analysis vindicates the Church.

EDIT by Jake 4/9/10

It bears mentioning the principles that govern the use of NFP. I will reproduce section 10 of Humanae Vitae, an Encyclical Letter of Pope Paul VI:

10. Married love, therefore, requires of husband and wife the full awareness of their obligations in the matter of responsible parenthood, which today, rightly enough, is much insisted upon, but which at the same time should be rightly understood. Thus, we do well to consider responsible parenthood in the light of its varied legitimate and interrelated aspects.

With regard to the biological processes, responsible parenthood means an awareness of, and respect for, their proper functions. In the procreative faculty the human mind discerns biological laws that apply to the human person. (9)

With regard to man's innate drives and emotions, responsible parenthood means that man's reason and will must exert control over them.

With regard to physical, economic, psychological and social conditions, responsible parenthood is exercised by those who prudently and generously decide to have more children, and by those who, for serious reasons and with due respect to moral precepts, decide not to have additional children for either a certain or an indefinite period of time.

Responsible parenthood, as we use the term here, has one further essential aspect of paramount importance. It concerns the objective moral order which was established by God, and of which a right conscience is the true interpreter. In a word, the exercise of responsible parenthood requires that husband and wife, keeping a right order of priorities, recognize their own duties toward God, themselves, their families and human society.

From this it follows that they are not free to act as they choose in the service of transmitting life, as if it were wholly up to them to decide what is the right course to follow. On the contrary, they are bound to ensure that what they do corresponds to the will of God the Creator. The very nature of marriage and its use makes His will clear, while the constant teaching of the Church spells it out. (10)

As we see in the fourth paragraph, parents may decide to delay conception for "serious reasons". Responsible parenthood also "concerns the objective moral order which was established by God." Finally, we see that "the exercise of responsible parenthood requires that husband and wife, keeping a right order of priorities, recognize their own duties toward God, themselves, their families and human society."

I wanted to highlight this portion of the document to show that NFP is not merely a "moral contraception" and can be used as flagrantly as contraception so often is. It is something used by couples only for serious reasons.

Green Movement vs. Feminist Movement

From Times Online comes this interesting article by Adam Sage where he interviews French feminist Elisabeth Badinter on her new book Le Conflit, La Femme et La Mère (The Conflict, The Woman and The Mother). From the interview, we get the overall message that Badinter believes that the"Green Movement" (you know, the movement that wants moms to breastfeed, used cloth diapers, make their own baby food, etc.) is at odds with women's liberation:

"Between the protection of trees and the liberty of women, my choice is clear,” she says. “It may seem derisory but powdered milk, jars of baby food and disposable nappies were all stages in the liberation of women.”

She's right! Is it really possible for a woman to breastfeed, make her own baby food, and wash all the diapers while maintaining her pre-child social- and work-life? Possible maybe, but it would be very hard.

The interesting thing here, of course, is watching two non-traditional movements fight. Whose side do I take? In the Greens vs. Feminists fight, I will ALWAYS side with Green (not just because I'm a die-hard Spartan fan). Why? Well, on this specific point, it's the Green mother who sacrifices more for her child. Does she sacrifice for love of her child or for love of Mother Earth? That's where the story gets gray, but the mother who sacrifices for the duties of motherhood has her priorities straighter than the mother who doesn't.

Plus, I'm much greener than I am feminist in practice. On the one hand, I just finished reading and agreeing with "Casti Canubii" by Pius XI; on the other hand, I'm considering making the switch to cloth diapers (or "nappies," for all the British readers out there!).

So I can take a side on the Green vs. Feminist duke-out not because I'm green or feminist, but because I'm Catholic.

(HT to Cloth Diaper Blog)

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