Natural Family Planning – A Primer Introduction: In order to discern the wisdom of the morality of Natural Family Planning (NFP) it is necessary to go back to the very beginning, the creation of man and woman. Pope John Paul II in his beautiful work The Theology of the Body reminds us that human beings, man and woman, were created for marriage. “This perspective is deeply rooted in the consciousness of humanity (cf. Gen 2:23) and also in the particular consciousness of the nuptial meaning of the body (Gen 2:25) … Understanding the nuptial meaning of the body in its masculinity and femininity reveals the depths of their freedom which is the freedom of giving” (p. 74). That is, each one by his or her very nature is freely made for the “other” as spouse, companion, friend, lover, and, together freely united, made to renew humanity by means of procreation.

When we consider the essence of marriage, it is clear that its whole meaning is contained in the total self giving of the bride to the groom in a commitment which is free, exclusive, lifelong, and open to children; and he to her in like manner. This becomes even more wonderfully understood when we consider how Our Lord Jesus Christ has raised this holy state of life to the dignity of a sacrament understood as the reflection of the totality of His self giving to His Church in love and she to Him. (See Ephesians 5: 21-33.)

Finally, it is necessary for us to consider matrimony as a Sacrament of Service. While each sacrament is an encounter with Christ and each has its own relation with the Church, the fundamental purpose of five of the sacraments is the holiness of the person who receives them. Thus, for example, Baptism is the gateway to life in the Spirit because it makes us children of God, members of His family, and heirs of heaven; while Reconciliation restores or strengthens our loving relationship with Christ and His Church. Two sacraments, Holy Orders and Matrimony, however, “are directed towards the salvation of others; if they contribute as well to personal salvation, it is through service to others that they do so” (Catechism of the Catholic Church #1534, hereinafter CCC). As St. Agustine famously said, “I am a Christian with you. I am a bishop for you.” So too, when the groom commits himself to his bride, he gives himself in service to her by working for her holiness, and she to him for his. A point to remember is that the bride and groom are the ministers of the sacrament of Matrimony as each gives himself or herself to the other (the priest or deacon is the official witness of the Church). Both give themselves together in service to their children working for their sanctification, first by the spouses’ example, then by providing for their well being, education, discipline, and affection. Ultimately, the spouses work together in service for the sanctification of humanity because the family is the basis of all society.

It is only by reflection on the above that we can hope to understand fully the holiness of both the unitive and the procreative aspects of the marital act. So too, we can better capture the need for the wholeness of that act and the dangers of anything that might fracture the act or its morality.

Human Sexuality:

“Sexuality is ordered to the conjugal love of man and woman. In marriage the physical intimacy of the spouses becomes a sign and pledge of spiritual communion … The acts in marriage by which the intimate and chaste union of the spouses takes place are noble and honorable; the truly human performance of these acts fosters the self-giving they signify and enriches the spouses in joy and gratitude” (CCC #2360 and 2362). The marital act is of itself holy. The warmth and tenderness that it implies is meant to bring out the very best in each of the spouses. This does not mean that every instance necessarily lights up the sky with fireworks. Rather it is a quiet renewal of the couple’s wedding promises.

Precisely because of its holiness, any deviance from the marital act is sordid and ugly. The act is conjugal in that it reflects the exclusive and lifelong commitment of the spouses. Thus masturbation, fornication, adultery, and any homosexual acts are intrinsically evil because they attack it. That a person may derive some sensual pleasure from any such performance can be certain. However, each makes a mockery of the very reason we are male or female as shown above in the nuptial meaning of the body. That men are attracted to women and women to men (and sometimes even to their own sex) and each is attracted to sensual pleasure is a given. In themselves emotions or passions, such as sexual attraction or repulsion, desire or fear, joy, sadness, or anger, are neither good nor evil. They become good, and thus a virtue, or bad, and thus a vice, insofar as they become voluntary, that is, flow from an act of the will guided by reason and conscience. (See CCC #1767-1774.)

The conjugal act is unitive. Thus it should reflect the common desire of self giving. In real life the physical or emotional desire may be more intense on the part of one or the other of the spouses. It may also involve a realization of the meaning of service for the sanctification of the other. Marital love recognizes that each spouse belongs to the other. But love is always respectful and considerate of the feelings of the partner. Love seeks union without force. The CCC has a wonderful paragraph directed to the husband, although it could apply to either spouse: St. John Chrysostom suggests that young husbands should say to their wives: I have taken you in my arms, and I love you, and I prefer you to my life itself. For the present life is nothing, and my most ardent dream is to spend it with you in such a way that we may be assured of not being separated in the life reserved for us. … I place your love above all things, and nothing would be more bitter or painful to me than to be of a different mind than you. (CCC #2365)

The conjugal act is procreative. Marital love naturally tends to be fruitful. The spouses are called to cooperate with the love of God in the creation of human life and in the education of the children given into their care. Thus, the Church clearly teaches that “it is necessary that each and every marriage act remain ordered per se [that is, in itself] to the procreation of human life.” “This particular doctrine, expounded on numerous occasions by the Magesterium, is based on the inseparable connection, established by God, which man on his own initiative may not break, between the unitive significance and the procreative significance which are both inherent to the marriage act” (CCC 2366 quoting Pope Paul VI’s encyclical On Human Life).

Errors:

Because each conjugal act must be open to children, any self mutilation, such as vasectomy or tubal ligation, is immoral. So too is any direct, positive frustration of any phase in the process of conception before, during, or after a conjugal act. However, we must distinguish any procedures or the use of substances which may have a contraceptive effect but which are done for a legitimate purpose. For instance, a drug taken by a wife for the direct purpose of curing or alleviating a serious pathological condition, such as endometriosis or uterine bleeding, which drug also has the result of suppressing ovulation is morally permissible. This is known as the principal of the twofold effect, the good effect (the cure in the example given) which is desired and the bad effect (temporary sterility) which is tolerable. In this case, there would not be a “direct” frustration of the act, but an “indirect” but not desired frustration. Of course, if it is possible to affect a cure without interfering with conception, such a cure must be used.

The term “positive frustration” or “artificial contraception” methods refer to any interruption in the completion of the act or any device or chemical used to impede or prevent conception. Such methods as Norplant devices, Depo-Provera injections, and the “Pill” or their equivalents are not only contraconceptive, but, should conception take place, often have abortifacient effects. The RU-486 or its equivalents do not usually prevent conception but cause the developing child to be aborted.

It should be stressed that the Church clearly teaches that “each and every” conjugal act must be ordered in itself to “the procreation of human life.” Thus, spouses morally may not determine that, even for a limited period of time, whether for emotional, financial, educational, housing, or other reasons, they can use artificial methods to prevent conception. This would be like holding that they will be generally honest and not steal from their workplace except for a month or two. Just as each act of honesty or robbery is an act in itself, so too is each conjugal act. Further, a good end, such as the spacing of children, does not justify a bad means, such as abortion or artificial contraception. It is the integrity and wholeness of the marital act itself that is at stake. As was stated above, each act must reflect the total self giving of the spouses exclusively, for life, and open to children. Anything less becomes a denial of the purpose of marriage.

Objectively, it is clear that the conjugal act must be complete and properly ordered to be morally correct and, to the extent that the act has a lack or deviance, it is morally wrong, that is, it is sinful. It is a serious offense against God. It is also an offense against reason, truth, and right conscience. (See CCC #1849 and #1850.) Subjectively, that is, whether one, the other, or both spouses actually sin by using artificial methods to prevent conception, depends on their knowledge or understanding of this matter. (This is true of any moral action.) They are bound to follow their conscience. “Conscience is a judgment of reason whereby the human person recognizes the moral quality of a concrete act that he is going to perform, is in the process of performing, or has already completed. In all he says and does, man is obliged to follow faithfully what he knows to be just and right” (CCC # 1778).

Having stated that a person is obliged to obey his conscience, it follows that that person has the obligation to form a right conscience, which is a lifelong task. In a secular society such as the United States it is not surprising that an ambience of high individualism is prevalent. Thus, a way of life is often influenced by public policy. Regarding family planning, for example, the training of persons in the medical professions almost always consists only in the use of artificial means of prevention and accepts abortion as a viable solution to an unwanted pregnancy. What these medical people have learned for most it is what they will practice. The impact of this is far reaching. Thus, in the preparation of our youth for marriage and among married couples, it is rare in today’s society that they would have received an adequate training about why a practice may be moral or immoral. Yet, the obligation to form the conscience remains. Each person “must always seriously seek what is right and good and discern the will of God expressed in divine law” (CCC # 1787). Ignorance of moral good, ignorance of Christ and his gospel, bad example given by others, assertion of a mistaken notion of autonomy of conscience, rejection of the Church’s authority and her teaching, and a lack of conversion and charity can all be at the source of errors of judgment in moral conduct. When a person takes little trouble to find out what is good or true, that person is culpable for the evil he commits. (See CCC # 1791 and #1792.)

Concomitantly, the Church has an obligation to present its full and untarnished teaching in matters of sexuality to its youth, engaged couples, and spouses. Obviously, the Church also has the obligation to make every effort to educate those in or entering the medical professions in the immorality of artificial birth control and the horrors of abortion.

Legitimate means:

Having surveyed human and marital sexuality and considered why artificial anticonceptive methods are intrinsically evil, we are now in a position to consider methods which safeguard both the unitive and procreative aspects of the conjugal act thereby preserving mutual love and its direction toward the spouses’ calling to parenthood.

First, we would comment that, if the spouses so desire, they could simply leave the frequency or timing of the conjugal act to mutual accord. This is surely the way many couples have lived for thousands of years, particularly when no one had any knowledge of what actually takes place in the biology of conception. (Consider that no one had actually seen an ovum until the nineteenth century.) Clearly, if the health and generosity of the couple are sufficient, their being open to accept children lovingly as a gift of God is praiseworthy. Periodic or even permanent abstinence from the conjugal act is also a practice that the spouses may use by mutual accord, particularly if the health of either party or another serious reason is present. When each spouse lives in service to the other, each will give first consideration to the good of the other. They will find many ways to express their mutual love, respect, and tenderness.

Natural Family Planning (NFP) is the term for fertility education methods designed to achieve or avoid pregnancies. These methods are based on the study of the naturally occurring signs and symptoms of the fertile and infertile phases of a woman’s menstrual cycle. The male is considered to be continually fertile. Not so the woman. NFP simply accepts and tracks the individual woman’s fertility. In no way does it prevent, alter, or influence any aspect of that fertility. Thus, should the spouses desire to have a child, they concentrate on performing the marital act during the fertile period. Should they desire to avoid pregnancy, they abstain from intercourse and genital contact during that period, limiting the conjugal act to the infertile period. They work together in love and respect. They grow together in understanding each other better as spouses, companions, friends, and lovers. Their actions are fully in accord with their human nature in its spiritual, biological and rational aspects.

One of the NFP methods uses the observation of cervical mucus to determine the fertile and infertile periods. This is known as the “Ovulation Method” (OM) also known as the “Billings” method for Drs. John and Evelyn Billings. Another method is called the Sympto-Thermal Method (STM) which charts the primary signs of fertility: waking body temperature and cervical mucus. Secondary signs of fertility, including breast tenderness and cervical changes are also charted.

The lactational amenorrhea method (LAM) of NFP is based on the fact that the same hormones that make the mother’s milk for breastfeeding also suppress the release of reproductive hormones. While breastfeeding full-time most mothers do not ovulate and do not have menstrual periods. The term “full-time” means that feedings must be unrestricted (that is, on demand), all of the infant’s sucking should be at the breast, and the introduction of solid foods should be delayed for the first six months or longer. Thus, the infertile period may last for thirteen months or more. A few women may experience the return of menstrual periods by six months, others not until two or three years while lactating.

It is expected that couples following any of the NFP methods will be well trained by competent instructors and will seek appropriate guidance for any unusual circumstances.

Again, the Church has an obligation to present the wholesome methods of the marital act to its youth, engaged couples, and spouses. Obviously, the Church also has the obligation to make every effort to educate thoroughly those in or entering the medical professions so that they can afford appropriate advice to those seeking their expertise in this area.

Much more could be detailed about the NFP methods and their moral, physical, and psychological advantages over other methods. So too, there is abundant literature on the dangers of the use of chemicals and other artificial methods of contraception. The above is intended only as a primer in the fundamental aspects of the theme of conjugal love. It is hoped that it will have met this purpose.

©David J. Gaffny 2009- 6 - 10

If you are interested in attending NFP sessions, call the church office at 645-6275.