If family planning is justified, the only method approved by the Church is Natural Family Planning. It is based on the fact that a woman is able to conceive only during a relatively short period of time each month. If one could know when ovulation takes place, then conception could be avoided without using any sinful means.

Natural Family Planning can do this and do it well. It is as efficient as the pill and more efficient than the barrier methods. NFP should not be compared to the old Rhythm method of the 1930's. After 14 years of research and a project studying over 1800 couples, the results show that the Creighton Model of NFP is 99.5% method effective and 96.8% effective in the real world. Both of these two statistics are equal to or better than anything else on the market. This study will soon be published in The Journal of Reproductive Medicine.

The Creighton Model of Natural Family Planning is a practical method which is not contrary to the moral law. It has no bad side effects like the pill or barrier methods which sometimes have severe side effects. The cost of NFP is a few days of abstinence, usually seven to ten. It works even if the women's cycle is irregular, or she has just given birth, or is nursing, or is sick, or is entering the years of menopause.

When the pill was introduced several decades ago, it was of much stronger dosage. It was sold as a means to prevent ovulation and therefore conception. The pill puts the woman's body into a state of false pregnancy and therefore stops further eggs from being released. The strength of that pill caused so many bad side effects that the pill companies began to reduce the dosage, but with terrible moral consequences. The reduced dosage sometimes allows ovulation and conception but prevents implantation of the fertilized egg into the lining of the uterus. Consequently the pill can be an abortifacient - it sometimes causes abortion.

"Think... Who put together in one action both what we call 'making love' and 'making babies'? Who else but God? The essence of the contraceptive mentality is this: 'We can take apart what God has put together.' The Church keeps reminding us that we have no moral right to do so." Marriage is for Keeps, John F. Kippley, p 72.

The conjugal act is a revalidation of the marriage covenant; it is a sign of complete self-giving. On the contrary an act of artificial contraception does not consummate a marriage because it is not a sign of complete self-giving. It says, "I give you my body but not completely. I will not give you my body for new life." This contraceptive mentality sets into motion a terrible chain of events: sex becomes a pleasure separated from consequences and responsibility; sex outside of marriage is then reasonable; masturbation, fornication and homosexual activity become "ok"; men and women become depersonalized objects of lust; divorce increases and in the end children suffer and suffer terribly.

For classes in NFP please phone Mary O'Keefe, R.N. at (818) 244-2671