From: MNHCC@CUNYVM.BITNET (Marty Helgesen)
Newsgroups: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh
Subject: Re: Birth control & R. Catholic dogma
Date: 14 Aug 92 10:44:50 GMT
 <1992Aug13.191658.22837@crd.ge.com>
Organization: City University of New York/ University Computer Center

Michael,

You write, "I'm a bit confused.  I interpret your statement to mean
that coitus should only happen when all three of the legitimate
purposes are present.  How is it that using biological timing to
'separated the purposes' (aka, Natural Family Planning) is ok, but
using a pill is not?  I see no real differences between the two."

No, I did not mean to imply that coitus should only happen when all
three legitimate purposes are present.  When a woman has gone through
menopause she cannot, apart from a miracle, conceive any children.
However, the Catholic Church does not teach that married couples
should stop having intercourse after the wife has gone through meno-
pause, a fact that disproves the frequently made claim that the
Church thinks that sex should be used only for making babies. I don't
think anyone would claim that when a post-menopausal woman and her
husband have intercourse they are practicing contraception.  Her
permanent inability to conceive is the result of the natural life
cycle of a human female.

Suppose a younger couple has intercourse whenever they are in the
mood, without regard for whether the wife's monthly cycle makes her
fertile or infertile at the time, and without using a condom, the
pill, or any other device to prevent pregnancy, the way most couples
have had intercourse throughout human history.  It is likely that
most of their acts of intercourse will occur during infertile periods
and will not result in conception, but that some will occur during
fertile periods and will result in conception.  Again, I don't think
anyone would say that they are practicing contraception. They are not
practicing contraception when, by chance, the intercourse occurs when
the woman is fertile and she conceives.  Nor are they practicing
contraception when, by chance, the intercourse occurs when the woman
is infertile and she does not conceive.

When a couple practices Natural Family Planning (NFP), each individu-
al act of intercourse is the same as it would be if the couple were
having intercourse without regard for the time of month, as in the
previous paragraph.  The only difference between this couple and the
couple in the preceding paragraph is that this couple is taking the
woman's status in her natural monthly cycle into account in deciding
whether or not to have intercourse.  Doing so does not interfere with
the individual act of intercourse, which is identical with both
couples.  Contraception does interfere with the individual act by
preventing the deposit of sperm, killing the sperm, etc.  That is
what makes the moral difference.

If you believe that that kind of interference is morally legitimate,
that is between you and God.  I do not believe it is morally legiti-
mate.

You ask, "What methods of birth control fall under the Natural Family
Planning umbrella besides the rhythm method?"  I am not yet married,
so the question is of no practical importance to me, nor am I a
priest, a physician, or anyone else with a professional responsibili-
ty to counsel others on such topics.  Therefore, I have not studied
the matter in detail.  As I understand it, the old rhythm method was
a form of NFP that depended on keeping a calendar record of the
wife's monthly cycle.  This made it unreliable for women with irregu-
lar cycles.  There are two new techniques which involves observing
changes in the woman's body, such as the consistency of her cervical
mucous, that indicate whether she is fertile or infertile.  Reported-
ly, once a woman is shown what to look for she can easily distinguish
the difference.  These new techniques are the ones that tests have
shown to have the same high reliability as the pill without any of
the pill's serious side effects.  In my previous posting I mentioned
the book _The Art of Natural Family Planning_ by John and Sheila
Kippley.  It goes into detail on why and how NFP works.  The Kippleys
also run the Couple to Couple League (P.O. Box 111184, Cincinnati, OH
45211) dedicated to promoting NFP.  The League teaches volunteer
married couples who practice NFP how to teach other couples who are
interested. It thinks that the best way to learn how to make it work
is from people who are experienced in using it.  I'm sure it would
answer questions by mail or refer inquirers to couples in their area
who could help them.

Marty Helgesen

Bitnet: mnhcc@cunyvm  Internet: mnhcc@cunyvm.cuny.edu

"Just say know to Gnosticism."
Newsgroups: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh