Well done, Spirit FertilityCare Services, who gets a mention at the end of this online piece!
Mar 162010
Mar 062010
Many people would consider the phrase “contraception-free pharmacy” an oxymoron, but I think it’s a badge of honor. It shows a pro-fertility, pro-family mentality that is well aware that not only is the Pill (and other contraceptives) not a panacea, but that it has terrible side effects that wreck the physical, mental, social, relational, and spiritual state of women and families, and thus is bad for society at large.
DMC Pharmacy, one of the rare contraception-free pharmacies in the United States, near Washington, DC, has closed its doors effective two days ago due to lack of customer and financial support. CNA covers the story here.
This is so sad and frustrating on several levels. It takes so much courage and sacrifice to make the decision to go against the grain and do the right thing, and to not be supported on principal by two large parishes (totaling 20,000+ parishioners!) says a lot about those parishes. I mean, I’m taking a leap on my inference here, but I find it hard to believe that two parishes really living their faith could not find it in themselves to help a brutha out. But this is the DC area. I used to live in the DC area, and though the DC area is a quasi-mecca for a cluster of super faithful, rock solid Christians, the Catholic population is notably unfaithful in the area of contraception and related issues especially. Boo, those two parishes. (I could be wrong about the parishes, but it just doesn’t add up.)
Which begs the question, how can pro-fertility, pro-family communities (especially faith communities support their local pharmacies? Continue reading »
This Thursday’s ThAT post is a positive one. Normally, ThAT’s are for email writing or combox campaigns for people to change erroneous opinions or public information on Natural Family Planning, but this week, I invite you to nominate somebody that you know who promotes or teaches Theology of the Body, and has done so amidst difficulties or with a heroic beauty.
Feb 242010
Came across a great post about how to get my posts on demand without manually checking back every day. A couple different ways to get me automatically:
- Sign up for email posts by clicking the “Sign up for email” link in the upper right hand of the blog.
- Google Reader (better if you have multiple blogs you follow, especially if they post often)
- RSS Feed (The blog and new entries are bookmarked in your Internet browser)
- More….
For more information on how to get on the RSS train, see The Mystery of RSS Readers, a great little how to.
Reminder to those Google Readers already subscribed: have you reset your “follow” address from nfpworks.wordpress.com to the new domain, nfpworksblog.com? This helps me to keep track of how many Google friends I’ve got, so it’s much appreciated!
Feb 072010
…be back when I get one, hopefully the one I’m interviewing for tomorrow morning.
Jan 282010
To most people, this conversation at WDTPRS blog (by Fr. Z) is a bunch of churchy jibber-jab. But to me (and perhaps a few of you), it’s a fascinating read. You see, the Diocese of Phoenix just took their Marriage Preparation program to the next level—or perhaps the level after that, by increasing the amount of formation needed to complete their marriage preparation program and marrying in the Church in the diocese of Phoenix. There’s also a new component for marriage formation classes after the wedding.
Now this new policy has been in the Church and secular news for the last week or so, but I’ve not actually read Bishop Olmstead’s Letter, Covenant of Love, or the new policy. I’ll have more commentary on the policy, which includes mandatory NFP classes, once I get a better look at the documentary. However, until then, here’s a little preview of the 150+ comments over at Fr. Z’s blog: Continue reading »
Listening to Janet Smith’s “Contraception: Why Not” is a pivotal moment for most people in their love and family journey from contraception to NFP. I’ve seen it in action, and I’ve heard the stories. One woman I know, on the Pill of 8 years for “medical reasons,” listened to it with her husband, and threw away her Pills that night! And now she, who was told she couldn’t have children, is a mom to an 11 month old miracle.
I sat next to Janet Smith at a conference dinner once, and I asked her how many Contraception: Why Not stories she’s heard. You wouldn’t believe it, she said. She hears them all the time, and they’re amazing.
One More Soul, a big NFP and family life promoter, is collecting stories of conversions/ post CWN conceptions. All stories and photos can be sent to Megan Morris at megan@onemoresoul.com. Please submit by February 1st.
But more about Janet Smith…
Janet Smith is amazing, and people of all walks, though perhaps skeptical at first, become at the very least challenged and intrigued about this issue, and at the best, completely floored and changed from listening to this talk. If you’ve listened to CWN, of which their are two versions–the 1st edition (get your free copy here) and the revised, you probably know what I’m talking about. Janet Smith has mad gifts: super smart, well read, spiritually well formed, quick-talking, witty and compassionate.
What is it about CWN that gets people do you think? It’s been a while since I’ve listened to the first version, but I know I love to recommend the second version because it includes a lot of biological, sociological, anthropological and demographic research, particularly addressing environmental issues. There’s research in the first one for sure, but new stuff is added in the second talk. While she’s got a flair for presenting the research in a way that’s fast moving yet accessible, I think what balances that out and clinches it for the average listener is her humor and common sense. She has a way of turning the family planning status quo on it’s head, and making you laugh at it.
If you’ve not listened to it, it’s a must-have for your NFP-kit (forthcoming post on what one’s “NFP kit” includes). When I worked as Family Planning Coordinator in Madison, we ordered them by the several hundreds, and gave them out all the time (they’re cheaper in quantity, so if you know you’ll give them away, go in on some with friends for the cheaper price).
Jan 192010
Prologue: I’ve updated the Think Again Thursdays Update with my comments on Rachel Bereit’s letter to NFPers.
The organization that got its name from family planning has at least one franchise exec who’s actually aware of planning *and* families. Laura Wershler is evidently progressive and gutsy enough not only to promote NFP as a real family planning option, but to lament its constant sidelining by prejudicial, unprogressive and unscientific foes,
The continued popularity of the pill doesn’t indicate it is the best form of birth control for women, said Laura Wershler, executive director of Sexual Health Access Alberta in Calgary. Instead, she said, it indicates women don’t know enough about their options.
“What I see in our communities is an absolute failure to move beyond the idea that hormonal birth control is the be-all and end-all,” Wershler said. “What’s happening is we’re not developing support programs and advocacy for women looking for non-hormonal methods.”
Natural family-planning methods, or fertility-awareness methods, whereby a woman determines the fertile and non-fertile times of her monthly cycle, aren’t often taken seriously by physicians, she added.
“There’s this lack of knowledge and understanding within my own field,” Wershler said. “Women are going to sexual health clinics and being laughed off by the doctors and clinics for looking for alternatives.”
Alison Cross, of Canwest, a sort of Canadian Associated Press, wrote this fantastic article, “Women Look Behind the Pill,” which told the wider world what NFPers have known all along: the Pill, the Patch & Shot are not panaceas, and even can do a lot of harm. Women and families want something else, something better.
I was excited to see a FAM advocate I’d previously featured in a post, but couldn’t believe it when Wershler, whom I later found out is the Exec Director of what is apparently a Planned Parenthood franchise, said so many sane, sensible, scientific and frankly pro-woman things about NFP/FAM She wasn’t exactly signing off on Humanae Vitae, but that fact that she was so intelligent, well spoken and that she frankly advocated NFP/ FAM and chastised medical professionals, rocked one big Boo-ya for NFP/ FAM advocates.
I wonder if Rachel Bereit would be interested in applying to Wershler’s clinic? Better yet, what would Weshler’s response be?
Jan 112010
No, it’s *not* actually a surprise to NFP fans the that Pill isn’t a panacea. Modern NFP has been around since the 60′s, and more widely known since the 70′s and 80′s. But to those outside the NFP-world-niche, the fact that “Women Look Beyond the Pill” is news.
A Red Tent Sister, an object of my recent post on FAM/ecosex entrepreneurs, gets quoted in this recent article out of The Montreal Gazzette, a Canadian publication.
A Highlight of my favorite part of the article:
The continued popularity of the pill doesn’t indicate it is the best form of birth control for women, said Laura Wershler, executive director of Sexual Health Access Alberta in Calgary.Instead, she said, it indicates women don’t know enough about their options.
“What I see in our communities is an absolute failure to move beyond the idea that hormonal birth control is the be-all and end-all,” Wershler said. “What’s happening is we’re not developing support programs and advocacy for women looking for non-hormonal methods.”
Natural family-planning methods, or fertility-awareness methods, whereby a woman determines the fertile and non-fertile times of her monthly cycle, aren’t often taken seriously by physicians, she added.
“There’s this lack of knowledge and understanding within my own field,” Wershler said. “Women are going to sexual health clinics and being laughed off by the doctors and clinics for looking for alternatives.”
For a related message inviting women to “look beyond the Pill” , listen to my talk, “Think Outside the Pill.” (Trademark phrase of mine–some day I’ll actually trademark it!)
Jan 092010
Tiny news clip for this weekend: Friday marked the beginning of Creighton FertilityCare Practitioner training in Denver. I’ve heard there are twelve in training to become Practitioners (Creighton nomenclature for teacher), taught by a training Practitioner, Alia Keys, from the St. Louis area. There are two classroom sessions, about a week long each, several months apart. These intensive sessions are called Educational Programs, or EP for short. So, those learning in Denver this weekend and beyond are entering EP1, with EP2 to take place in several months. Teachers in training are called Practitioner Interns, and don’t earn the title “Practitioner” until they’ve acquired and taught a client load that meets the requirements, and a final exam takes place about a year after they begin EP1.
For more on the Creighton Model (FertilityCare), which is an ovulation–mucus only–method, see this information section on their new web site.
See this page for more on the process to become a FertilityCare Practitioner.
If you have any questions you’d like to me to pass on to the Creighton trainer or the new students, let me know, and I’ll get back!
More on the training week to come…
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