[I have used the term "contraceptive mentality," but I must say that Fr. Erlenbush's piece made me give pause to how I use my words. Words and phrases mean so much, and lead people closer to understanding or further away.]

Okay, with the drospirenone study & the FDA finally raising a flag for a chance (see first article in the list), the world population hitting 7 Billion Monday, as well as me finally checking my old bookmarks and Google Alerts–there’s a lot here to read. Pick a few to start with. And by all means, comment away (especially on the secular web sites!).

News

• Study Links New Birth Control Pill to Blood Clots & Strokes (NPR Health Blog)
• Welcome Baby Seven Billion--an initiative of the World Youth Alliance
• Ovarian Tumors May Develop Years After IVF Treatment (USA Today Health)

News Commentary

• The Grass is Just as Complicated on the Other Side by Simcha Fisher–commentary on NFP struggles
• World Contraception Day: Empowering Whom? [I think it's 'who', but whatever] by Arland Nichols at the Ruth Institute Blog
• The Catholic Church’s Best Kept Secret–One Husband’s Thoughts
• Why the Pill is a Problem by Kristan Doerfle
• No Exceptions with Contraception–Thank God! by Jennifer Fulwiler, wonderful reflection on the no exceptions for contraception teaching by the Catholic Church, and encouragement by someone who’s lived this difficult teaching in a health-crisis

Misc.

• 10 Ways to Tell if a Product Is (or isn’t) Really Natural (er…HuffPo)
• Who You Callin’ a Slut? Commentary on the ‘Slut Walks’ at About-Face, a feminist non-profit promoting positive body image

(c) 2011 J.Smith

My new blog cards are ‘a comin. Let me know if you like them. If I like them when I get here, I’ll send them to you if you want to hand ‘em out or leave them at random co-ops and farmers markets.

Here you go, friends. Check out these local US events, and for goodness sakes, if you’re in these areas, please help promote these events by Facebook, email, posting flyers, word of mouth–whatever! Also, keep me posted on upcoming events in your area by emailing me. International readers–please send your events, too!

California

• Oakland: Revolutionizing Women’s Health, an Intro to NaProTechnology, Thursday, October 13th 12-1:30pm, FREE
• Health Professionals & the general public invited
• Free, but registration required (light lunch to be served)
• South Gate: Humanae Vitae Conference for Clergy, St. Helen’s Convent, 9314 Madison Avenue, October 25th
• Glendale: Parish NFP Mission at Holy Family Parish, October 29-30th
• Call Fr. Jim at (818) 247-2222 for a schedule/ for more information

Illinois

• Chicago area: NFP Class schedules here & here

Kansas

• Wichita:  ”The Importance of NFP in Marriage & Spousal Love”, a wine & cheese event, Tuesday, October 18th 7pm (click link to RSVP)
• Wichita: Clergy Conference (clergy only)by NFP Outreach, Oct 17-20, 2011 
• –> Email your deacon & pastors to make sure they’re going!

Michigan

• Detroit area: Ongoing schedule of NFP classes/ events

Texas

• Dallas: area events in October

Virginia

• Richmond: NFP Seminar for Health Care Professionals, Clergy & Couples: “Your Catholic Faith & NFP”, Saturday November 5, 110am-3pm
• $10, workshops & lunch included
• Register here.

West Virginia

• Morgantown: NFP Introductory Session (Creighton Model, I believe), October 19th 7pm, FREE

I wish I had time (like when I was unemployed) to post and comment on every great NFP article. But I don’t. Maybe once I get to be an expert student and worker and time manager. But for now, Make sure you take a look at these when you can.

Medical news

• Use of hormonal contraceptives may DOUBLE risk of HIV infection (Lancet Journal)
• Contraceptives used in Africa may double risk of HIV infection (NYTimes--btw, you only get one free look, so either clear your cookies and try again, or just read/ print/ share it the first time.)
• FDA Flags concern on Birth Control Pill (I hope this is just the beginning)

Blogs, Editorials & Commentary

• NFL Player: “NFP helped my marriage” 
• “Empowering the Poor with NFP” by April Jaure of My Feminine Mind
• “You Can Never Afford Them” by Matt Archibold @ Creative Minority Report–great smart-aleck-gets-sincere and changes a heart story.

Miscellaneous Whatnot

[guest post by Kaitlin Carruth, Ceiba Participant Coordinator]

If you were thinking about starting the Creighton Model this is definitely the time!  The Creighton Model Effectiveness and Intentions Assessment (the CEIBA Study) is now enrolling new and return users of the Creighton Model. The study will look at the effectiveness of the method as well as gather information on how the method is used.

Many have found health and marital relationship benefits from natural family planning. The following is a true story that one of our study participants shared with us:

“I had been on birth control since my teenage years because of issues with my menstrual cycle (irregular, heavy bleeding, unbearable cramping, mood swings, etc.) and I had seen a lot of the side effects it had on my body. As we began looking into it, we learned that using the Creighton Model would help me figure out some of my female issues as well as provide a way to avoid pregnancy. I quickly realized that birth control was just a band-aid solution. Through learning to chart from a nurse (and having a good doctor), we would be able to figure out exactly where the issues stem from so we can fix it naturally rather than putting synthetic hormones into my body.

           My husband and I started learning the Creighton Model a few months before our wedding and it was not hard, it’s just a commitment. We always felt extremely supported! We couldn’t be happier knowing that we are preventing pregnancy naturally and when the time comes for us to have children, we are confident that this model will help us achieve pregnancy just as easily as we were able to prevent it. Being a part of the CEIBA study is very important to us, as well. We want to show others that Natural Family Planning is a healthy and effective way to avoid pregnancy. We just wish that more people knew about it!”

The study will involve at least 300 couples, 17 FertilityCare Centers and the University of Utah Coordinating Center. We currently have 280 participants. We will finish enrollment October 31^st of this year so act soon!

Participant Requirements:

• Being a new or return user of the Creighton Model with the stated intention of avoiding pregnancy
• Sexually active by October 31, 2011
• The woman is between the ages of 18 to 40
• The man is age 18 or older
• The woman has had at least 2 menstrual flows in the past 3 months or at least one menstrual flow since stopping hormonal birth control or postpartum

Exclusion Criteria:

• History of infertility
• Confirmed pelvic inflammatory disease, surgically confirmed untreated endometriosis, chemotherapy (either man or woman), or radiation to the reproductive tract (either man or woman)
• Hysterectomy, oophorectomy (ovary removed), tubal ligation, fallopian tube surgery, surgery for ectopic pregnancy, removal of a testicle (orchiectomy) or vasectomy
• Depo-Provera injection any time in the past 2 years
• Totally breastfeeding an infant, without any supplements

If you are interested or you would like to learn more about the Creighton Model or the study, please visit the Ceiba web page, call 801-231-6434, or email us at ceibastudy[at]gmail.com. You can also “like” us on Facebook.   

Guest blog post: Get sold on awesome intimacy, not an expensive wedding

I can’t believe I totally missed this, but Dustin over at Engaged Marriage posted one of my articles as a guest post…..over a year ago! I remember sending him that piece earlier that year, and him saying it might be good for the spring, but I didn’t hear back. So…check it out. I’m going to go take a closer look at the comments.

I just saw on Twitter (H/T to Living the Sacrament) that this week’s The Catholic View Episode is entitled, “The Contraception Deception.” IT airs Friday, July 8th at 6:30pm EST. Boom. Can’t wait to see what they roll out. By the way, in case you didn’t know, EWTN has their shows live streaming on their website as well.

For more about their show schedule, check out this flyer (and post it in your parish/ community)!

Part of me thinks I should have trademarked “Go Organic” for marketing NFP. It would have been the Diocese of Madison’s trademark, which they totally wouldn’t have done because they’re of the opinion that we should do all we can to share resources in the Church. Amen and right on, Madison.

Anyway, this article in the Diocese of Sioux Falls, South Dakota uses the catch phrase, “Go Organic” which I think my Go Organic brochure was the first to associate with NFP. Right on, but you know what? It started with a suggestion from a hipster Catholic. I totally attribute to writer smarty pants Kat Wagner of the Madison Catholic Herald. (Btw, The Sioux Falls Bishop Paul Swain came from the Madison Diocese! Nice connection.)

Hey all, if you’re in the NFP/ Family Life Job market, there are some positions opening up (it’s that time of year). [Update: I added the last one 6/16.] Check it:

• NFP Coordinator–Part time, Diocese of Madison (Wisconsin, US), email questions or inquiries to andy.galvin[at]straphael[dot]org
• Family Life Outreach Specialist, Northwest Family Services (Portland, Oregon, US)
• NFP Coordinator, NYC Archdiocese(New York, US)
• Marriage Prep Coordinator, NYC Archdiocese (New York, US)
• Archdiocesan Director of Family Life (Miami, Florida, US)
• Diocesan Coordinator of Marriage & Family Life (Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston)
• Associate Director of Hispanic Family Ministries, Archdiocese of Newark (Newark, New Jersey, US)

Remember Natural Family Planning International’s critical post regarding the Creighton Method from March?

Well,  a little while back I spoke with the USCCB’s Theresa Notare about her thoughts on the whole thing. Rather than jumping into the specific issue, I started by asking about her background, and the history of the relationship between NFP methods. A lot of of interesting topics came up, and Ms. Notare offered some keen insights.

Most notably, conflict between methods (“method wars”, “method hubris”) is not a new thing. This isn’t so shocking, but apparently it used to be a lot worse. “I saw some extremely colorful battles in the 1980′s.” Instead of ongoing “misunderstandings”, “inaccuracies” or strong preferences, representatives of the major methods were known to reject other methods out of hand. Of course this kind of prideful bias exists today in isolation, but it was the modus operandi thirty years ago.

The types of accusations ranged from “Basal body temperature taking is ridiculous” to “Cervical checks are an occasion to grave sin”, claims Notare rejects, but were popular charges in the not too distant past. The research of the past twenty years for both Sympto-thermal and Ovulation Methods has quelled many of those irrational fears and allegations.

NFPI’s complaints: That 80′s Show

However, many of the assertions in the fiery March NFPI post have the same tenor as those of the poorly informed 1980′s charges.  NFPI’s objections, roughly summarized, include:

• “We think it is a disservice to women and to couples to promote any mucus-only system as equal to or better than a crosschecking system for purposes of avoiding conception.”
• Refers to the intensive instruction of ovulation methods as “hand-holding”
• The methods that don’t teach the temperature sign are denying a biological function of the “Divine Plan,” and that women have a “right” to learn BBT, and that is “not right” not to teach it.
• Ecological breastfeeding “systematically ignored by most NFP programs” NFPI asserts this is “not right”.
• “We have not been informed about its [Creighton model] teaching of sexual morality.  It is our understanding that most NFP programs fail to teach specifically against recourse to masturbation and marital sodomy during the fertile time.” [Somehow they imply that Creighton is morally heterodox and inept.]
• They object to the post-coitus Kegel exercises as potentially contraceptive and “not right”. (This is part of Creighton instruction in order to distinguish male fluid from the naturally occurring cervical fluid.)
• NFPI hits the practical: “the CrM course costs more and delivers much less”
• In follow up responses to comments they would not post (dismissed them as “propaganda for Creighton”) [the word propaganda has now been removed], NFPI also accuses Creighton & Dr. Hilgers of secrecy because they practice a strong discretion in who they give their materials out to: “This secrecy seems to me to be much more about marketing than science.” (I know for a fact Hilgers’ intellectual property has been stolen, and he’s been burned more than once, so yeah–he won’t sell his curriculum to any NFP person, especially those with a history of method hubris.)

Notare responds: “It isn’t fair”

If you’ve made it through that little list with charity intact, kudos to you. It inflamed me.  When I asked Notare about many of these claims, her response was more charitable and measured than mine. She’s seen a lot in 25 years at the USCCB. Nevertheless, when I asked her about these comments she said those are old arguments, and “That type of tone and that type of response sound like OLD John [Kippley, co-founder of CCL & later NFPI].” She was quick to qualify that the Kippleys are amazing veterans in the NFP world, saying “Many of the things Kippley’s [John] has sent me [recently] have shown a new maturity. He is a lovely, lovely man.” However, despite her affirmation of Kippley character, she did say, “It isn’t fair if he make sweeping generalizations about another method.” I couldn’t agree more.

When I asked about their accusation that essentially Creighton is not as morally superior of a Catholic NFP method as NFPI (apparently none is), she attributed the dissonance to a difference in philosophical approaches to the best way to teach NFP. Most, if not all, models certainly teach NFP in a scientific and clinical–though personal–way entirely within an orthodox moral framework. However, most models do not give exhaustive treatises on specific sexual acts and mores. That, Notare says, is a conversation that doesn’t necessarily need to happen in an NFP class. It more appropriately happens in a personal and/or spiritual context: “Remember your role as the NFP teacher:  you are not a confessor….refer your clients to an appropriate priest [or spiritual advisor].”

This is the Kippleys’ argument: if you’re not teaching specifically against masturbation and marital sodomy (“common temptations”) in every NFP class, you’re wrong. Notare’s response: “The Catholic Church is not going to write its own Kama Sutra!” This made me smile. Yes, there have been plenty of books (and some Catholic) written on these topics, but Notare leaves the place and time of this type of guidance up to the discretion and discernment of not only NFP teachers, but adult catechists, spiritual directors and the like.

I like Ms. Notare very much. My conversation with her revealed a depth of knowledge of NFP, fairness, and a discernment one does not always come across in the NFP world. We couldn’t have a better person at the national Catholic helm for promoting NFP at this point in time.

Dialogue: a practical step

One little known fact about Ms. Notare (unless I’m the last to know) is that she has a Ph.D. in Church history (which I did know), and specialized in ecumenical studies. I asked her, in light of her ecumenical background, how would she like to see a spirit of dialogue and understanding flourish between methods, and what part would she have in that? Had there been anything like an NFP summit  in the past, and would there be anything like this in the future?

There was, at one time, a national NFP coalition, but it fell apart due to lack of money, but to her knowledge, there’s not been an inter-method dialogue of the hard questions–or the easy questions, for that matter.

I know I would like to see something like this happen, and my readers and NFP friends love this idea. The opportunity here is tremendous. We have SO much work to do here, and we really must do the active hard work of dealing with our differences. We can’t overlook them, but we do need to deal with them in an open, honest, and charitable way. The antithesis to this spirit is a blog post like NFPI has shared. I won’t have anything to do with this mentality, although I do recognize it may emerge from a place of extreme woundedness. (To this point, John Kippley’s new biography is called “Battle-scarred.”)

Pentecost: pray for unity

Please join me as we approach Pentecost, which for many parts of the world is a period of prayer for unity, in praying for unity–in the world, in the Faith, in the NFP world. Pray for healing, forgiveness, dialogue and true openness to all we are being called to be and do.

I almost wrote “A follower asks…” for the title of this post, but then realized that sounded a little funny. Anyway, the social network and internet news universe is abuzz with the Guttmacher’s latest study which many are styling that the Church is a failure because few Catholics practice NFP. So, a new Twitter follwer, tweeted to me, and we began a little tweetversation:

I should add that another answer I had to the first tweet was ,”@AnnraoiOD @Beatidude Uncourageous clergy, lazy lay people, big pharma lobby, NFP providers don’t make money….& on & on…tide is changing”

So, why do only 2-3% percent of sexually active Catholic women use Natural Family Planning?

I will address this in a future blog post in response to the flurry of activity over this study. It’s a big question. While I don’t discount the Guttmacher findings out of hand (even though I very much want to), having read the summary, I have some questions and reservations about their methodology (not the least of which is that they clearly have an inadequate understanding of even the definition of NFP) and therefore I have questions about their findings and “conclusions”. Long story short, though: I don’t think their numbers are too far off the mark.

So, “what are the exact conditions under which NFP can be used for contraceptive purposes”?

NFP can never be used contraceptively. It’s a physical and ontological impossibility.

Allow me to explain. While most people use the terms family planning, birth control, and contraception interchangeably, the Church makes a distinction between the two former and latter. There’s nothing wrong with controlling births per se (birth control/ family planning). NFP falls under this category when used for postponing pregnancy–non-conception. However, there is something wrong with contraception because it goes against conception–contra-ception. Not only is contraception–be it hormonal, barrier, or other–designed to go against conception, it often times leads to an early chemical abortion. Many, if not most, contraceptives have an abortifacient property to their makeup, yet another reason why contraceptives are different from NFP and why they are inherently bad. (More on what the difference between NFP & Contraceptives is here.)

But to answer your question as I think you really meant it: what merits one using NFP to postpone pregnancy?

The Church calls a married couple to responsible parenthood, and affirms that children are a supreme blessing of the Creator who calls us “to be fruitful and multiply.” Society sees “responsible parenthood” as having a certain number of children, or forgoing childbearing altogether. For Christians, it has a positive meaning, one of discernment.However–and I’m getting to your question now–the Church also recognizes that there may be times when spouses need to postpone pregnancy for serious or just reasons (some translations of Humanae Vitae say “grave”), they may cooperate with God’s design using NFP.  What is just, serious or grave, then? There’s no bullet point list in black or white, but a priest working with married couples in Canada* offers these points for consideration.

• Physical factors may include: serious illness, disablement, severe handicaps, accidental sterility, prolonged physical separation of the spouses.

• Economic factors may include: “families that lack the necessary means for survival, such as food, work, housing and most elementary freedoms (cf. Familiaris Consortio #6); no work available, high inflation, high interest rates, devaluation of currency, especially for the poor. These factors are not in the couple’s control. (There are certainly economic factors that are within a couple’s control, such as a voluntary career change, expenditure moderation, etc.)

• Social and political factors usually consist in unjust state legislation. For example, a married couple may be limited to have only one child and will be penalized if more are born. Unjust economic policies may also stand in the way, or violations of basic family rights.

• Psychological factors may include: serious depression, development of alcoholism, psychosis, paranoia, schizophrenia, loss of impulse control, or development of addictions—drugs, gambling, pornography, etc.

*This is an abbreviated version of a list given by Father Thomas Hattie, OMI in a booklet, “Totally Yours” (WOOMB Canada, 1999).

In closing, this discernment must take place in an atmosphere of prayer, open communication between spouses, prudent judgment and wise consultation by someone who upholds the teachings of Christ and His Church. Ultimately, only the spouses themselves can make the decision, and it depends on each couple and the culture in which they live.