DETROIT: Modern methods of Natural Family Planning (NFP) are pure, organic, healthy and risk-free, and are deserving of more attention. To that end, the Couple to Couple League (CCL) joins the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in celebrating NFP Awareness Week July 20-26, 2014.
The dates of NFP Awareness Week are significant in that they include the anniversary of Pope Paul VI’s encyclical Humanae Vitae (July 25), which reaffirmed Catholic beliefs about human sexuality, marriage, conjugal love and responsible parenthood. That week also marks the feasts of Saints Joachim and Anne (July 26), the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
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Because NFP does not rely on artificial hormones, chemicals or barriers, it has no side effects. Women who practice NFP report less irritability, depression, weight gain, and headaches, plus they completely avoid the increased risks of blood clots, strokes and certain cancers that are associated with hormonal birth control methods.
NFP methods teach couples how to observe and interpret the woman’s natural signs of fertility and infertility, uncontaminated by drugs and devices. It leaves the woman whole and complete, which is why women leaving artificial methods for NFP often experience an increased sex drive, and feel empowered through having a better understanding of their own body and dignity.
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A natural approach to family protects and enhances the purity of the marital relationship. In the words of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, NFP methods “respect the bodies of the spouses, encourage tenderness between them and favor the education of an authentic freedom” (CCC, no. 2370).
Couples today are increasingly looking for natural and organic alternatives wherever possible. Their choice of family planning method should be no different. CCL urges couples to “keep it pure…your body…your water…your marriage.”
With over 600 certified volunteer teaching couples, CCL is the largest provider of NFP services in the United States and its programs are approved under the U.S. bishops’ Standards for NFP. CCL provides a main NFP course, as well as postpartum and premenopause classes, in a classroom setting, through live online classes, and through a home study program, all in both English and Spanish. Mobile charting app, ongoing follow up, and their award-winning magazine, Family Foundations, are also available.
To learn more about the CCL organization and the Sympto-Thermal Method of NFP, visit www.ccli.org.
