NFP: When Is It Permissible to Avoid Pregnancy?

by JoAnna Wahlund
Catholic Stand

On Facebook, I’m in several Natural Family Planning (NFP) groups, and the same question pops up on a regular basis:  “What reasons justify using NFP to avoid pregnancy, according to the teaching of the Church? Is there a list?”

I’ve scoured encyclicals, papal letters and addresses, and several scholarly tomes on the subject, I’m confident that I can provide the list of reasons, sanctioned by the Catholic Church, in which a couple may licitly use NFP to avoid pregnancy. Here is the list:

You can stop highlighting now — that space is intentionally blank.

Why? Because there is no list. The Catholic Church does not have one for a reason.

• The Church provides guidelines, and leaves the actual reasons up to the individual couple’s discernment.

• The Church has not outsourced the job of compiling a list to Catholic bloggers.

• The Church does not require that the couple consult a priest, deacon, or other spiritual director. Although, it’s always a wise idea to discuss one’s discernment process with a faithful spiritual director or orthodox, holy priest, it’s not required for couples to do so in order to use NFP to avoid pregnancy and remain in good standing with the church.

• The Church does not require that couples adhere to a faulty translation of Humanae Vitae when engaging in their discernment.

• The Church does not now, nor has She ever, considered NFP a heresy. For anyone who wants to challenge me on that point, please read the linked article first, and then you can explain to me why you oppose the teachings of Blessed Pope Pius IX, Pope Leo XIII, Pope St. Pius X, Pope Benedict XV, and Pope Pius XI (among others). Also, please don’t take any quotes from St. John Vianney’s “The Cure’D’Ars” out of context.

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JoAnna Wahlund was baptized, raised, and married in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America but converted to Catholicism in May 2003, on G.K. Chesterton's birthday. She has five terrific kids here on earth, two saints in heaven praying for her, and a wonderful husband of 12 years who supports her in all things. By day, she is a content editor for a global information company; by night, she enjoys defending the Catholic faith online (in between her duties as chief cook and bottle washer for La Casa Wahlund). She blogs at http://a-star-of-hope.blogspot.com.