NFP vs. Contraception
       -adapted from Good News about Sex & Marriage by Christopher West

Admittedly, it is difficult to see the important distinction between periodic abstinence and contraception when the emphasis is placed on “natural” vs. “artificial” methods. There are a lot of things we use that are artificial but not immoral. So why is artificial birth control any different?

Contrary to popular belief, the Church does not oppose artificial birth control because it’s artificial. She opposes it because it’s contraceptive. Contraception is the choice by any means to impede the procreative potential of a given act of intercourse. In other words, the contracepting couple chooses to engage in intercourse, and foreseeing that their act may result in new life, they intentionally and willfully suppress their fertility.

This can be done by employing a large variety of artificial devices and hormones, or by sterilizing surgical procedures. It can also be done without employing anything artificial at all, such as in the practice of withdrawal. So in order to avoid a great deal of confusion contraception is the best word to use when describing what the church specifically opposes. “Artificial” really has nothing to do with it and is better left out of the discussion altogether.

Furthermore, the Church approves of NFP (when there is just reason to postpone pregnancy) not because it’s “natural” as opposed to “artificial”, but because its in no way contraceptive. Never does the couple practicing NFP choose to impede the procreative potential of a given act of intercourse – ever. NFP is not “natural contraception”. It’s not contraception at all.

As philosophy professor Janet Smith points out, we take pills when we are sick. We have surgery to cure maladies and disease. Fertility is not a sickness. Fertility is not a disease. Infertility is the malady that needs to be cured. The only intelligent thing to do when there is honest need to regulate fertility is to come to understand God’s design for fertility and work with it. That’s what NFP is all about.