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Birth Control vs. Natural Family Planning

Most of following information on contraceptives is taken from materials provided by Pharmacists for Life International2 .  And unless otherwise indicated, the medical information on contraceptives is derived from the book "Infant Homicides through Contraceptives."  Some information was taken from Human Life International1.

Please note:  If you are currently taking any of the referenced medications and are considering discontinuing them, you are encouraged to check with your personal physician prior to doing so.

Birth Control

Oral contraceptives (OCs) act in three ways.  The first two are "'contraceptive' in nature"; the third is abortifacient.1/2

1.    prevention of ovulation through suppression of a critical area of the hypothalamus that controls events leading to ovulation  "[H]igh dose estrogen [pills] were more effective in preventing ovulation than the more recent low dose pills, so that ovulation may still occur in many of the pill cycles." 1

2.    changes to cervical mucus to prevent or delay migration of sperm into the uterus (womb) 

3.    prevention of implantation of the newly conceived baby onto the lining of the womb because the "cell adhesion molecules called integrins, chemical receptors which are crucial for uterine receptivity of the newly conceived human being," have been altered.  

It is estimated that the abortifacient action occurs in "anywhere from 2 to 10% (and at times higher) of female cycles per year."

Oral contraceptives "send chemical message[s] to the rest of the body, giving it the impression the OC user is constantly pregnant, twelve months out of the year, year after year of OC use."  Additionally, OCs can also have a detrimental impact on the women who take them because of the potent steroids they contain which "affect all vital organs of the OC user to one degree or another."  There is a long list of "drug-induced diseases reported for various OCs..."  Five of the more serious risks are:

  1. increased incidence of sexually transmitted diseases
  2. pelvic inflammatory disease
  3. infertility
  4. cervical and breast cancer
  5. ectopic pregnancy

Additionally, "should the OC user conceive and not chemically abort, all the organs of the preborn child are affected as well, especially in the first three months of pregnancy..."

OTHER CHEMICAL ABORTIFACIENTS   

Anti-Progesterones:

"[P]rimarily prevent uptake of natural in-house progesterone by the developing child..." Progesterone is "vitally necessary for continuation of pregnancy until the 8th or 9th week of pregnancy," and its lack "causes a withering of the placenta and child and a sloughing off, resulting in what is perceived as a heavy menstruation by the mother."  "[S]evere and, at times, prolonged bleeding" can be experienced "in some women up to 42 days post discontinuance.  About 0.1% of users have needed transfusions from the severe bleeding.  Other side effects noted include diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, cramping and incomplete abortion.  Long term side effects have not been studied well...  Several women have died post mifepristone use."

Anti-progesterones include the following:

Mifepristone is currently in use in France, communist China, Great Britain, Sweden, and the United States where it was "fast tracked" by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) in July 1996.  This drug is commonly used with a synthetic prostaglandin such as misoprostol to "increase abortifacient 'effectiveness' in the 90-98% range."  The prostaglandin "is used to cause uterine contractions and help expel the progesterone-starved child out of the mother's womb."

Progestins:

Progestin-only oral contraceptives (POCs) rely on actions 2 and 3 because they "are poor at suppressing ovulation."  Both Depo-Provera and Norplant "clearly show high levels of ovulation, especially as time progresses from initial dose."

Progestins include:

Marketed in Third World countries, its side effects include "disruptions in menstrual cycle and irregular bleeding," and "changes in the endometrium" leading to "chemical abortion." 

While "a few case controlled studies showed no increase in breast cancer," the "long term safety of... (Depo-Provera) weighs against it."  

Side effects can include: Irregular or no bleeding (amenorrhea), increased risk of breast, hepatocellular and cholangio carcinomas, alteration of serum lipids and glucose tolerance, unfavorable blood pressure and cardiovascular changes, altered moods, edema, weight or cervical changes, cholestatic jaundice, thromboembolic events (including stroke), depression, pyrexia, insomnia, nausea, somnolence, breast tenderness, galactorrhea, acne, hirsuitism, alopecia and rash.

Civil and class-action suits have been brought against the manufacturer of Norplant, and "approximately 50,000 American women are suing Wyeth-Ayerst and the Population Council 'claiming multiple and severe side effects from the use of Norplant.'"

Side effects include: "headaches, depression, hair loss, facial hair, acne, amenorrhea, dizziness, severe bleeding, and large bleeding clots."  One pharmaceutical report stated the following: "The FDA also stated Norplant may be related to stroke, bleeding problems and intracranial hypertension."

Unfortunately, once the implants have been made, "some women...have found it difficult to have implants removed promptly and without additional exorbitant fees" which "can range from $150 up to $1000."

Even more unfortunate is that "[s]everal states have taken action which would make Norplant either mandatory and/or coerced by juridical, psychosocial and/or economic inducements."   

Anti-hCG vaccines

"Bioengineered recombinant vaccines known most commonly as anti-human chorionic gonadotropin (anti-hCG) abortifacient vaccines which program the body's immune system to respond to the newly conceived child as a 'hostile' outside element."    

"The key target of the various anti-hCG vaccines is the hormone hCG "produced by the growing embryo..." The hCG "is present in as little as the day after the missed cycle (about 14-15 days after fertilization)."  It signals the mother's body that a "baby exists and that her usual monthly cycle should stop until the baby comes to term..." It also "sends a message to the corpus luteum to begin producing progesterone, a hormone needed to sustain the pregnancy, especially in the first 8-9 weeks of gestation."

Another type of abortifacient vaccine is TBA which "aborts the embryo by focusing on...the outer layer of the trophoblast called the trophoectoderm."  "Research aimed at obtaining this vaccine would eventually require dissecting developing embryos..."

"Other antigens" can be "linked to the ...hCG to act as alternate carriers."  "Some favorite carriers are diptheria toxoid (DT), tetanus toxoid (TT) and cholera toxin chain B (CHB).

"In the Philippines and in Latin America, women were given these experimental vaccines repeatedly and falsely told the vaccines only contained the bacterial antigens.  In the former, 3.4 million women of child bearing age from 12 to 44 years old were vaccinated without informed consent" before the protests from the public, led by the Catholic Church, forced a stop...to the program in 1995."

Vaccines are considered acceptable and appear to be medicinal and therapeutic.  However, it is possible that the use of abortifacient vaccines by government entities throughout the world could become quite popular. And in the hands of eugenicists, this could be a very dangerous development.

Prostaglandins

Prostaglandins are oxygenated unsaturated cyclic fatty acids that may perform a variety of hormonelike actions (Webster).  "[I]n synthetic forms" they "can be used to induce labor during a complicated delivery."  "[I]n much higher doses" they can be used to "induce second and third trimester abortions."  As abortifacients, they are "primarily used in second trimester abortions from the 13th to 22nd weeks of gestation."

As with the other chemicals listed, "numerous side effects" can be experienced, including: "special risks to patients with asthma; hypotension; hypertension; cardiovascular, renal and/or hepatic disease; anemia; jaundice, diabetes; epilepsy; a compromised [scarred] uterus; uterine atony; hemorrhage; incomplete abortion; induced bone proliferation; vomiting, nausea; diarrhea; prostaglandin hyperthermia; headache; flushing; anxiety; chills; leg cramps; breast tenderness; and many others."

Prostaglandins include: 

Misoprostol "has the potential to be abortifacient in as little as one dose ..."  Is used with Mifepristone to "help expel the progesterone-starved child out of the mother's womb."

Intrauterine Devices (IUDs)

"IUDs are abortifacient devices which kill preborn children by means of copper or progesterone contained on them via two mechanisms of action:  interfering with enzymatic processes (as in the case of copper) or interfering with implantation/nidation of the 5 to 14 day old embryo (baby) by chemical or mechanical inflammation of the endometrium."

IUDs include:

"Progesterone is slowly released and chemical suppresses proliferation of the endometrial tissue...thus prevent[ing] the endometrium from supporting the pregnancy."

Withdrawn " from the US market," but sold in Canada and other countries

Side effects include: "pelvic inflammatory disease (leading many time[s] to sterility), perforation of the uterus, infection, pelvic pain and ectopic pregnancy (1000% more risk which nearly always end with killing of the preborn or risk of rupture and/or death of the mother if pregnancy continues), spontaneous abortion in post-IUD removal pregnancies, endometritis, septicemia, and many others."

Methotrexate (MTX)

[A]cts by competitively inhibiting a key enzyme necessary for normal cell growth, dihydrofolic acid reductase."

MTX is used to treat "certain cancers," some cases of psoraisis or rheumatoid arthritis that won't respond to other therapies."  However, it "has caused fetal death and congenital anomalies."

MTX also "has the ability ... to induce cancer in a non-cancerous patient, even in as few as one or 2 doses."  But a "subset of physicians...are using the MTX/misoprostol combination to kill the very young preborn baby at the cellular level and then expulse it by the violent contractions induced by the prostaglandin misoprostol."

Calculated Annual Infant Homicides

of Unborn Babies in the

United States of America
Users Type Infant Homicides
Low Range High Range
10,000,000 Oral Contraceptives 600,000 3,000,000
1,500,000 Intrauterine Device 3,825,000 3,825,000
1,500,000 Depo-Provera 1,800,000 2,700,000
1,000,000 Norplant 330,000 2,100,000
1,300,000 Surgical Procedure 1,300,000 1,300,000
50,000 Prostaglandin & Saline 50,000 100,000
15,350,000 TOTALS 7,905,000 13,025,000

Natural Family Planning

We live in a society where we have been used to having instant gratification, and we may think it's easier to pop a pill than it is to learn about, appreciate, and respect the way our bodies work.  However, considering the alternatives, Natural Family Planning deserves a lot of consideration.

Natural Family Planning is --

In fact, according to K. Diane Daly, RN, CNFPE Coordinator, "NFP programs report a divorce rate of less than 5% while society reports a divorce rate of greater than 50%."  Reasons include:

But what about effectiveness?

 

"The only 100 percent effective 'birth control' methods are abstinence and complete castration (or hysterectomy). Even surgical sterilization occasionally fails to prevent pregnancy, and abortion sometimes fails to prevent births."

 

"[B]arrier methods of contraception have method failure rates of from 3 to 26 percent in the first year of use. The method failure rates for abortifacient methods range from 0.1 percent to 1.5 percent in the first year of use, and their user failure rates can be as high as 8-12 percent."

"Natural family planning, if learned and used properly, is much more effective than any method of mechanical contraception, including the male and female condoms, cervical cap, cervical sponge, and diaphragm."

"According to Contraceptive Technology, the ovulation method of NFP has a three percent method failure rate; the sympto-thermal method has a two percent method failure rate; and the post-ovulation method (intercourse only in the post-ovulation phase) has a one percent method failure rate."

"...According to the World Health Organization (WHO), sexual "risk taking" during fertile days probably accounts for many more pregnancies than the inability to correctly use the natural methods or interpret charts. In other words, if a husband and wife don’t 'take a chance' on the first or second day of fertility, all of the NFP methods are much more effective."1

 

So if it's all that great, why don't more people use it?

According to Suzanne Cooper Doyle, a writer for the Feminist Womens Health Centers, a chain of abortion clinics, NFP is not more widespread because:

Fertility Awareness poses a big threat to the hormonal contraceptive industry. If women are given the choice of the Pill or implants with their side effects, lack of STD protection, expense, and reliance on doctors; or Fertility Awareness, with or without barrier methods, which seems the more logical choice? Both have the same effectiveness (98.5 - 99.2 percent). Fertility Awareness costs nothing to use, has no side effects, and puts reproductive responsibility firmly in the hands of the user.

 "Fertility Awareness: Reclaiming Reproductive Control." WomenWise (publication of the New Hampshire Federation of Feminist Women’s Health Centers), Summer 1991, pp. 6-8.

While there are certainly times when pregnancy might be something to avoid, it is essential that we not do so at all costs.  Considering the possible unknown loss of our children's lives as well as the damage to our physical, mental, and spiritual well-being, we must reconsider our willingness to continue the birth control mentality  

Three types of natural family planning programs are offered by the Archdiocese of St. Louis.  They include the:

(1) Billings Ovulation Method

Determined by observing the presence or absence of external mucus discharge which is taught at the AWARE Center at St. Anthony's Medical Center by specially trained and certified teachers.

The program offers a comprehensive class, and individualized monthly follow up sessions to ensure complete understanding and confidence in using the method.

The Aware Center at St. Anthony's Medical Center     314-525-1622

(2) Creighton Model (CrM)

This method uses a standardized approach scientifically based on the Billings Ovulation Method and is taught primarily by Registered Nurses certified by the American Academy of NFP.  Training is offered at a variety of locations and includes an information session and follow-up meetings with the woman or couples:

DePaul Health Center   

314-344-7115

Fertility Clinic of Farmington   

573-631-1722

Hispanic NFP Ministry

 314-991-0327

NFP/St. Peters

636-926-7850

St. John's Mercy - Creve Coeur

 314-991-0327

St. John's Mercy - Washington

 636-239-8595

St. Joseph's - Kirkwood

314-966-1609

SSM St. Joseph's Hospital West - Lake St. Louis

 636-625-5484

St. Joseph Health Center - St. Charles

636-949-7110

St. Mary's - Clayton

 314-768-8017

(3) Sympto-Thermal Method (STM).

Offered by the Couple to Couple League (CCL) this method is a crosschecking system that combines various signs of fertility including temperature, mucus and cervix changes and is taught by husband and wife teams at sites throughout the Archdiocese including:

 

Classes at various locations in the Archdiocese of St. Louis and Metro East. Call for a current listing of class times and locations. Home study course is also available.

314-481-1908

CCLI website: http://www.ccli.org/

 

Now that you know the above, please consider checking out Humanae Vitae. It's well worth the effort to understand the church's point of view on contraceptive.

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Revised: November 20, 2006