Natural Family Planning a Gift of Marriage

J.M.J +
I recently was at a Catholic bulletin board to which a question was posted in regards to teaching middle school aged girls Natural Family Planning, as an alternative to the birth control pill. As a Catholic while it is never my intention to hurt another’s feelings ,I am growing more concerned about the increasing mentality of tolerating this watered down and morally corrupt view on the impossibility for our youth to live chaste and pure lives as well as the true message of NFP. My husband and I believe that parents being the first educators of their children should teach the importance of living a chaste and pure life before marriage, and when the time comes, in marriage. It is my continued belief that through God’s grace, along with utilizing the Sacraments, our youth when given the truth of God’s plan for sex and marriage will recognize the dignity of the human person. Along with the understanding that they are worth waiting for and a new found respect for the beauty of union between husband and wife and the gift of children through that union, I believe our youth can and will want to live pure lives. I have a fantastic link for teens which promotes chastity and purity which has a modern type appeal to our youth! http://www.pureloveclub.com/
I am also growing wearier of not speaking up for those who may not understand what the acceptable moral teaching is on NFP within the context of the Magisterium of the Church. Below is a response I posted to a question on whether or not it is acceptable to teach NFP to young girls for those schools and parents who feel chastity is unrealistic in our day and age. I hope through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, I did it justice!
From a Catholic perspective NFP is meant to be used within the Sacrament of Marriage and only when the couple has prayerfully discerned it is needed either for the spacing of children and or other serious reasons. In context of our Faith it is never viewed as a birth control because abstaining from the marital embrace during the fertile time, unlike obstructing natural fertility with birth control pills or a condom, is in no way hindering God's Will when there is good reason. It is also perfectly acceptable for husband and wife to partake in the marital act when the woman is naturally infertile while abstaining in the fertile time, as God has deemed that period to be naturally infertile. So from a Catholic perspective I have a problem with young girls being taught NFP for "Birth Control" purposes. This would be taking NFP out on the confines of Marriage and changing completely the role it is meant to play. In response to the statement, "could it be a viable option for parents and schools who think "they're just going to have sex anyway"? "From a secular standpoint I am sure just as they are teaching that all teens are having premarital sex, need birth control because of this and when they are "irresponsible" in taking those pills can seek an abortion, they may consider adding NFP as a method of avoiding pregnancy. From a moral Catholic perspective this remains unacceptable because it does not change that it is immoral. Used in this way it has the same intentions as of using birth control and is perverting the context for which it was created to be used which is in Marriage. There really is no lesser of an evil here.