Natural Family Planning: environmentally responsible behavior

Thursday, April 22. 2010

Natural Family Planning: environmentally responsible behavior

In honor of Earth Day, I give you this quote from Janet E. Smith's Uncovering a String of Lies about the deceptions surrounding chemical contraceptives:

I keep hoping someone will do a study of the carbon footprint of contraceptives. Production costs are considerable, as is the cost for packaging and distributing and disposing of contraceptives. The estrogens, in particular in some forms of the pill, are having serious negative effects on the environment. Well-known are the reports of a serious disproportion between male and female fish when a water supply has too much estrogen in it. And what other effects might there be of excess estrogen in the environment? Some have conjectured that premature puberty in young girls and the increase in infertility among males may be traceable to excess estrogen in the water supply, or perhaps even in their mother’s systems as they were gestated.

For my part, I believe all those who use natural family planning should get a tax credit for environmentally responsible behavior.

Posted by Rebecca Taylor in Environment at 08:23 | Comments (10) | Trackbacks (0)

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What would happen if everyone did "natural family planning" you think ? Would over-population cause a risk to the earth's environment you think ? Is critical thinking a prominent feature in educated catholic circles you think ? Just asking, since arguments like this will eventually remove all your credibility. Is that what you want you think ?

#1 Sciphu (Nils Reinton) (Homepage) on 2010-04-23 02:27 (Reply)

Now SciPhu there is no need to be sarcastic.

Actually Catholic education and Catholic educated circles are very heavy on the critical thinking and always have been. Logic is the cornerstone of a good Catholic education where it is woefully missing as a requirement in most secular colleges.

You are making a false assumption that NFP does not work. The ovulation method (not the rhythm method) is very effective when done correctly. There is even the Persona machine that tracts your hormone levels and lets you know when you are fertile. These methods are safe for the woman, natural and do not pump synthetic estrogen into our water supply. Women can abstain (or use barrier methods if that is their wish) during fertile periods.

I call that a way to be environmentally responsible.

I think you need to rethink the idea that a pill, with side effects, taken everyday that doesn't fix anything, but instead messes up a woman's NATURAL state of being is a good thing for women.

I have even read a dietitian recommend that woman not take chemical contraceptives because they mess with the delicate balance of hormones like insulin and others that regulate hunger and weight.

#1.1 Rebecca Taylor on 2010-04-23 10:25 (Reply)

Thinking is not something you will be accused of doing anytime soon, Nils.

#1.2 bmmg39 (Homepage) on 2010-04-26 12:23 (Reply)

I admit to being sarcastic. The natural prevention method simply does not work very well. If there were "natural" alternatives I would agree that this discussion would be worthwhile, but at present alternatives are non-exiting. Catholics should face reality on this one. My point is that otherwise interesting discussions get clouded over when naive viewpoints like these are voiced.

#2 sciphu (Nils Reinton) (Homepage) on 2010-04-23 10:50 (Reply)

Once again a false assumption that "natural methods are non-existing." Persona is based on the Ovulation Method:

http://www.persona.org.uk/uk/how_does_work.php

"*Based on independent trials, PERSONA is 94% reliable when used according to the instructions and as the only method of contraception. This means that if 100 women use PERSONA for one year, 6 are expected to become pregnant as a result of sex on a 'Green' Day due to PERSONA incorrectly identifying their fertile days."

#2.1 Rebecca Taylor on 2010-04-23 11:03 (Reply)

This may be a good method for some, but apparently not a method that can substitute for condoms and hormonal methods. From Eur J Contracept Reprod Health Care. (2000 Jun;5(2):141-6. Profile and opinions of the female Persona user in The Netherlands.Janssen CJ, van Lunsen RH.): "The method is not reliable enough to be used as the only contraceptive method when a couple absolutely wants to prevent a pregnancy." From Br J Fam Plann. (1999 Jul;25(2):34-5.Contraceptive efficacy of the personal hormone monitoring system Persona. Trussell J.): "PIP: This is a commentary on the contraceptive effectiveness of the personal hormone-monitoring system Persona; it points out the various errors committed in computing method pregnancy rates. The modifications presented by Bonnar et al. on the incorrect procedure for computing method pregnancy rates are criticized as erroneous because the denominator includes cycles in which there is no risk of a method pregnancy according to the authors' algorithm for classifying pregnancy in an imperfect-use cycle. It is also claimed that the new exercise is a more complicated and less accurate way of computing for pregnancy rates by comparison with the simpler alternative. Since this new algorithm, used in the Persona system, is based on flawed logic, the annual risk of pregnancy is actually higher than the estimated 6% among women using Persona and having intercourse in each cycle except on red days."P: This is a commentary on the contraceptive effectiveness of the personal hormone-monitoring system Persona; it points out the various errors committed in computing method pregnancy rates. The modifications presented by Bonnar et al. on the incorrect procedure for computing method pregnancy rates are criticized as erroneous because the denominator includes cycles in which there is no risk of a method pregnancy according to the authors' algorithm for classifying pregnancy in an imperfect-use cycle. It is also claimed that the new exercise is a more complicated and less accurate way of computing for pregnancy rates by comparison with the simpler alternative. Since this new algorithm, used in the Persona system, is based on flawed logic, the annual risk of pregnancy is actually higher than the estimated 6% among women using Persona and having intercourse in each cycle except on red days."

#3 sciphu (Nils Reinton) (Homepage) on 2010-04-23 11:32 (Reply)

Do they say how much more than 6%? Is it 7%?

It is true that the traditional Ovulation Method is more accurate than Persona. I just used that is an easy example of natural methods that do have a higher cited rate of effectiveness than some barrier methods.

The point I wanted to make is that you seemed to think that not using chemical birth control as environmentally responsible behavior was a ridiculous notion. I am saying that I, and others, think that foregoing chemical contraceptives in favor of more natural methods can be viewed as "environmentally responsible."

The above writer was being a bit tongue in cheek saying that NFPers should get a tax credit. That's why I liked the comment.

#3.1 Rebecca Taylor on 2010-04-23 12:22 (Reply)

Perhaps this reference is more appropriate to support the idea that NFP can work : http://humrep.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/22/5/1310?view=long&pmid=17314078
The end of the abstract :
RESULTS: After 13 cycles, 1.8 per 100 women of the cohort experienced an unintended pregnancy; 9.2 per 100 women dropped out because of dissatisfaction with the method; the pregnancy rate was 0.6 per 100 women and per 13 cycles when there was no unprotected intercourse in the fertile time.

CONCLUSIONS: The STM is a highly effective family planning method, provided the appropriate guidelines are consistently adhered to.

#4 Albert B on 2010-04-25 16:22 (Reply)

Right. Granted, it may be an alternative for some. But neither the manufacturer of this test nor any publication on this method claims that it can serve as a replacement for current birth-control strategies. It is therefore very naive to believe that it can.

#5 Sciphu (Nils Reinton) (Homepage) on 2010-04-26 00:15 (Reply)

Thanks for sharing this great content, I really enjoyed the insign you bring to the topic, awesome stuff!

#6 Family Planning in Oxnard, CA (Homepage) on 2011-12-10 02:28 (Reply)

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