RE: Title X and NFP

[Guest guest]

(Kippley):

Thanks for your observations. My response:

1. by federal law Title X Family Planning Nurse Practitioners are to

offer and provide natural family planning services as part of their

contraceptive services --- it is not listed as FAM-- see number 2.

2. " ....women must be offered a broad range of contraceptive methods

(including natural family planning), and may not be pressured to accept

a particular method or any method at all..... "

3. The National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) -- which involves a

random selection of women in the United States -- showed that according

to women who list periodic abstinence -- i.e., calendar rhythm, or bbt

or mucus as their method of contraception -- for most part listed some

type of private medical/health clinics or Title X service as their

provider -- they label it periodic abstinence --- see:

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nsfg.htm

4. I think the heart of NFP is the ability to monitor and live with

your fertility

5. I will be giving an update on NFP to Region V providers at the end

of October -- I hope to help them be better providers of NFP not FAM

J. Fehring

Re: Re: FAM and NFP (was " new member " )

,

I'm going through the accumulated emails on this subject; thus the

delay

in responding.

I have to take respectful issue with your statement that Title X

clinics

are teaching NFP when they in fact teach FAM. The methodological heart

of

systematic NFP is periodic abstinence; the methodological heart of FAM

is

periodic contraceptive behaviors whether barriers or Bill and sex

etc.

The fact that teachers of both share a common base of knowledge no

more

makes them similar in operation that does the common base of knowledge

shared by abortionists and legitimate physicians. The former is the

enemy

of the latter.

Bad money chases out good money, and FAM practices will chase out

NFP

unless there is good moral teaching and a recognition by NFP teachers as

to

who the enemy really is.

-- K.

Re: FAM and NFP (was " new member " )

>

> Hello again. I've been on this list for a while, but I've never really

> explained who I am or what I do, for reasons that will become obvious.

> My name is Ilene Richman, and, in addition to being a teacher of

> Fertility Awareness in New York, I am also the current director of the

> Fertility Awareness Network (FAN). FAN was founded around 1990 (to the

> best of my knowledge) by some of the first teachers of secular

> Fertility Awareness. We have members in the US, Canada, and in one

> case Israel. The prior director was my mentor, Barbara Feldman. (I

> took over the position upon her death in 2001.) As director, I answer

> inquiries from women (and in some cases men) who wish to learn FA.

> Some of them are wondering how they themselves can become instructors.

> I also coordinate a loose network of instructors. We help each other

> with difficult cases, learn from each other in matters of business and

> scholarship, and offer camaraderie. In short, we do what you do, but

> on a much smaller scale.

>

> The professional FA community is minute compared to that of the

> professional NFP community, though the number of women practicing FA

> is definitely growing, largely, I believe, due to the popularity of

> Toni Weschler's book Taking Charge of Your Fertility. (FYI, another

> very good secular book on FA that you may not be aware of is called

> The Garden of Fertility, by Singer. It was published in 2004 and

> its approach is more holistic.)

>

> I cannot claim to speak for the FA community - I don't know that

> anyone can (and I am not speaking for anyone but myself right now).

> Even the NFP community, which would seemingly be united by common

> beliefs, frequently expresses wild discord right here in this

> discussion group. Our secular community, bound only by the material we

> teach, is no less diverse.

>

> Having said that, I would very much like to take the opportunity that

> has recently presented itself to discuss FA and NFP, but hopefully not

> merely the differences between the two. What I would really like is to

> use this as an opportunity to open channels of communication, and to

> find areas of common ground, so that we can help each other. As a

> teacher of FA, I have benefited tremendously from being on this list,

> but I have had to do so (or so I felt) in relative secret about my

> identity and my belief system, because I felt that I would ostracized

> if I were to " go public " . FAN has always helped women locate

> instruction in NFP if that option felt right for them. Our info packet

> lists many NFP organizations, as well as seminal books such as the

> Art of Natural Family Planning (pardon the pun). Sadly, I have not

> felt this respect reciprocated. I feel that the NFP community is so

> bound to its own beliefs that it cannot acknowledge the merits of

> other systems. I think if you really want natural family planning to

> spread, you must acknowledge that some people are never going to

> embrace the belief system that underlies it. There are Jewish women,

> athiests, lesbians, and women of all faiths who just don't want their

> health care mixed with religious values. The question must be asked,

> would you rather have those women practice FA, or use things such as

> the Pill and Depo? Is your ultimate value the health and well-being of

> the woman, or something else? Can you accept less than 100%?

>

> Obviously, I believe the differences between FA and NFP are more than

> simply whether or not barriers and oral sex are permitted during the

> fertile phase. To my mind, the basic difference lies in the values

> that underlie each system. All the specifics which distinguish FA from

> NFP are merely manifestations of those beliefs. When Catholic values

> form the foundation, certain activities, technologies, etc are

> prohibited. When secular values govern, the woman's own choices come

> to the fore.

>

> Despite these differences, which I acknowledge are significant, I do

> believe that there are values that we share - health and well-being,

> living in accordance with nature, sexual pleasure and fulfillment,

> helping others, to name a few. I invite you to join me in looking for

> those commonalities (though we may differ on how to achieve them) and

> in focusing on how we can help each other and the public at the same

> time. A while back there was mention of a comprehensive NFP site -

> would FA be welcomed there? Can we have joint conferences? Can we

> co-publish? Can we have (truly) mixed email discussion groups? I have

> always been and continue to be up for it, though my beliefs are as

> vehement as yours. So I say to you what I say to my students - think

> about your values, and then decide how you want to achieve your goals.

> If you would like to partner more closely with the FA community, I for

> one would welcome you.

>

> With best wishes and gratitude for your work, both past and ongoing

> (and apologies for overly long post),

> Ilene Richman,

> Director, Fertility Awareness Network

>

>

>

>> Dear ,

>> Since the mid-1970s, the Fertility Awareness Method has been

> distinguished from Natural Family Planning by the FAM acceptance of

> orgasmic sexual activities during the fertile time as a way to avoid

> abstinence. There has been an assumption in the NFP movement that NFP

> meant " chaste NFP " in which couples would abstain from all activity

> that resulted in orgasm.

>> One leader in the FAM movement openly recommended oral-genital

> copulation during the fertile time. Masturbation, whether mutual or

> solitary, would be accepted by FAM, but those who teach NFP are called

> to advise couples to avoid such unchaste behavior.

>> There are two classes of questions concerning these matters.

>> 1) Is the above description of the FAM still accurate? Also, is

> there any organization or association that can speak for teachers of

> the FAM?

>>

>> 2) In fact, do teachers of NFP regard themselves as called to

> teach chaste NFP? Do NFP teachers, in their regular course of

> instruction, systematically point out to their clients that it is

> immoral to engage in masturbation, whether mutual of solitary, or in

> oral sodomy? Do the principal NFP teaching organizations have such

> teaching built into their regular course of instruction?

>>

>> To my fellow NFP teachers, I suggest that if you think that all

> NFP couples are automatically chaste and do not engage in these

> activities, you are in a dream world. Steve Wood recently dared to

> reaffirm traditional Christian teaching against masturbation, and he

> was challenged by some who engaged in such practices during the

> fertile time.

>>

>> F. Kippley

>> President

>> NFP International

>> nfpandmore@n...

>>

>

>>

>

>>

> --------------------------------------------------

> ----------------------------

>> YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS

>>

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>>

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