Personhood: Compliant Approaches

Abstinence

"When you have sex with someone, you are having sex with everyone they have had sex with for the last ten years, and everyone they and their partners have had sex with for the past ten years." — C. Everett Koop, Former U.S. Surgeon General.

Abstinence [ ab·sti·nence / 'abstɘnɘns / ] is not having sex. A person who decides to practice Abstinence has decided not to have sex. Unlike so many other approaches that focus on contraceptive use or even abortifacients (a substance that induces abortion), Abstinence Education is a comprehensive and holistic approach that promotes primary prevention and teaches vital life skills that empower teens to AVOID ALL RISK by choosing Abstinence. Such skills include: identifying healthy (and unhealthy) relationships; accurately understanding STDs and contraception; setting goals; healthy decision-making; and character building as teens navigate through the difficult adolescent years. Abstinence is the only 100% EFFECTIVE method to prevent pregnancy. Any other birth control method can fail. Practicing Abstinence ensures that a girl won't become pregnant because there is no opportunity for sperm to come into contact with an oocyte. ^1,2

Natural Family Planning

"The way to plan the family is natural family planning, not contraception … This (use of contraceptives) turns the attention to self and so it destroys the gift of love in him or her. In loving, the husband and wife must turn the attention to each other as happens in natural family planning, and not to self, as happens in contraception. Once that living love is destroyed by contraception, abortion follows easily … And abortion, which often follows from contraception, brings a people to be spiritually poor, and that is the worst poverty and the most difficult to overcome." — Mother Teresa (26 August 1910 - 5 September 1997).

Natural Family Planning (NFP) is an effective, scientifically based method of family planning that treats fertility as a normal, healthy process. NFP is NOT Calendar Rhythm. NFP is based upon the empirical observations of changes in the woman's body that reliably reflect her fertility or infertility. Couples using NFP interpret this information and then either have sexual intercourse during the fertile time or abstain during the fertile time, depending upon their intention. The Northwest Family Services teaches the Sympto Thermal Method which is based on changes in a woman's cervical mucus, waking or resting temperature, and cervix. These observable signs change in response to the hormones of a woman's menstrual cycle. Only seconds a day are required for a woman to track her fertility. Couples then interpret the chart and make a decision based on their intention. ³

Natural Procreative Technology

"I felt like it wasn't meant to be. It was like my body failed me, and that I couldn't do what I was meant to do. I felt an emptiness inside myself and my heart that could never be filled," said Stephanie Epolite in a television interview. After two failed ICSI/IVF cycles, NaProTechnology helped her to achieve a pregnancy and give birth to her daughter. — The NaProTechnology Revolution: Unleashing the Power in a Woman's Cycle.

Natural Procreative Technology (NPT) is a Fertility-Care based medical approach rather than a Fertility-Control approach to family planning and gynecological health. NaProTECHNOLOGY uses the Creighton Model FertilityCare™ System (CrMS) biomarkers to monitor easily and objectively the occurrence of various hormonal events during the menstrual cycle. NaProtracking provides valid information that can be interpreted by a woman and by physicians who are specifically trained in this system. Unlike common suppressive or destructive approaches, NaProTECHNOLOGY works cooperatively with the procreative and gynecologic systems. When these systems function abnormally, NaProTECHNOLOGY identifies the problems and cooperates with the menstrual and fertility cycles that correct the condition, maintain the human ecology, and sustain the procreative potential. With conventional medicine, women are treated with hormones and with artificial technology never finding out what disease is causing the problem. NaProTECHNOLOGY has done wonders for both men and women who have been scarred by previous promiscuity and now truly want their own children. So (NPT) is not just a preventive method, but one that also repairs and heals our reproductive health. The benefits of this technology appears to be endless. For those considering In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) NaProTECHNOLOGY is a remarkably successful approach and a truly ethical IVF alternative. ⁴

Bible Based Sex Education

"Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed." (Genesis 2:24,25 — King James Version) "Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body." (1st Corinthians 6:18 — King James Version)

In the King James Version (KJV) I found the word "adultery" thirty-three (33) times and the word "fornication" thirty-five (35) times in the Bible. Most of these references teach that adultery and/or fornication (sex outside of Holy matrimony) is forbidden. From the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:14: "Thou shalt not commit adultery.") to the Churches in Galatia (Galatians 5:19: "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness.") the Bible is clear and consistent. However, it appears today that few realize the Bible has a lot to say about sex in the "CAN DO" sense. Outside of sexual perversion,⁵ within marriage, no sexual activity is forbidden in the Bible. Furthermore, in his letters to the Church at Corinth, the Apostle Paul teaches that equal sexual pleasure is the right of both the husband and wife. The Bible teaches that God created sexual pleasure to guarantee the continuation of the human race. There is no reason why we can't enjoy the sexual pleasure God created for us, as long as it's within the bonds and bounds of Holy matrimony. If you are married, feel free to thoroughly enjoy sex with your spouse. However, if you are not married, then practice celibacy (1st Thessalonians 4:3-11) and flee sexual immorality (2nd Timothy 2:22). Just as "all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness," (1st Timothy 3:16) so is Bible Based Sex Education.

Brothers, we really need to talk.

Reference(s):
1. Abstinence Advocate: La Verne Tolbert, Ph.D. is Founder and President of Teaching Like Jesus Ministries, Inc., a non-profit para-church ministry that equips leaders in the local church. She is also a member of the National Black Pro-Life Coalition and Director of The Society for Children's Spirituality: Christian Perspectives, a triennial gathering of scholars and practitioners exploring research in the challenging field of children's "Christian Formation." After completing her doctoral dissertation, Dr. Tolbert wrote Keeping You & Your Kids Sexually Pure: A How-To Guide for Parents, Pastors, Youth Workers and Teachers which was originally published by Zondervan. This book, geared to parents and church leaders, stresses the urgency of teaching abstinence. Dr. Tolbert has over 30 years experience in the field of abstinence education and teen pregnancy prevention. Her interests began in 1975 when she was invited to become a board member of Planned Parenthood in New York City where she volunteered until 1980 when she relocated to Los Angeles. The education she received about abortion/population control during her five-year tenure developed her into an avid pro-life advocate.(http://bit.ly/cKsiTl)
2. Abstinence Advocate: Freda McKissic Bush, M.D., FACOG has been deeply involved in women's health issues for more than four decades. In 1968, she was a clinical instructor in Maternity Nursing at the University of Arkansas, Little Rock. Following graduation from Columbia University in New York as a certified nurse midwife in 1970, she worked at Harlem Hospital. In 1974, Dr. Bush became the director of Nurse Midwifery Programs at the University of Mississippi. In 1983, she received her medical degree from the University of Mississippi Medical School, and in 1987 she completed a residency in obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Tennessee Medical Center, Memphis. She is senior partner with East Lakeland OB-GYN Associates in Jackson, Mississippi, and a Clinical Instructor in the Department of OB-GYN and Department of Family Medicine at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. (http://bit.ly/vR2rfV)
3. Natural Family Planning Advocate: Julie Grimstad is the Executive Director of Life is Worth Living, Inc., a member of Pro-Life Wisconsin's speakers bureau and serves on the Human Life Alliance board of advisors. Julie's earlier experiences include being a Natural Family Planning Instructor for the Diocese of Lincoln, NE. (http://bit.ly/sWeMcP, http://bit.ly/9qvrvf)
4. Natural Procreative Technology Advocate: The Pope Paul VI Institute, founded in 1985 by Thomas W. Hilgers, MD, is internationally recognized for its outstanding achievements in the field of natural fertility regulation and reproductive medicine — 30 years of scientific research and educational program development; allied health professional education programs for couples and professionals; professional, caring, and morally acceptable patient services. (http://bit.ly/Dfdvh, http://bit.ly/tJtO7i)
5. Types Of Sexual Perversion: Adultery and Fornication, Deuteronomy 22:22-29 and Ephesians 5:3; Prostitution, Deuteronomy 23:17; Incest, Leviticus 18:6-18; Homosexuality, Romans 1:26,27; Mankind with beasts, Deuteronomy 27:21. Judgment Upon Sexual Perversion: Defilement, Leviticus 18:22-28 and 1st Corinthians 6:18; Destruction 1st Corinthians 5:1-5; Death, Leviticus 20:13-16.