Archive for the ‘Education’ Category

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1. Lack of Breastfeeding in Haiti? 2. Menopause: Does anything go?

Sunday, January 17th, 2010

1.   ABC World News this evening (1/17/10) showed a Haitian woman who had just delivered a baby.  She and her friends complained that she had no milk for her baby.  She was amply endowed and was not holding the baby.  The big question is why in a poverty stricken area is not every mother breastfeeding.   Why have not the relief organizations and missionaries promoted breastfeeding?

2. When a woman is menopausal, some couples think that any kind of sexual activity is a moral option.  But menopause does not change the meaning of the marriage act. 
 
A woman asks us:
       I am no longer of child-bearing age,and I wanted to know if it was ok for me as a wife to perform oral sex on my husband?   I am past menopause and some times it still causes me pain to have intercourse even when I use jellies and creams for dryness.  I’m sorry for the embarressing question. 
   

John responded:
       I assume that by oral sex you meant your oral stimulation of your husband that brings him to ejaculation outside of your vagina.  That is still masturbation and is immoral.  While it no longer has the effect of contraception, it still destroys the symbolism of the marriage act, the mutual gift of self in the act of genital-genital union.  In marriage we are given the right to engage in that act that of its very nature is oriented toward the procreation of children.  So even if you are no longer capable of providing an egg, the marriage act is still oriented toward the procreation of children and the bonding of the spouses.  
       From a practical perspective, an ample amount of KY jelly can or should provide ample lubrication.  Make sure that it is sufficiently applied and into the full area where you experience dryness.
       If by “oral sex” you mean oral-genital stimulation to bring your husband to an erection sufficient for genital-genital intercourse, that is morally okay.  In fact, it can be an act of charity if he is otherwise impotent.
       If you can help this organization, we will appreciate it.  Just go to the “Please donate” tab in the “And more” box on the home page.  Both prayers and pennies are needed. 
 
John F Kippley
Sex and the Marriage Covenant: A Basis for Morality (Ignatius)

Posted in Education, Morality | 1 Comment »

The Risks of Breast Cancer

Sunday, December 27th, 2009

Due to the recent guidelines about breast cancer detection, I was shocked when I read in our local newspaper that a woman medical director said that 80% of women with breast cancer have no known risk factors.

Does this mean that 80% of these women never took the birth control pill?  If they did, they gave themselves a known risk factor.   Dr. Chris Kahlenborn’s research was published in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings (October 2006).   He clearly states that women who took the birth control Pill prior to the birth of their first child sustained a 44% average increased risk of developing pre-menopausal breast cancer (compared to women who never took the Pill) and that this risk increased to 52% for women who took the Pill for at least four years prior to the birth of their first child.

Did they not have children?   If they did have children, did they not breastfeed?   If they did not breastfeed, these women failed to take advantage of a known risk-reduction factor.

At our website we provide an excellent booklet, Breast Cancer: Risks and Prevention written by Angela Lanfranchi, M.D., F.A.C.S. and Joel Brind, Ph.D.   Everyone should read this booklet.   You may download it.   It is only 22 pages.   Any young teenager or woman concerned about her health should read this booklet.   Any man who is interested in his wife’s health should never encourage her to take the pill and should do all he can to encourage her to breastfeed their children.   All parents should read it so they will not allow their daughter to take the Pill for acne or any other reason.

Sheila Kippley

Posted in Education | 1 Comment »

2. The Right NFP Course

Sunday, November 8th, 2009

Part 2 of the Right NFP Course
We think that every NFP program should mention morality, especially in connection with the abortifacient potential of hormonal birth control.  We have good reason to think that the idea of rejecting unnatural forms of birth control out of faith in the Spirit-led teaching of the Magisterium is lacking in some programs.
        We believe that the NFP course ought to be an agent of evangelization in the Church today.  Couples need to be affirmed in the Catholic belief that Jesus keeps his promises and that the Holy Spirit does lead the Magisterium to teach the truth. 

Serious reason.  The teaching of the Church is clear: NFP is not just a form of “Catholic birth control” to enable couples to fit in with the culture.  It calls for generosity in having children and teaches that couples need sufficiently serious reasons for using NFP to postpone and avoid pregnancy.  On the other hand, we regularly read criticisms that “NFP” seems to mean “Not For Procreation” to many couples.  We listened to a priest representing an NFP organization tell an EWTN audience that he is on a campaign to eliminate the use of the term “serious reason” from the NFP vocabulary, despite that terminology being in section 10 of Humanae Vitae. We view with caution the effort to explain this solely in terms of “just cause” because that can come across in today’s culture in the Church as “just cuz,” totally different from the use of “just cause” to flesh out the need for “serious reason.”
        We believe that the NFP course ought to address all these issues, teach the call to generosity, and explain the need for sufficiently serious reasons to use systematic NFP. 

John F. Kippley
Sex and the Marriage Covenant
www.NFPandmore.org

Posted in Education, NFP | 1 Comment »

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