Abstract

The Church’s simultaneous approval of natural means of regulating birth and condemnation of contraception can leave Catholics, as well as other Christians and people of good will, confused or frustrated—confused because contraception and natural family planning are, in fact, similar in many practical considerations, and frustrated because the degree of sacrifice required by NFP seems highly disproportionate considering what is perceived as a minimal difference between it and contraception. This article compares the object and intention of NFP to those of contraception and argues that couples who practice natural means of regulating birth sacrifice not for a minimal difference but for the triumph of the Gospel of Life over the culture of death.