Patients at most OB-GYN offices are bombarded with contraceptive propaganda, from the posters on the walls to advertisements on prescription pads and coffee mugs. Indeed, most physicians have little to offer couples who do not use artificial birth control.
The Magic Pill?
There are, however, pro-family doctors who promote natural, moral methods of family planning and refuse to prescribe contraception or perform medical procedures that oppose Catholic teaching regarding the sanctity of human life. Their attitudes toward sexuality and reproduction make for happier and healthier patients.
“In the traditional approach to obstetrics and gynecology over the last 30 years, oral contraception has been seen as a kind of panacea,” said Dr. Faith Daggs, an obstetrician-gynecologist at the Center for Women’s Health in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania.
As a physician who exclusively prescribes natural family planning, she finds the prevalence of the contraceptive mentality disturbing.
“The pill masks many disorders and has serious side effects, including an increased risk of precancerous lesions and blood clots in the legs and lungs. When they prescribe contraception for problems like irregular periods and endometriosis, doctors don’t fully evaluate their patients. There is no careful investigation or diagnosis.”
Alternatively, “NFP gives us a comprehensive and cooperative approach to women’s health care,” Daggs said.
Natural methods of family planning enable a woman to work cooperatively with her doctor in diagnosing and treating common health problems. But because the contraceptive mentality is so deeply entrenched in modern society, particularly among young people, Daggs finds practicing moral medicine uniquely challenging.
“Sexual intimacy is denigrated. It’s especially hard for teens to understand the true beauty and value of sexuality when they see sex disrespected on billboards and in magazines.”
She takes consolation, however, in being able to help many of her patients overcome infertility through natural methods, including NFP charting and hormone supplementation.
For example, one of her patients had suffered repeated miscarriages. Another OB-GYN might have offered her few options, but Daggs was able to use natural methods of observation to diagnose a hormonal deficiency and prescribe a progesterone supplement. This course of treatment ultimately enables the woman to carry a healthy baby to term.
Called to Serve
As a pro-life practice, the Caritas Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan, offers NFP as “a safe, effective and marriage-enhancing way for couples to responsibly plan the number and spacing of children.” They do not prescribe contraception or perform sterilizations, but Dr. Phil Fleming and his partner Dr. Lorna Cvetkovich, both OB-GYNs, reverse tubal ligations and refer patients for vasectomy reversals.
“We are responding to Pope John Paul II’s call to create a culture of life,” said Fleming. “We are here to serve.”
“Essentially, we respect the nature and dignity of women by helping them to discover and appreciate their bodies. We support new parents and celebrate new life as we care for mothers and their babies.”
Like Daggs, Fleming finds that NFP methods are particularly helpful to couples who struggle with infertility.
“Natural methods can identify and fix problems that unnatural procedures never would,” he explained. By observing and recording fertility symptoms, a couple can work with their doctor to increase the likelihood that they will conceive a child without resorting to unnatural, immoral procedures.”
Establishing a new medical practice can be a slow process, but Fleming said the Caritas Center is thriving and always accepting new patients. He counts his patients among the chief blessings of practicing medicine in accordance with the Catholic faith.
“We have the most wonderful patients. They pray for us. They share their families with us. Most importantly, they share our values — we need that support.”
Witnessed the Ravages
Dr. Marie Anderson, an OB-GYN at the Tepeyac Family Center in Fairfax, Virginia, was led to a natural approach to obstetrics and gynecology after witnessing the “ravages of contraception and abortion.”
“Our approach is faith-centered,” she said. “Christ is the divine healer, and there is only one divine healer. As doctors, we simply help His cause.”
She recognizes, however, that most other members of the medical community do not share her values, and this causes occasional discomfort. Outside of her practice she has no friends in the medical community who also practice morally sound methods of family planning and fertility treatment.
“It’s hard to be sidelined,” she admitted. “But when I see how [the NFP approach] enhances people’s lives, I don’t regret it.”
She finds that pro-life values are especially important when a patient’s unborn baby is diagnosed with a serious or fatal condition. At most other OB-GYN practices, patients whose babies are diagnosed with terminal conditions are quickly referred for abortions. At the Tepeyac Family Center, however, parents who face these tragic circumstances find prayerful support.
“We are totally pro-life,” Anderson said. “As soon as we become aware of a grim diagnosis, we care for the mother and baby as best we can. We let God decide how the pregnancy should progress while we take on a supportive role.”
One story, Anderson said, illustrates the fruits of practicing pro-life medicine: A young, unmarried woman came to her with an unplanned pregnancy. The girl’s pregnancy caused a great deal of anger and division among her family members. This division only increased when it was discovered that he baby had Trisomy 18, an always terminal condition. In the care of another doctor, the girl might have succumbed to pressure to abort her baby, but Anderson supported her through the difficult circumstances. The young woman gave birth to a son who lived for two and a half months after his birth.
“That little boy healed the whole family,” Anderson said. “He brought them all together in love. He accomplished more in his small lifetime than others might accomplish in 80 years.”
Where to Find Them
“Only a small percentage of Catholic OB-GYNs refuse to prescribe contraception or perform sterilizations,” said Steve Koob, co-founder and director of One More Soul, a nonprofit organization dedicated to spreading the truth about the blessings of children and the harms of contraception. “It’s a scandal.”
In an effort to support physicians who run their practice in accordance with Church teaching, One More Soul has compiled a directory of NFP-only doctors throughout the United States and Canada. The doctors on the list represent a wide range of specialties, including family practice, OB-GYN, pediatrics, and neonatology. In order to be included in the directory, a doctor must fill out a questionnaire indicating that he or she will not prescribe, refer or perform abortion, contraceptive, sterilization, or in vitro fertilization.
Koob emphasizes the importance of supporting doctors who make the courageous decision to run an NFP-only practice. He points out that NFP-only physicians sometimes have to promote their practices a little more aggressively than others, but they do offer a unique service.
As an example of success, Koob cites Dr. Phil Boyle, an Irish physician who came to the United States to study an NFP approach to infertility at the Pope Paul VI Institute in Omaha, Nebraska. His special training was publicized, and upon his return to Ireland, his services were in such high demand that he was scheduling patients three years in advance.
The One More Soul directory of NFP-only physicians is available at www.onemoresoul.com .
© 2005 Danielle Bean
Danielle Bean is a freelance writer and mother of seven. Her newly-released book is My Cup of Tea: Musings of a Catholic Mom. Read an excerpt, order your copy, and read her daily musings at: www.daniellebean.com.
This article was adapted from one that appeared in Our Sunday Visitor and is used by permission of the author.
