University students argue contraception vs. natural family planning

Saint Paul University students differ on how to prevent unwanted pregnancy

Father Terrence Donahue, Dr. Rene Leiva, and Fertility Care counsellor Linda Smith at a panel hosted by Saint Paul University Students for Life. Photo Deborah Gyapong/CCN

The B.C. Catholic has a story from Deborah Gyapong detailing the arguments of contraception against natural family planning at St. Paul's University in Ottawa:

The same week a student group came under fire for distributing condoms on the Saint Paul University (SPU) campus, a pro-life group hosted a panel touting the benefits of natural family planning (NFP), revealing the contrasts between artificial and natural means of preventing pregnancy.

SPU ordered the student group to stop its practice of leaving a bowl of condoms for free use, prompting a student to write an open letter, backed by 100 others that has been picked up by the news media. “I was shocked that it's 2012 and we're still having this conversation of science versus ideology," said Zach Zimmel, the author of an open letter to the university administration, according to the CBC.

But University of Ottawa assistant professor of family medicine Dr. Rene Leiva, who practices NaProTechnology, a form of fertility care that maximizes gynecological health, would beg to differ that a Catholic approach to family planning lacks a scientific basis.

Read the full story at The B.C. Catholic website.