WHAT IS GAWAD KAGINHAWAHAN?

Gawad Kaginhawahan (GKag) is the flagship program of Couples For Christ that promotes the culture of life; that all CFC members become Pro-Life.

WHAT DOES BEING PRO-LIFE MEAN?

• It is a way of life for a people striving to bring about the plan of God for the family.

• It does not only mean being against abortion. It is recognizing, respecting, upholding, and defending the sanctity and dignity of human life and of all persons, from the moment of conception until their natural end; thus, rejecting and opposing all anti-life and anti-family initiatives, such as birth control and depopulation, contraception, euthanasia, death penalty, divorce, gay marriages, artificial reproductive technologies, and human cloning.

• It is being pro-active in our defense and championing of the sacred institutions of marriage and family.

• It is living and advocating chastity for married couples, single adults, and the youth.

WHY IS LIVING RESPONSIBLE  PARENTHOOD NATURAL FAMILY PLANNING (RP-NFP) THE FOUNDATION FOR BEING PRO-LIFE?

1. It is the embodiment of the values of marriage and family life - the family being the domestic Church, and the basic unit of society.

2.  It is an acceptance of the responsibility for the transmission of life by man and woman as collaborators of God.

3. It is the expression of the commitment of husband and wife to uphold the sanctity of life.

Responsible Parenthood is the inspired and generous use of a married couple's gift of sexuality to bear the right number of children at the right time, based on their own capabilities and family life aspirations.

Only the husband and wife can and should discern the right time to have a child, or to have a subsequent pregnancy, by regularly assessing and discussing the following:

1. Health: The wife may have serious health concerns that necessitate postponing pregnancy for a time. Her body later would also need sufficient time to recover from pregnancy and childbirth before being able to undergo another pregnancy.

2. Finances: In situations where Christian financial stewardship is in order, yet the couple is still experiencing serious financial difficulties, it may be valid to postpone pregnancy for a later time.

3. Psychological preparedness: Since Responsible Parenthood requires that husband and wife should not only be physically prepared to have a child, but they should also be psychologically, emotionally, and spiritually ready to bring a new life into the world, and to nurture, rear, and care for the child, psychological reasons may be a factor in postponing pregnancy.

4. Social factors: When the social and environmental conditions are serious and detrimental to pregnancy and child rearing, as in armed conflict, it may be valid for the couple to postpone pregnancy until the situation is better.

Responsible Parenthood can only be properly lived out when the husband and wife use only natural God-given means to attain pregnancy or postpone it for a later time.

WHAT IS NATURAL FAMILY PLANNING?

With Natural Family Planning, husband and wife are empowered to live by Responsible Parenthood, not birth control. Their sex life is integrated in their cycles of fertility and infertility, according to their intention to achieve or to postpone pregnancy.

• RP-NFP values life, marriage, and the dignity of persons. Husband and wife recognize that their union expects total self-giving, and openness to new life.

• RP-NFP strengthens the family because it requires the mutual support, cooperation, and participation of husband and wife who thereby share the responsibility in planning and raising their family.

• RP-NFP improves marriages by fostering communication and trust between husband and wife. Regular discussion of the state of their fertility provides them the opportunity to assess and appreciate what they truly value and aspire for - for themselves, their marriage, and their family.

• RP-NFP can be applied by ALL women. Because is it based on fertility awareness, it is "customized and personalized" for every couple, regardless of how long the woman's ovulation cycles are at any time. Even women who experience ovulation cycles which are long, short, or supposedly irregular, can practice modern NFP methods, and exercise Responsible Parenthood.

• Unlike artificial methods that are used only for contraception, RP-NFP is for achieving or postponing pregnancy.

• RP-NFP is safe and inexpensive. It does not use any chemicals, devices and surgical procedures that would alter and harm the natural reproductive processes of the body, or cause illness and even death for the wife.

• RP-NFP allows the couple to monitor the gynecological health of the wife. The ovulation chart is not only a record of the couple's combined fertility, but is also a health record of the wife.

• RP-NFP is based on modern scientific and sociological principles and studies, proven to be highly effective and acceptable all over the world.

• RP-NFP is easy to learn and practice as shown in studies by the World Health Organization, by the experience of the Family of the Americas Foundation (FAF) in developing and developed countries, by the successes of various groups in the Philippines, and by the experience of RP-NFP teachers in Gawad Kalinga (CFC's work with the poor).

Couples who live out Responsible Parenthood-Natural Family Planning and Chastity in their marriages promote and safeguard the total well-being of their spouse, their marriage, and their family, not only for the present, but more importantly for the future.

WHAT ARE THE ACCEPTED MODERN NFP METHODS?

The Catholic Church, the World Health Organization, and the Department of Health recognize only the following modern methods as NFP:

• Ovulation Method

• Basal Body Temperature (BBT)

• Sympto-Thermal Method (STM)

• Lactational Amenorrhea Method (LAM)

The Calendar-Rhythm method was rejected by both Church and health institutions because it was found to be inaccurate and resulted in a high failure rate as it is not based on fertility-awareness.

The "Standard Days Method" or the "Cycle Beads Method" recently introduced by USAID is not considered an NFP method, and has been rejected because it is merely another form of the inaccurate calendar-rhythm method.

Withdrawal is also not considered NFP and is contraceptive in nature and intent.

HOW SHALL GKag TEACH RP-NFP?

Gawad Kaginhawahan gives instruction in the Ovulation Method of Natural Family Planning as designed, taught, and certified by Mrs. Mercedes Arzú Wilson of The Family of the Americas Foundation (FAF).

The simplified Ovulation Method course of Mrs. Wilson makes couples understand and appreciate their combined fertility by recognizing and identifying the fertile and infertile phases of the wife's cycle with the presence or absence of cervical mucus, and the sensations of moisture and wetness or of dryness.

The Ovulation Method users training scheduled for six sessions includes not only instruction in technology, but more importantly, an appreciation of the many family and life issues confronting married couples and families today.