You think the pro-life movement is influenced by something as flimsy as fact?

First of all, the rhythm method hasn't been taught (or used, really) for about 40 or 50 years. The author of this article completely misunderstands the way non-contraceptive methods of family planning work and are used. Essentially, he gets the non-science parts of his article plain wrong. While I'm not directly competent to comment on the science, my understanding is that he got that wrong, too. There's a good view of the other side here: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/jun/06060508.html

Contra Phil, the rhythm method is still taught, particularly by the Catholic church. Regardless of whether its done by merely counting days on the calendar (the old way) or the taking of temperatures and measuring of secretions (the new way), the method is the same -- the purposeful timing of intercourse to decrease the possibility of pregnancy. (I think the church "rebranded" what it calls this practice at some point, so it shies away from calling it the rhythm method any more.) At my pre-marriage counseling in New York City three years ago, we had videos, speakers, and handouts all pushing this (to much laughter).

Confusing the sympto-thermal method with the rhythm method misunderstands what is meant by "rhythm method" both in common use and in the article under discussion. Regardless of the terminological issue at hand, the fact remains that the article misunderstands the moral issues behind the rationale for using Natural Family Planning (or even the rhythm method), and (apparently) misunderstands the difference between the loss of a fertilized embryo due to the natual state of the womb and due to the abortofacient effects of an IUD.

Philosophers schmilosophers.

I don't think anyone is taking into consideration the obvious discrimination inherent in the so-called rhythm method: white guys are at a disadvantage. And don't get me going on the unattractivenes of the White Man's Overbite in preparing a woman for sexual intercourse.

This rather confuses sins of omission with sins of commission, which the Catholic church distinguishes between.

I've been away from the fold too long- are sins of commission the ones where the Church gets its cut?

Next thing ya know the Church is gonna have a problem with interruptus... oh wait..

Both methods require a high degree of commission. The only position with integrity is use of condoms to prevent the fusion in the first place.

Phil,

You are playing with semantics, choosing your words to create a distinction without a difference.

The point of Drezner's post is that the "sympto-thermal method" is matter of finding the time that the womb is "naturally" in an abortofacient state.

According to the journal article- by following this method, you are knowingly having intercourse and creating an embryo that will die. Just because it happens through "natural" means, doesn't make it any more ethical.

Actually, it's "naturalness" does make a difference, and it's not clear that "Bovens' empircal assertion is correct". The scientific correctness of the article, however, does not change its incorrectness with regard to the relevant moral principles. My point is that there is good reason to question this article's assertions about both the science and the ethics.

Such banefully obvious misassertions over what constitutes "naturalness", tsk, tsk.

We must return to old-time traditions! Namely, the one where the mother has total power over the fetus' life up to one week after birth. I have read that, in certain technical senses, the newborn is still a fetus for about a week. The mother should be able to leave it on a hillside. Another tradition is that ensoulment occurs after a month. Aren't traditions great? Just pick the one you want.

interruptus... oh wait

Didn't Onan get in trouble for that!

By Bovens' rationale, all conception is murder, since every child who is conceived is guaranteed to die some day. Needless to say, I've never met anyone, pro-life or pro-choice, who made that argument. Some things take a professor . . . .

Phil,

The sympto-thermal method is not "natural"- you are just choosing different technology to achieve the same result.

"Natural" would be engaging in intercourse without using a technology to create an abortofacient state.

You just chose a different means. But you are still using technology to abort an embryo.

Naturalness/artificial. Omission/commission.

Isn't it more useful in exploring the ethical parallel of IUD and rhythm to consider intent/accident, informed/ignorant?

Once you know that rhythm is like IUD you've got an issue if you've got an issue with the IUD on ethical grounds. So, boys and girls, close your eyes and cover your ears.

Unless what you are saying is God, in her infinite wisdom, only gave us a few days of sex without consequences so that the IUD goes against God's will but rhythm doesn't. There again, those freebie days were not revealed to us except by a certain amount human of experimentation and deduction. Did God intend that we would find this out? And now that we are not so innocent can we use this information to time safe sex by the rhythm method andavoid the IUD pitfall? May be you can as long as you don't take your temperature, etc.