Re: umbrella group coalition - The FACTS group

March 11, 2012

Dear Colleagues,Two years ago, Dr. Bob Motley and I founded the group named FACTS - Fertility Appreciation Collaborative to Teach the Systems. Mike Manhart, from CCLI, has since joined Bob and I as part of the Exec team of the collaborative. Here is a link to our web-page that gives an overview of who we are and what we hope to accomplish:http://www.fmec.net/collaborate/overview.php?current_group_id=6395 For your convenience, I have included our vision statment and objectives below. We currently have over 50 individual members (about 10 very active ones), representing almost all of the NFP and FAB-methods. Our focus is really about

educating the health professionals and trainees about NFP / FAM and is less about advocacy. One of our goals is to educate the mainstream medical community about NFP/FAM which is part of why we chose to form this collaborative under the umbrella of a mainstream medical organization. Specifically, our collaborative is part of the Family Medicine Education Consortium (FMEC), a not-for-profit corporation which supports the educational and scholarly needs of its members. We have made some progress in the last couple of years, including development of a CME seminar, sending out a survey to assess what is currently taught in Family Medicine residency programs about FAM, and the opportunity to submit a review article about FABM methods to a major medical journal. Nonetheless, we have faced challenges, some of which identified below, including

people's loyalty to their specific methods, limited funding to come together for meetings,etc., and finding common ground in which we can promote these methods. We welcome people to join our group and you can do so by going to the link above. Please be sure to include a brief introduction, e.g. your NFP experience and tell us how you would like to contribute to our efforts. Since its founding the group has met each fall at the Family Medicine Education Consortium annual meeting, and this year we will meet a second time this spring - specifically, we are scheduled to meet in Washington, DC on Friday, May 25th. SInce our group is still young, there is certainly the opportunity to help contribute to the future direction of the group. If you have questions, please feel free to contact me directly. Sincerely,Dr. Marguerite

Duane Vision StatementThrough the FACTS, we seek to update the primary care community with regard to fertility awareness methods and their applications in health and disease and to help promote fertility awareness methods as effective, relationship-centered reproductive health care for motivated women and couples.Objectives1) To promote the study of fertility awareness methods and their use in effective, relationship-centered care for women and couples.2) To provide a forum for primary care clinicians, educators and researchers to share and expand the evolving body of evidence regarding fertility awareness methods. 3) To educate primary care health professionals at all levels of clinical training in

the basic principles of fertility awareness methods and the supporting science behind their medical applications. 4) To foster respect and support for clinicians and users of fertility awareness methods as collaborators in patient-centered reproductive health care. To: "nfpprofessionals " <nfpprofessionals >

Sent: Sunday, March 11, 2012 12:52 PM Subject: RE: umbrella group coalition

:

I encourage the cooperation of NFP/FABM provider groups.

There was a coalition of NFP groups in the 1980s - but it never was sustained.

Right now the closest organization that provides NFP cooperation among NFP providers is the department of NFP through the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

We (i.e., the various Catholic universities - Marquette, town, Saint Louis, Catholic U - etc.) cooperate with the USCCB to provide a Human Fertility conference every four years or so.

That conference -- brings together scientists and scholars in NFP and fertility from all different perspectives. However, these conferences are very expensive to organize and put on --- and it is not easy to get sufficient participants to make it worthwhile.

One of the reasons is that NFP providers and teachers tend to want to go to conferences and spend their organizational time, skills, and financial resources with their various method organization. NFP teachers and providers do not have a lot of money.

And to be honest - NFP teachers and providers can be somewhat "prickly" about their various methods and groups.

I am interested in a FABM group made up of health professionals, scientists, and other scholars, e.g., theologians, philosophers, bioethicists, etc) -- to be a counter to the Society of Family Planning -- see:

http://www.societyfp.org/

However, I am not sure if there is interest or if there is sufficient numbers of health professionals, scientists, and scholars to warrant having such a group --- again there is loyalty to various methods -- which is OK except when it prevents cooperation.

And such a cooperative secular organization of FABM providers --- would need to be tolerant of various views on human sexuality.

There are other efforts of collaboration through the group that Dr. Marguarita Duane has spearheaded and the IIRRM group/organization.

There is a national NFP group see:

http://www.nationalfamilyplanning.org/ but N = National

And - starting an organization is the easier task-- it is sustaining it that is hard to do.

I am not sure if my comments are helpful -- they are not meant to dampen efforts of cooperation and enthusiasm.

With regards for the work an efforts of members of this NFP list.

PS - the proceedings book from the 2010 Human Fertility conference is now being indexed-- and should be available by June.

J. Fehring, PhD, RN, FAAN

Professor

Marquette University

From: nfpprofessionals [nfpprofessionals ] on behalf of Bame [rbamer2@...]

Sent: Sunday, March 11, 2012 6:47 AM

To: nfpprofessionals

Subject: umbrella group coalition

Could Dr. Fehring and Dr. Hilgers weigh in on the discussion for an American Coalition of NFP groups? We've heard from many others but not them...

Also, anyone have a name?

Also, is anyone else writing a Letter to Editor in direct response to the NYT ad in Friday's paper? Do we all want to sign under Hanna's letter with our various titles and organizations?

you had good ideas using the woman harmed by ocps and abortion - for the immediate next step, do you think you can write a letter on her behalf and what do you think about entitling it "The REAL costs of contraception and abortion"? I think it would be

such a good contrast to the Fluke silliness - this spoiled rich lawyer up there demanding free contraceptives while she is vacationing around the world versus a woman killed by this evil mentality and she paid with her life.

Blessings, rebecca

March 11, 2012

, Marguerite, ,I am pleased and impressed to see all the work and experience that you and the others on this list have (I only mention on some names).

Having noted the points made by and Marguerite, it seems to me that the most feasible and practical way to proceed would be to ask FACTS if they could create an Advocacy " office " in light of the present need, especially since it already has a very large representations.

I would also suggest that they consider some type of yearly webinar or something like this that could bring more people together who otherwise would not attend a conference for the reasons stated.

In any event, if the different NFP and chastity education groups, and pro-life professionals don't speak with one voice, our voice will have less of an effect. The different groups can disagree on many points but they surely agree on most of the things the Les, Hanna, Dominic and others have written.

You may consider the Witherspoon Institute [Robby , Tellez and others] (which does research and advocacy for the traditional family) to network with FACTS and help put out the word to the media that there is a healthy common voice among physicians with regards to the health of women.

God bless you, Fr.

Dear Colleagues,Two years ago, Dr. Bob Motley and I founded the group named FACTS - Fertility Appreciation Collaborative to Teach the Systems. Mike Manhart, from CCLI, has since joined Bob and I as part of the Exec team of the collaborative. Here is a link to our web-page that gives an overview of who we are and what we hope to accomplish:

http://www.fmec.net/collaborate/overview.php?current_group_id=6395 For your convenience, I have included our vision statment and objectives below. We currently have over 50 individual members (about 10 very active ones), representing almost all of the NFP and FAB-methods. Our focus is really about

educating the health professionals and trainees about NFP / FAM and is less about advocacy. One of our goals is to educate the mainstream medical community about NFP/FAM which is part of why we chose to form this collaborative under the umbrella of a mainstream medical organization. Specifically, our collaborative is part of the Family Medicine Education Consortium (FMEC), a not-for-profit corporation which supports the educational and scholarly needs of its members.

We have made some progress in the last couple of years, including development of a CME seminar, sending out a survey to assess what is currently taught in Family Medicine residency programs about FAM, and the opportunity to submit a review article about FABM methods to a major medical journal. Nonetheless, we have faced challenges, some of which identified below, including

people's loyalty to their specific methods, limited funding to come together for meetings,etc., and finding common ground in which we can promote these methods. We welcome people to join our group and you can do so by going to the link above. Please be sure to include a brief introduction, e.g. your NFP experience and tell us how you would like to contribute to our efforts. Since its founding the group has met each fall at the Family Medicine Education Consortium annual meeting, and this year we will meet a second time this spring - specifically, we are scheduled to meet in Washington, DC on Friday, May 25th. SInce our group is still young, there is certainly the opportunity to help contribute to the future direction of the group.

If you have questions, please feel free to contact me directly. Sincerely,Dr. Marguerite

Duane Vision StatementThrough the FACTS, we seek to update the primary care community with regard to fertility awareness methods and their applications in health and disease and to help promote fertility awareness methods as effective, relationship-centered reproductive health care for motivated women and couples.

Objectives1) To promote the study of fertility awareness methods and their use in effective, relationship-centered care for women and couples.2) To provide a forum for primary care clinicians, educators and researchers to share and expand the evolving body of evidence regarding fertility awareness methods.

3) To educate primary care health professionals at all levels of clinical training in

the basic principles of fertility awareness methods and the supporting science behind their medical applications. 4) To foster respect and support for clinicians and users of fertility awareness methods as collaborators in patient-centered reproductive health care.

To: " nfpprofessionals " <nfpprofessionals >

Sent: Sunday, March 11, 2012 12:52 PM Subject: RE: umbrella group coalition

:

I encourage the cooperation of NFP/FABM provider groups.

There was a coalition of NFP groups in the 1980s - but it never was sustained.

Right now the closest organization that provides NFP cooperation among NFP providers is the department of NFP through the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

We (i.e., the various Catholic universities - Marquette, town, Saint Louis, Catholic U - etc.) cooperate with the USCCB to provide a Human Fertility conference every four years or so.

That conference -- brings together scientists and scholars in NFP and fertility from all different perspectives. However, these conferences are very expensive to organize and put on --- and it is not easy to get sufficient participants to make it worthwhile.

One of the reasons is that NFP providers and teachers tend to want to go to conferences and spend their organizational time, skills, and financial resources with their various method organization. NFP teachers and providers do not have a lot of money.

And to be honest - NFP teachers and providers can be somewhat " prickly " about their various methods and groups.

I am interested in a FABM group made up of health professionals, scientists, and other scholars, e.g., theologians, philosophers, bioethicists, etc) -- to be a counter to the Society of Family Planning -- see:

http://www.societyfp.org/

However, I am not sure if there is interest or if there is sufficient numbers of health professionals, scientists, and scholars to warrant having such a group --- again there is loyalty to various methods -- which is OK except when it prevents cooperation.

And such a cooperative secular organization of FABM providers --- would need to be tolerant of various views on human sexuality.

There are other efforts of collaboration through the group that Dr. Marguarita Duane has spearheaded and the IIRRM group/organization.

There is a national NFP group see:

http://www.nationalfamilyplanning.org/ but N = National

And - starting an organization is the easier task-- it is sustaining it that is hard to do.

I am not sure if my comments are helpful -- they are not meant to dampen efforts of cooperation and enthusiasm.

With regards for the work an efforts of members of this NFP list.

PS - the proceedings book from the 2010 Human Fertility conference is now being indexed-- and should be available by June.

J. Fehring, PhD, RN, FAAN

Professor

Marquette University

From: nfpprofessionals [nfpprofessionals ] on behalf of Bame [rbamer2@...]

Sent: Sunday, March 11, 2012 6:47 AM

To: nfpprofessionals

Subject: umbrella group coalition

Could Dr. Fehring and Dr. Hilgers weigh in on the discussion for an American Coalition of NFP groups? We've heard from many others but not them...

Also, anyone have a name?

Also, is anyone else writing a Letter to Editor in direct response to the NYT ad in Friday's paper? Do we all want to sign under Hanna's letter with our various titles and organizations?

you had good ideas using the woman harmed by ocps and abortion - for the immediate next step, do you think you can write a letter on her behalf and what do you think about entitling it " The REAL costs of contraception and abortion " ? I think it would be

such a good contrast to the Fluke silliness - this spoiled rich lawyer up there demanding free contraceptives while she is vacationing around the world versus a woman killed by this evil mentality and she paid with her life.

Blessings, rebecca

-- Fr. R. Vélez765 14th Ave, Apt 1San Francisco, CA 94118Website: www.newmanbiography.com

March 11, 2012

Couldn't the annual FACTs meeting be held in conjunction with the annual Catholic Medical Association mtg since many go to that anyway and there are mutual reinforcing matters for each?Blessings rebeccaSent via BlackBerry by AT&TSender: nfpprofessionals Date: Sun, 11 Mar 2012 15:39:23 -0700To: <nfpprofessionals >ReplyTo: nfpprofessionals Subject: Re: umbrella group coalition - The FACTS group , Marguerite, ,I am pleased and impressed to see all the work and experience that you and the others on this list have (I only mention on some names).Having noted the points made by and Marguerite, it seems to me that the most feasible and practical way to proceed would be to ask FACTS if they could create an Advocacy " office " in light of the present need, especially since it already has a very large representations.I would also suggest that they consider some type of yearly webinar or something like this that could bring more people together who otherwise would not attend a conference for the reasons stated.In any event, if the different NFP and chastity education groups, and pro-life professionals don't speak with one voice, our voice will have less of an effect. The different groups can disagree on many points but they surely agree on most of the things the Les, Hanna, Dominic and others have written.You may consider the Witherspoon Institute [Robby , Tellez and others] (which does research and advocacy for the traditional family) to network with FACTS and help put out the word to the media that there is a healthy common voice among physicians with regards to the health of women.God bless you, Fr. Dear Colleagues,Two years ago, Dr. Bob Motley and I founded the group named FACTS - Fertility Appreciation Collaborative to Teach the Systems. Mike Manhart, from CCLI, has since joined Bob and I as part of the Exec team of the collaborative. Here is a link to our web-page that gives an overview of who we are and what we hope to accomplish:http://www.fmec.net/collaborate/overview.php?current_group_id=6395 For your convenience, I have included our vision statment and objectives below. We currently have over 50 individual members (about 10 very active ones), representing almost all of the NFP and FAB-methods. Our focus is really abouteducating the health professionals and trainees about NFP / FAM and is less about advocacy. One of our goals is to educate the mainstream medical community about NFP/FAM which is part of why we chose to form this collaborative under the umbrella of a mainstream medical organization. Specifically, our collaborative is part of the Family Medicine Education Consortium (FMEC), a not-for-profit corporation which supports the educational and scholarly needs of its members. We have made some progress in the last couple of years, including development of a CME seminar, sending out a survey to assess what is currently taught in Family Medicine residency programs about FAM, and the opportunity to submit a review article about FABM methods to a major medical journal. Nonetheless, we have faced challenges, some of which identified below, includingpeople's loyalty to their specific methods, limited funding to come together for meetings,etc., and finding common ground in which we can promote these methods. We welcome people to join our group and you can do so by going to the link above. Please be sure to include a brief introduction, e.g. your NFP experience and tell us how you would like to contribute to our efforts. Since its founding the group has met each fall at the Family Medicine Education Consortium annual meeting, and this year we will meet a second time this spring - specifically, we are scheduled to meet in Washington, DC on Friday, May 25th. SInce our group is still young, there is certainly the opportunity to help contribute to the future direction of the group. If you have questions, please feel free to contact me directly. Sincerely,Dr. MargueriteDuane Vision StatementThrough the FACTS, we seek to update the primary care community with regard to fertility awareness methods and their applications in health and disease and to help promote fertility awareness methods as effective, relationship-centered reproductive health care for motivated women and couples.Objectives1) To promote the study of fertility awareness methods and their use in effective, relationship-centered care for women and couples.2) To provide a forum for primary care clinicians, educators and researchers to share and expand the evolving body of evidence regarding fertility awareness methods. 3) To educate primary care health professionals at all levels of clinical training inthe basic principles of fertility awareness methods and the supporting science behind their medical applications. 4) To foster respect and support for clinicians and users of fertility awareness methods as collaborators in patient-centered reproductive health care. To: " nfpprofessionals " <nfpprofessionals > Sent: Sunday, March 11, 2012 12:52 PM Subject: RE: umbrella group coalition :I encourage the cooperation of NFP/FABM provider groups.There was a coalition of NFP groups in the 1980s - but it never was sustained. Right now the closest organization that provides NFP cooperation among NFP providers is the department of NFP through the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).We (i.e., the various Catholic universities - Marquette, town, Saint Louis, Catholic U - etc.) cooperate with the USCCB to provide a Human Fertility conference every four years or so.That conference -- brings together scientists and scholars in NFP and fertility from all different perspectives. However, these conferences are very expensive to organize and put on --- and it is not easy to get sufficient participants to make it worthwhile.One of the reasons is that NFP providers and teachers tend to want to go to conferences and spend their organizational time, skills, and financial resources with their various method organization. NFP teachers and providers do not have a lot of money.And to be honest - NFP teachers and providers can be somewhat " prickly " about their various methods and groups.I am interested in a FABM group made up of health professionals, scientists, and other scholars, e.g., theologians, philosophers, bioethicists, etc) -- to be a counter to the Society of Family Planning -- see: http://www.societyfp.org/However, I am not sure if there is interest or if there is sufficient numbers of health professionals, scientists, and scholars to warrant having such a group --- again there is loyalty to various methods -- which is OK except when it prevents cooperation.And such a cooperative secular organization of FABM providers --- would need to be tolerant of various views on human sexuality.There are other efforts of collaboration through the group that Dr. Marguarita Duane has spearheaded and the IIRRM group/organization.There is a national NFP group see: http://www.nationalfamilyplanning.org/ but N = NationalAnd - starting an organization is the easier task-- it is sustaining it that is hard to do.I am not sure if my comments are helpful -- they are not meant to dampen efforts of cooperation and enthusiasm. With regards for the work an efforts of members of this NFP list.PS - the proceedings book from the 2010 Human Fertility conference is now being indexed-- and should be available by June. J. Fehring, PhD, RN, FAANProfessorMarquette UniversityFrom: nfpprofessionals [nfpprofessionals ] on behalf of Bame [rbamer2@...]Sent: Sunday, March 11, 2012 6:47 AMTo: nfpprofessionals Subject: umbrella group coalitionCould Dr. Fehring and Dr. Hilgers weigh in on the discussion for an American Coalition of NFP groups? We've heard from many others but not them... Also, anyone have a name? Also, is anyone else writing a Letter to Editor in direct response to the NYT ad in Friday's paper? Do we all want to sign under Hanna's letter with our various titles and organizations? you had good ideas using the woman harmed by ocps and abortion - for the immediate next step, do you think you can write a letter on her behalf and what do you think about entitling it " The REAL costs of contraception and abortion " ? I think it would besuch a good contrast to the Fluke silliness - this spoiled rich lawyer up there demanding free contraceptives while she is vacationing around the world versus a woman killed by this evil mentality and she paid with her life. Blessings, rebecca -- Fr. R. Vélez765 14th Ave, Apt 1San Francisco, CA 94118Website: www.newmanbiography.com

March 23, 2012

Dear Fr. , and other NFP colleagues, I hoped to reply sooner, as I appreciate your suggestions and interest in supporting FACTS. As I shared in my original e-mail, the mission of the FACTS group is rooted within medical education, not advocacy at a policy level. Our goal is to increase the number of health professionals that view fertility awareness

or natural methods of family planning as a viable option by educating them about how they work and how effective they are. While this may seem like a simple task, given the bias within medical education and the influence of pharmaceutical companies, it is a great deal of work. Therefore, at this time, we really need to focus on our core mission of education and not take on an advocacy role at this time. Also, it is important to note that FACTS membership includes representatives from NFP methods, as well representatives from other perspectives (e.g./ the Fertility Awareness-combined group who do not have a problem adding contraception to the natural method). Although we

come to this group from different perspectives, we have chosen to build our work on common ground by focusing on our shared goal of educating the health care community about the effectiveness of natural methods. While some come to the FACTS group with similar philosophical and/or religious beliefs about sexuality and family planning, we decided not to align ourselves directly with a religious organization, but instead have focused on translating the science of NFP so that we can increase understanding and acceptability of these methods in the secular medical community. While FACTS members may not agree on all points, we strive to be mutually respectful in hopes of

reaching a broader audience. Those who wish to join FACTS would have to be comfortable with that. We certainly welcome new members to the group, so if you would like to join, go to:http://www.fmec.net/projects/project.php?project_id=6395 We are having a meeting this spring - May 25th in Washington, DC and members may plan to join in person and possibly by web-conference. The FACTs leadership would also be willing to work with the NFP leadership to set up a conference time/location that could follow one another, so that folks could participate in the good that each group is doing at one time/one location. As for the HHS mandate (which I think sparked this idea about an umbrella group), the core of the issue is really the threat to religious freedom. It is more about protecting religious

organizations from overreaching public health/executive branch policy than it is about the pros or cons of contraception. The former is best addressed in the public square. The latter is a better message to help educate Catholics and Christians who don't buy into the NFP message. Through FACTS, we hope to educate the broader community about better alternatives for family planning, so women and men truly have healthy, effective choices that may be consistent with their faith beliefs. Thank you for your interest and support of our work. Respectfully,Marguerite Duane To: nfpprofessionals Sent: Sunday, March 11, 2012 7:06 PM Subject: Re: umbrella group coalition - The FACTS group

Couldn't the annual FACTs meeting be held in conjunction with the annual Catholic Medical Association mtg since many go to that anyway and there are mutual reinforcing matters for each?Blessings rebeccaSent via BlackBerry by AT & T

Sender: nfpprofessionals

Date: Sun, 11 Mar 2012 15:39:23 -0700To: <nfpprofessionals >ReplyTo: nfpprofessionals

Subject: Re: umbrella group coalition - The FACTS group

, Marguerite, ,I am pleased and impressed to see all the work and experience that you and the others on this list have (I only mention on some names).

Having noted the points made by and Marguerite, it seems to me that the most feasible and practical way to proceed would be to ask FACTS if they could create an Advocacy "office" in light of the present need, especially since it already has a very large representations.