To the Editor:

Re: “Alternatives to Condoms: The Catholic Church and Contraceptives,”

Opinion, April 1.

Despite the positive spin the Catholic Church may want to put on Natural Family Planning, it is a much less reliable method of contraception than condoms. While the perfect use (no human error, and used every time) rate of pregnancy for condoms is 2 percent, the low-end of the similar rate for NFP is three times higher. Additionally, while condoms are easy to use, NFP requires either meticulous record keeping or tracking biological signs of fertility like cervical mucous. Furthermore, NFP is only reliable in women who have regular cycles.

This doesn’t even take into account that condoms are very effective at preventing STIs while NFP offers zero protection. The latex condom has over 80 percent efficacy in preventing HIV transmission between long-term monogamous partners. To suggest that condoms actually cause an increased incidence of HIV/AIDS (as the Pope did) is not only inaccurate, it is an outright lie. I find it inexcusable in this day and age to ignore all of the scientific information and propagate a dogma that literally costs people their lives. I was saddened to see a Cornellian defending such dangerous falsehoods.

Eric Fish ’08