In honor of the 50th anniversary of Blessed Pope Paul VI’s 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae, Solidarity HealthShare has announced changes in its Member Guidelines which will allow members to share the costs of medically proven procedures such as Natural Procreative Technology (NaPro Technology) and Fertility Awareness-based training and counseling.
“In Humanae Vitae, Pope Paul was emphatic about the need to defend every life at its beginning and to maintain the unitive and procreative integrity of the marital act,” said Bradley Hahn, CEO of Solidarity HealthShare. “But he also called on the medical community to continue to improve its understanding of fertility and develop natural fertility awareness methods that can help spouses be both generous and responsible with the gift of life. While there have indeed been many advances that can help married couples to conceive or to postpone pregnancy if they have serious reasons to do so, Solidarity HealthShare will be the first to make this integral reproductive health care eligible for cost sharing for these couples, and we could not be more thrilled to share in the Church’s vision for authentic health care.”
Hahn added that Solidarity’s members will share costs for the reversal of tubal ligation and vasectomy procedures, restoring the physical integrity of couples who want to be open to life. The new Member Guidelines outlining the change in policy will go into effect on September 1, 2018.
Based on thirty years of research, NaPro Technology is defined by its innovators at the Paul VI Institute for the Study of Human Reproduction as “a new women’s health science that monitors and maintains a woman’s reproductive and gynecological health. It provides medical and surgical treatments that cooperate completely with the reproductive system.” There are several Fertility Awareness-based methods of achieving or postponing pregnancy that respect God’s design of our bodies and of the marital act. These methods are sometimes referred to as Natural Family Planning.
“The gift of sexuality is integral to the human person, and in the marital act the married couple participates in the creative act of the Triune God,” said Hahn. “Our society is marred in innumerable ways by the many effects of the separation of the procreative and unitive ends of the sexual act, some of which Pope Paul predicted in Humanae Vitae. If we at Solidarity HealthShare can play just a small role in helping spouses to live the life-giving teachings of the Church in an integral way, we are fulfilling our mission of restoring Catholic healthcare while building community and serving families.”
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ABOUT SOLIDARITY HEALTHSHARE: Solidarity HealthShare seeks to restore and rebuild an authentic Catholic health care system that will respect the Catholic Church’s teachings with regard to love, responsibility and the sanctity of all human life, while endeavoring to share the eligible medical expenses of our members. www.solidarityhealthshare.org