Uhhh--physical deformations that make pregnancy a life-and-death issue? Don't tell me how rare they are--this is from personal experience.
But this is not the case with most people. If I grant that for some people, pregnancy can be life threatening, and contraceptives are allowed because they are "self-defense," this still leaves open the vast majority of people who are not in life-or-death circumstances.
How can they consider something to be a "blessing" but not desire it? Isn't that a contradiction?
SD
It seems to me that if your wife was at risk of death from pregnancy, contraception would be ruled out, too --- since all of the methods have a failure rate, and most contraceptives have a failure rate higher than NFP.
Failure rate: the percentage of women using contraceptives who will become pregnant during their first year of use, by method (Source: Alan Guttmacher Institute)
Method .........% of women who will become pregnant ............
.....................Perfect use.......... Typical use
Cervical cap..................18 ...................28
Diaphragm....................6 ...................16
Hormonal Implant ........0.05..................1
Hormonal (Injectable).. 0.3...................3
IUD (Copper T 380A)...0.6...................1
Male condom..........3....................15
No method............85....................85
Sympto-thermal (NFP)..1.....................3
Pill..................0.1...................8
Spermicides...........6....................29
Sponge...............15....................30
Tubal sterilization...0.5...................0.7
Vasectomy.............0.1...................0.2
Withdrawal............4................... 27
If my life were in danger from pregnancy, I would not risk it to a milimeter of latex. I would expect my husband, at the very least ,not to expect sex during my fertile phase ---I believe I'd say that, even if, in addition, we were also using a contraceptive.
Anybody who wants to learn more about NFP would find it very interesting to go to: