If my husband wants a child, but I carefully ensure sex outside of the six day window am I not practicing contraception? I think the catechism definition doesn't match the dictionary defintion of contraception.
Celibacy is a form of contraception. The Catholic position is a throw back to a time of greater ignorance about human sexuality. You may agree with it, but it doesn't make sense.
Your arguments on the philosophical effects are more interesting, but don't hold water. I think they do make sense as applied to abortion, but that's murder.
celibacy is contraception?
That is just whacked
"Contraception" dictionary links
As you can see, "contraception" is defined by the dictionary as a method of using drugs, devices, surgery or some sex practice (such as withdrawal) which deprives sexual union of its inherent fertilty, that is, to avoid pregnancy.
For that reason, contraception is an ACT.
It is to be distinguished from natural infertility, which results from several natural factors: age (before menarche or after menopause); time of cycle (a woman's ovulatory cycle has fertile and infertile periods); pregnancy and lactational amenorrhea, and so forth.
The moral difference between, say, using an endocrine disruptor like "the Pill" and and using NFP, is that the endocrine disruption impairs or disables the natural design of the body, whereas NFP reverences and cooperates with the natural design of the body.
There is other moral factors to consider: is the avoidance of pregnancy from a serious reason (maternal health, serious poverty, inability to care for a child) --- or is it from self-serving lifestyle considerations, i.e. we don't ant to get pregnant because we don't want the hassles involved with pregnancy and childbirth, we're going on a cruise in 6 months and I want to look good in my bikini, etc.)
IN the first category (serious need) pregnancy avoidance can be not only allowable, but might be even morally required. In the second category (childless or nearly-childless lifestyle preference) the decision to avoid pregnancy is ungenerous to the God-proclaimed GOOD of new life --- treating a very great good as an evil --- and exemplifies the moral fault of selfishness, even if they did it via NFP.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to make these important distinctions.
They are not particular to me nor particular to the Catholic Church. A stance against artificial contraception was common to all Christian denominations, Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant/Evangelical, for the first 1900 years of Christianity. As I pointed out, it flows from Divine and Natural Law, as is becoming more and more clear with every passing day.