A new volume from the Vatican publishing house, representing the work of a conference sponsored last year by the Pontifical Academy for Life, suggests a fresh look at the Church’s condemnation of artificial contraception.

The text argues: “There are in fact practical conditions and circumstances that would make the choice to generate irresponsible.” While the Church advocates the use of natural means to space births in such cases, the new text concludes that the couple should be “appropriately evaluating all the possible techniques.”