Cricket, I think its great that you have a concern and want to know. Sure, guys should ask and find out. Its the future fertility of your wife at stake here and better to be informed than in the dark and always wondering.
Anyway, the pill regulates the cycles which aside from the resulting convenience of knowing when to expect the cycles, regulates the flow of hormones to where they should be. The pill also helps in many cases to resolve issues with polyp-cystic ovaries which definitely interferes with fertility. Then theres also the nice convenience of not having to use a condom with your wife which many feel interferes with pleasure.
The pill has been widely tested and used for half a century so its side effects are well known and documented. The newer methods - especially the ones that cause cycles to stop for months at a time - they're dangerous in my opinion. Its one thing to assist mother nature to get on track like with the pill but its quite another to fool with mother nature. When you take a birth control medication that stops your cycles and shuts down normal operations, theres no guarantee that things will restart when you want them to!
You know...that's what REALLY irks me. Like you said, its great to have them normal and manageable, but......why would any normal, sane woman, at ease with her feminity, want to eliminate her period altogether?
Women were meant to have periods, if you (generally) cannot handle them to the point that you want to have them only 3-4 times a year, then she has serious problems......