A new device for giving birth control injections to poor African women has been condemned by the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC), a UK-based pro-life organisation with strong links to Africa.
SPUC was responding to the news that Sayana Press, a self-injectable version of the Depo-Provera, is to be sold at US$1 per unit. ("The one dollar contraceptive set to make family planning easier", BBC, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-30026001)
The media has described the device as a "contraceptive". Like most forms of hormonal birth-control, however, Sayana Press/Depo-Provera can induce early abortions by making the lining of the womb hostile to newly-conceived human embryos.
In addition to its abortifacient mode, Sayana Press is dangerous for women. Risks include:
- double the risk of HIV-1 infection
- 2.2-fold increased risk of invasive breast cancer
- permanent bone-density loss.
A spokesperson for SPUC said: "Sayana Press is cheap and dangerous. Treating poor, black women like this is disgraceful."Obianuju Echeoka, a Nigerian women's advocate, said: "This is certainly not what African women have asked for. But yet in a world of shocking cultural imperialism, it is what our Western cultural masters have chosen to unleash upon us."
For the full comment, see http://www.cultureoflifeafrica.com/2014/11/western-giants-launch-dangerous-and.html
For further information, please contact SPUC's communications department:
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