SPECIAL FAMILY PLANNING SERVICES
for the residents of: BUNJU
During this time there will be:
Service: IUDs
Date: September 14, 2009
Place: Bunju Clinic
Time: 2:30pm
all are welcome!
Through IUD campaigns such as these, Population Services International (PSI) aims to reach one of its goals; ‘to increase the contraceptive prevalence rate in Tanzania by 60% by 2015.’ It is reported on their website that in 2009, 14000 Tanzanian women received IUD’s through PSI.
14,000 women in a single year. I have every reason to doubt that these women received vital information about the IUD, the fact that this device works as an abortifacient. By definition, an abortifacient is ‘a substance or device used to induce abortion.’
The prescribing information for ParaGard (the Copper T 380A IUD distributed worldwide) states that one of the ways ParaGard works is by ‘preventing the egg from attaching (implanting) in the uterus.’
Until the arguments for legalised abortion became an issue, the medical world agreed that at the moment of fertilisation, human life began.
Distinguished geneticist, Dr. Jerome LeJeune, who discovered the chromosome abnormality that causes Down Syndrome wrote that “After fertilisation has taken place a new human being has come into being. It is no longer a matter of taste or opinion...it is plain experimental evidence.”
By changing the definition of conception from fertilisation to implantation, organisations like International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) can make ridiculous claims that the IUD is not an abortifacient by stating the ‘fact’ that “In very rare cases, IUDs prevent implantation which is considered a contraceptive not an abortifacient effect.”
In Tanzania, family planning services such as these are often free. However, there have been many cases where women report that these free services do not extend to any attention needed once complications arise. A few of these complications and side effects include ectopic pregnancy*, pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), deep embedding, perforation, painful menstruation, heavy menstruation.
Wote mnakaribishwa! (all are welcome!), are the last words on the poster. An invitation to what PSI refers to as a highly effective and safe method of family planning. The real effects of the IUD, including how it works is nowhere to be found, not even in the fine print.
*The risk of an ectopic pregnancy is also listed on ParaGard’s insert:
A pregnancy with ParaGard in place has a greater than usual chance of being ectopic (outside your uterus). Ectopic pregnancy is an emergency that may require surgery. An ectopic pregnancy can cause internal bleeding, infertility, and death.”