Free Republic

For many women on birth control, it’s pretty obvious that it has effects beyond simply preventing pregnancy. After all, birth control side effects are common, and some are more obvious than others. On the less obvious front is the possible effect of birth control on mutual attraction. That’s right: hormonal birth control can actually change who you’re attracted to—and who’s attracted to you. Now, before we unpack that mind-blowing assertion, I’m going to tell you a joke. What did the boy monkey say to his three favorite girl monkeys? Nothing; because his three favorite girl monkeys were injected with Depo-Provera....

Earlier this summer, a Citizen’s Petition was filed to the FDA requesting greater transparency concerning the many evidence-based health risks and side effects of different forms of hormonal contraceptives. We at Natural Womanhood published a breakdown of the FDA petition into a more digestible format in order to explain the forms of contraception discussed in the petition, the research behind it, and the overall goals and potential changes if this petition is successfully received. Ultimately, the goal of the Citizen’s Petition is to compel the Food and Drug Administration to better inform all prescribers and consumers of hormonal birth control...

Only an hour ago we had been lamenting yet another incredibly bad road. Here in the Ugandan outback, it is as pointless to complain about the roads as it is to complain about politicians in America, but railing against the unchangeable can lighten the mood. But on the way out of a small village in the Bukedea region of Uganda, we didn’t feel the bumps. That was when our team’s defenses failed, and when the gravity of the assault on women—perpetrated by the champions of “women’s health” and “empowerment”—really hit home. It may have been just me, but my guess...

WASHINGTON, D.C., January 9, 2014 (C-FAM.org) - Lawyers for U.S. government agencies have failed in an initial attempt to force a watchdog group to remove leaked documents from the group’s website. The documents describe studies showing complications of a long-lasting contraceptive heavily backed by the agencies and the Gates Foundation for use by African women. The U.S. agencies are accused of attempting to conceal their knowledge of studies showing women using the injectable contraceptive Depo Provera are at higher risk of getting HIV/AIDS. Allowing The Rebecca Project to publish the information means “this issue of Depo Provera’s harm now has...

JERUSALEM, January 31, 2013, (LifeSiteNews.com) - After a series of back and forth accusations and denials among government agencies, the Israeli Health Ministry has for the first time acknowledged that it has been injecting Ethiopian immigrants who are religiously Jewish with the dangerous contraceptive Depo-Provera without their consent. The allegation that the women were coerced into accepting the shot was denied at first by both the Joint Distribution Committee, which runs the clinics at the transit camps, and by the Health Ministry. The practice has been said to be going on for years. Ethiopian Jews accounted for 57 percent of...

An injectable form of birth control doubles breast cancer risk among young women, according to a new study. The study examined younger women, ages 20 to 44, and confirmed a link between depo-medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) - the main ingredient in the contraceptive sold under the brand name Depo-Provera - and breast cancer risk.

PHOENIX, Arizona, November 7, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Research at Arizona State University (ASU) has found that the synthetic progestin hormone medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA), used in the injectable contraceptive Depo Provera, is linked to memory loss. Psychology doctoral student Blair Braden and Heather Bimonte-Nelson, associate professor of psychology in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and director of the Bimonte-Nelson Memory and Aging Lab at ASU, led the study. This study was an extension of earlier research carried out by Braden that implicated MPA used as a component of hormone therapy for menopause to possible detrimental cognitive effects in...

Almost half of all women who use a popular injected contraceptive lose a significant amount of bone mass within two years, and researchers now say the greatest risk is to smokers, women who don’t consume enough calcium and those who have never gone through a pregnancy. A study that followed women who used the birth-control method — a shot of depot medroxyprogesterone acetate, better known as DMPA or Depo-Provera, every three months — found that 45 percent of the users experienced bone mineral density losses of 5 percent or more in the hip or lower spine, researchers said. The study...

December 21, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Women are suing the makers of Depo-Provera birth control, saying it has caused them severe bone loss leading to osteoporosis.A $700-million class-action lawsuit has been filed against the drug company Pfizer, an international pharmaceutical conglomerate that also produces the prescription drugs Viagra, Zoloft and Celebrex. Pfizer has come under fire in the past for alleged lethal side effects stemming from the use of the anti-depressant Zoloft, and the company currently faces a number of lawsuits in the U.S. over Celebrex, which is alleged to cause heart attacks in users.The drug Depo-Provera acts as an abortifacient....

ROCKVILLE, Md., Nov. 17, 2004 - The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced today that a "black box" warning, highlighting prolonged use may result in the loss of bone density, will be added to the labeling of Depo-Provera Contraceptive Injection, an established injectable drug approved for use in women to prevent pregnancy. Although Depo-Provera Contraceptive Injection has been used for decades for birth control throughout the world and remains a safe and effective contraceptive, FDA and Pfizer, the drug's manufacturer, are taking this action to ensure that physicians and patients have access to this important information. The black box warning...

Contraceptive is linked to high STD risk By Rita Rubin, USA TODAYUse of the contraceptive Depo Provera appears to triple women's risk of infection with chlamydia and gonorrhea, a study reports Monday.An estimated 20 million to 30 million women worldwide use Depo Provera, which is injected into the arm or buttocks every three months."It's popular among young women particularly," says Christine Mauck of the Contraceptive Research and Development Program in Arlington, Va. Not only is it convenient and effective, says Mauck, who wasn't involved in the new study, "it can't be found by your mother."But other studies have suggested that...