From
http://www.all.org/issues/nf05.htm BIRTH CONTROL
What is Depo-Provera?
Depo-Provera [depot medroxyprogesterone acetate, DMPA] is a sterile aqueous suspension, a derivative of progesterone.1
How does it work?
Depo-Provera, a progesterone derivative, acts by transforming the endometrium (lining of the uterus) from a proliferative state which would be hospitable to the new preborn baby immediately after fertilization to a secretory state which would slough off the child, thus causing death.
Depo-Provera is a chemical that acts to kill a preborn baby during that child's earliest days of existence in the womb.2
How is Depo-Provera administered?
Depo-Provera, a "contraceptive" injection, is available as 150mg in 1-ml vials, and is administered once every three months in the glu#29c89b or deltoid muscle. According to Upjohn, the manufacturer, "to ensure that the patient is not pregnant at the time of first administration, it is recommended that the injection be given only during the first 5 days postpartum if not breast-feeding; or if breast-feeding, at 6 weeks postpartum.3
What if I am pregnant and don't know it?
The Physician's Desk Reference, 1993 edition, publishes the following warning with regard to administering Depo-Provera to women who may be pregnant:
THE USE OF DEPO-PROVERA Sterile Aqueous Suspension (medroxyprogesterone acetate) DURING THE FIRST FOUR MONTHS OF PREGNANCY IS NOT RECOMMENDED.
Progestational agents have been used beginning with the first trimester of pregnancy in an attempt to prevent habitual abortion. There is no adequate evidence that such use is effective when such drugs are given during the first four months of pregnancy. Furthermore, in the vast majority of women, the cause of abortion is a defective ovum, which progestational agents could not be expected to influence. In addition, the use of progestational agents, with their uterine-relaxant properties, in patients with fertilized defective ova may cause a delay in spontaneous abortion. Therefore the use of such drugs during the first four months of pregnancy is not recommended.
Several reports suggest an association between intrauterine exposure to progestational drugs in the first trimester of pregnancy and genital abnormalities in male and female fetuses. The risk of hypospadias [an abnormal genital opening of the male urethra upon the undersurface of the penis], 5 to 8 per 1,000 male births in the general population, may be approximately doubled with exposure to these drugs. There are insufficient data to quantify the risk to exposed female fetuses, but insofar as some of these drugs induce mild virilization of the external genitalia of the female fetus, and because of the increased association of hypospadias in the male fetus, it is prudent to avoid the use of these drugs during the first trimester of pregnancy.
If the patient is exposed to DEPO-PROVERA Sterile Aqueous Suspension (medroxyprogesterone acetate) during the first four months of pregnancy or if she becomes pregnant while taking this drug, she should be apprised of the potential risks to the fetus.4
This warning, it should be noted, though published in the Physician's Desk Reference, is NOT published in Upjohn's promotional literature. And it is obvious from this warning that Depo-Provera can be extremely dangerous to those preborn children whose lives have already begun before the killer chemical is used.
Is Depo-Provera safe for the woman who is using it?
The simple answer is no. Here are a few facts you should know. In 1990, Claire D. F. Parsons wrote in an article published in the Issues in Reproductive Genetic Engineering journal regarding the following complaints from women who had used Depo-Provera: "headaches, abdominal discomfort, anxiety and nervousness, adrenal suppression, weight gain, hair loss, decreased libido, mood swings, dizziness, fatigue, allergic reactions and severe mental depression. Such effects cannot be reversed quickly."5
In 1991, Australian Senator Brian Harradine, having noted that the United States Food and Drug Administration would not approve Depo-Provera for use in America, pointed out that the MIMS Annual 1991 medical reference book had this to say about Depo-Provera: "The use of Depo Provera for contraception is not an approved indication and such use is investigational since there are unresolved questions relating to its safety for this indication."6
The Medical Letter, 12/11/92 issue, stated with regard to Depo-Provera: "Injection of 150 mg of medroxyprogesterone acetate (Depo-Provera) intramuscularly every three months, a highly effective method of contraception used in other countries for many years, has now been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration . . . The long-term safety of this method is not entirely clear; a case-control study found a slightly increased risk of breast cancer in women who first used the drug less than four years previously, but not in long-term users (WHO Collaborative Study, Lancet, 338: 833, 1991)."7
In addition, as far back in its history as 1983, Belita Cowan, Director of the National Women's Health Network, complained that Depo-Provera was not safe for women and should never be approved for use in the United States.8
And, in 1989, after a ten-year legal battle, a woman whose physician had injected her twice with Depo-Provera in 1974, even though the chemical was not approved in the United States for contraceptive use, won an appeals court battle based upon the excessive bleeding she experienced after having the injection. The bleeding, according to the physician, could be stopped only if she submitted to a hysterectomy, which she did. In this case, which Upjohn did appeal, the firm was held liable in the West Palm Beach 4th District Court of Appeals for the $370,000 in damages sought by the woman. During that trial it was pointed out that as many as twenty-five percent of women injected twice with Depo-Provera were suffering from excessive bleeding.9
Excessive bleeding is still listed as a possible complication for those who use this injectable chemical agent.
When did the USFDA approve Depo-Provera?
In June of 1992 a panel of the Food and Drug Administration endorsed the use of Depo-Provera for contraceptive purposes. When the story broke, Sharon Camp of the Population Crisis Committee told the media that more than 10,000 women were already using the drug. "Nothing legally prevents doctors from prescribing it for unapproved uses," reported Newsweek. Depo-Provera had been approved in years past for use in the treatment of kidney and uterine cancer.10
The publicity surrounding the panel's approval did not discuss side-effects of the chemical or its many dangers to those babies who might already be in the womb but unknown to their mothers. However, one journal reported: "At the advisory panel session, Upjohn presented data from a WHO study that demonstrated a minimal relationship between this form of contraception and breast cancer_but which concluded that the relationship was not greater than that between oral contraceptives and breast cancer."11
Then, on October 29, 1992, the Food and Drug Administration formally approved Depo-Provera for use as a so-called contraceptive agent. Not one news report in our file shows, however, that the actual mechanism of this chemical injection, which must be administered every three months, works to end the life of a child whose life has begun at fertilization. In fact, it would be safe to say that so much pressure was put on the Food and Drug Administration by population control groups, pro-abortion groups and the likes of Planned Parenthood, and so little heard from the pro-life community at large, that approval could have been predicted. As the New York Times pointed out in a news story, "The contraceptive, which is available in more than 90 countries, has been the focus of a two-decade battle for acceptance in the United States because of disagreements over its cancer-causing potential and suggestions that it could be used coercively. Upjohn, of course, was overjoyed!12
Is Depo-Provera just another population elimination tool?
The Dallas Morning News pointed out that groups such as the National Black Womens' Health Project and the National Latina Women's Health Organization came out publicly and condemned the US FDA decision to approve Depo-Provera. Why? Because history has shown that Depo-Provera, like many other birth control chemicals (Norplant, the Pill, the IUD) can be used on women who are not fully informed and can even be used in a coercive way through efforts to pressure certain women not to have children because of their economic status or their skin color.13
There is a tremendous amount of documentation from reliable sources to show that Depo-Provera has been used as a literal weapon in the battle to control population by coercion. In addition, as we pointed out elsewhere in this paper, the chemical has been shown repeatedly to be totally unsafe for women and deadly to preborn children.14
Is the US now leading the way in promoting Depo-Provera?
No! As a matter of fact, in June, 1993, Canadian health officials denied approval for Depo-Provera as a female contraceptive. Why? Because apparently these officials have studied the record, ignored the pressure of pro-death groups and determined that "long-term effects" of this chemical may still be dangerous to Canadian women. JoAnne Ford, speaking for the Canadian health officials, said, "For the use of contraception, which is a long-term usage, we still have outstanding questions about safety."
And it was a mere 24 hours earlier that the World Health Organization (WHO), long known for its pro-abortion posture, had approved Depo-Provera for contraceptive use.
Clearly, at least in Canada, the health of women is still of some concern to those responsible for the welfare of citizens.15
Footnotes
1. _______, "Depo-Provera," Physicians' Desk Reference, 1993 edition, pp. 2448-9
2. _______, "Anti-Progesterones/Progesterones," Beginnings, Vol. IX, #1, 1-2/93, pp. 3-4
3. _______, "Announcing a New Contraceptive Option For Women," Upjohn publicity insert, Ob/Gyn News, 3/15/93
4. _______, op. cit., #1
5. Parsons, Claire D. F., "Drugs, Science, and Ethics: Lessons From the Depo-Provera Story," Issues in Reproductive and Genetics Engineering, Vol. 3, #2, 1990, pp. 101-110
6. Harradine, Senator Brian [Australia], "Controversial Drug to Be Used on Papua New Guinea Women," 5/14/91, media release with MIMS excerpt as background
7. _______, "Choice of Contraceptives," The Medical Letter, Vol. 34 (Issue 885), 12/11/92, p. 112
8. _______, "Effective, But How Safe?" Time, 1/24/83, p. 67; "Health Group Says It Can List 529 Women Harmed by Drug," Los Angeles Herald Examiner, 1/11/83
9. Hladky, Mary, "Drug Maker Liable For Side Effects," Broward Review, 1/12/89, pp. 1, 4
10. _______, "A New Birth Control Option?" Newsweek, 6/29/92, p. 70
11. _______, "Depo-Provera," American Druggist, 8/92, p. 16
12. _______, "U.S. Approves Injectable Drug as Birth Control," New York Times, 10/30/92, p. A1
13. _______, "Birth-Control Shot's Sale Doesn't End Controversy," Dallas Morning News, 1/4/93, pp. 1C, 4C
14. To read background materials on how Depo-Provera has been used in years past as a coercive method, particularly among the poor and people of color, we recommend the following articles, each of which is available from American Life League upon request:
_______, "Depo-Provera: A report by the Campaign Against Depo-Provera," Black Rose publications, 1979, 48 (well-documented expose on abuses among Third World women)
Dornan, Congressman Robert K., "Statement Before the Committee on Foreign Affairs," 5/7/81, 30 pp. with supporting documents
Levine, Carol, "Depo-Provera and Contraceptive Risk: A Case Study of Values in Conflict," Hastings Center Report, 8/79, pp. 1-4
Minkin, Stephen, "Depo-Provera: A Critical Analysis," Institute for Food and Development Policy monograph, 1979, 11 pp.
15. _______, "Canada Denies Approval of Depo-Provera as Contraceptive," Executive News Service, 6/2/93, #1629; "UN Contraception," APN news wire on Executive News Service, 6/1/93
Depoprovera blocks ovulation very reliably.
http://www.aaplog.org/decook.htm ""Injectable DepoProvera (Depomedroxyprogesterone Acetate)
The injectable DepoProvera (DMPA) has only been FDA approved for use in the USA since l992. It has been used internationally since the 1960's. Although there is a relative paucity of American medical literature pertinent to the topic, there is considerable world experience with DMPA. The literature regarding this injectable suggests its effectiveness is based on extremely low ovulation rates.
The suppressive action of DMPA is at the hypothalamus or higher to prevent the hypothalamus from giving the signal to the pituitary to release gonadotropins.(22) Secretion of LH and FSH are maintained in the mid-follicular state. Because of this, the ovary does not develop a dominant follicle, so the egg does not mature. There is no LH surge, so there is no ovulation. Ovulation does not occur until serum MPA is at extremely low levels, often 7 to 9 months after injection.(20) By the time ovulation is able to occur, serum MPA is at such low levels (O.1 ng/ml) that it has little effect on the endometrium, and the ovary is producing normal preovulatory levels of estradiol. (17, 23 43, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 21, 22, 25, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50,) Thus there is no evidence that DMPA produces even a theoretical risk of abortion by "hostile endometrium".
Several small pharmacokinetic studies utilizing progesterone levels as a major indicator of ovulation have shown a zero ovulation rate 3 months after IM injection of 150 mg of DMPA. (12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20) In the practical world, especially the third world, for various reasons the ovulation rate will not be zero (failure to shake the vial, out-dated or deteriorated meds, sub Q rather than IM injection, inadequate dose, biological patient variation all may enter the picture). However, pregnancy rates indicate DMPA is extremely effective. Five large international studies, including over 8,000 women,(21) were used to determine the "Pearl Index" figure of 0.3 pregnancies per hundred women years noted in the chart of "lowest expected pregnancy rates" found in the PDR. The chart is adapted from Hatcher, et al. (8).
There is no evidence that DMPA causes an increased risk of ectopic pregnancy. As noted above, ovulation does not resume until serum progestin levels are extremely low. It is highly unlikely that such negligible progestin serum levels interfere with tubal or tubal cilia motility. In fact, pregnancy is so uncommon with DMPA, that statistics on ectopic pregnancy are difficult to find, and because of very small numbers, difficult to evaluate. The single study identifiable in the literature came from the Downstate Medical Center in New York from l970 to l974. The study looked at gross ectopic rate by reported method of contraception.This study calculated the the gross ectopic rate for DepoProvera of l.3%. However, because the total number of ectopics on DepoProvera was so small, and the total number of pregnancies with DepoProvera was also small, the difference between 1.3% and 1% for the baseline ectopic rate of a comparison group in was not statistically significant. Tatum (24), commenting on the study, notes, "Since pregnancy on depo-provera was so rare, there were not enough pregnancies to even get a statistically accurate rate." The significance of these studies is that they show no dramatic increase in ectopic pregnancies. Rather, if pregnancy does occur with DMPA, it is about as likely to be ectopic as a non-contracepted pregnancy. ""