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the warning states that  a woman should only use  Depo-Provera Contraceptive  Injection as 1. Pfizer, "Highlights of Prescribing Information" and a long-term birth  control method (for exam- "Clinical Pharmacology: Mechanism of Action," De- ple, longer than two years) if other birth control po-Provera Contraceptive Injection (Depo-Provera CI) Full Prescribing Information, October 2010, accessed November methods are inadequate for her."6 Use of Depo-Provera may  be associated with 2. American Col ege of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG), ectopic  pregnancy, thrombophlebitis  (in- "Terms Used in Reference to the Fetus," Terminology Bulletin flammation of blood  vessels associated with (Chicago: ACOG, September 1965).
blood clots), pulmonary embolism (obstruction 3. Upjohn Pharmaceutical Company, "Now Available in the of the pulmonary artery by a blood clot, air bub- U.S.: Depo-Provera Contraceptive Injection," Patient Informa- ble, or other material, which can cause sudden tion Brochure, December 1992. death), cerebrovascular disorders, and partial or 4. "Contraceptives: Case for Public Enquiry," Economic and complete loss of vision in mothers. More than 5 Political Weekly 29 (1994): 825–6.
percent of users suffer headaches, nervousness, 5. Amy Kaler, "A Threat to the Nation and a Threat to the abdominal pain or discomfort, dizziness or as- Men: The Banning of Depo-Provera in Zimbabwe, 1981," thenia (weakness). One  to 5 percent reported Journal of Southern African Studies 24 (1998): 347-376.
one or more of these ailments: Decreased libi- 6. U.S. Food and Drug Association, "Black Box Warning do (sexual desire), depression, nausea, insom- Added Concerning Long-Term Use of Depo-Provera nia, leukorrhea (abnormal vaginal discharges), Contraceptive Injection," FDA Talk Paper, November 17, 2004, accessed November 24, 2014, http://web.archive.org/ pelvic and breast pain, rashes, hot flashes, ede- ma (swelling), vaginitis and acne.7 7. Pfizer, "Adverse Reactions," Depo-Provera Contraceptive Despite increased HIV risks, promoters
Injection (Depo-Provera CI) Full Prescribing Information, won't take "No" for an answer: The Bill
October 2010, accessed November 24, 2014, http://www.ac- and Melinda Gates Foundation has made Depo-Provera/Sayana Press the centerpiece 8. "About FP2020," Family Planning 2020, accessed Decem- delivery method of its "Family Planning 2020" ber 23, 2014,: www.familyplanning2020.org. campaign, which aims to provide 120 million poor African and Asian women with long-term 9. Renee Hefron, et al., "Use of hormonal contraceptives and risk of HIV-1 transmission: a prospective cohort study," The contraceptives like Depo-Provera by the year Lancet 12 (2012): 19–26.
2020.8 When a Gates Foundation-funded study found in 2011 that Depo-Provera was likely to more than double HIV transmission rates in African women,9 the foundation did not hesi-tate to continue featuring the drug in its imple- Copyright Human Life International 2015. mentation of FP2020. May be reproduced provided that credit is given.

Depo-Provera has three effects, only two of which are contraceptive. Dangerous for Women, Deadly Its third effect, the thinning of the endometrium, makes Depo- for Unborn Children Provera sometimes work as an abortifacient.
1What is Depo-Provera?  The Depo-Prove-
ra injection is a type of hormonal anti-fer-tility drug that works at times as a contra- lining of the uterus, is thinned, it is rendered hos- tested on Third World women first. The World ceptive, but also sometimes as an abortifacient, tile to implantation. This means that Depo-Prove- 4Depo-Provera is used for population
control. Depo-Provera was approved for
Health Organization (WHO) used Depo- a drug that causes abortion in some instances. ra sometimes acts as an abortifacient, since it ends use in the United States in October 1992. In Provera on more than 11,000 women in Kenya, Its active ingredient is depot medroxyproges- the life of a new human being after conception.
June 1993, however, Canada's Department of Health Mexico and Thailand, before submitting it to terone acetate (DMPA), a synthetic form of the and Welfare prohibited the use of Depo-Provera, the FDA for approval. Depo-Provera was also natural hormone progesterone originally devel- saying that the drug did not meet Canadian safety tested on Zimbabwean women, many of whom oped for the treatment of uterine cancer in the 3The debate over effects is not about sci-
ence, but about language:  Many women
standards. Since it is controlled by doctors more were forced to use it afterwards. This widespread 1950s. A woman on this drug receives 150 mil- opposed to abortion would be shocked than by women, population controllers consider coercion led to the banning of Depo-Provera in ligrams of DMPA via deep intramuscular injec- to learn that the steroid drugs they take, such Depo-Provera to be an excellent tool. In fact, tion every three months, though there are other as Depo-Provera, can also cause abortions at the Food and Drug Administration approved delivery methods under development, including the earliest stage of pregnancy. In 1963, the U. S. the drug primarily under pressure from groups a self-administered version subcutaneous injec- Department of Health, Education and Welfare concerned about the "population explosion" in 5Depo-Provera can cause many ad-
verse reactions:  Like all steroid drugs
tion version being marketed in Africa as "Sayana (HEW) defined "abortion" as "all the measures the Third World.4 Depo-Provera is now available powerful enough to impair  fertility which impair the viability of the zygote at any in more than one hundred countries. As with other effectively, Depo-Provera can cause a host of time between the instant of fertilization and the abortifacients that may have posed a danger to side  effects. Upjohn's information  pamphlet Depo-Provera has both contraceptive
completion of labor." The accepted government Western women, Depo-Provera was extensively on Depo-Provera  lists more than 60 and abortifacient effects: Depo-Provera
and scientific definition of pregnancy said it be- adverse  reactions suffered by women  who has three effects, only two of which are gan at fertilization, before implantation. However, use the compound.  Women on Depo- contraceptive. Like most hormonal drugs, it can in the mid-1960s, in order to make abortifacients Provera report an average weight gain of 5.4 both prevent ovulation and thicken cervical mu- acceptable to women and to circumvent laws de- pounds in the first year and 16.5 pounds over cus, making it difficult for the sperm to reach the signed to prohibit abortion, pro-abortion experts six years. An FDA paper from November 2004 ovum. Both of these effects would prevent con- changed the beginning of conception from fer- says that  women should not use Depo-Pro- ception, hence are "contraceptive" effects. The pa- tilization to implantation.2 Under the  new defi- vera for more than two years: "The black box tient information insert for Depo-Provera, how- nition of conception, if a device or drug — such warning for Depo-Provera highlights that pro- ever, says that it also "inhibits the secretion of as Depo-Provera — prevents implantation, then longed use of the drug may result in significant gonadotropins which, in turn, prevents follicular no abortion takes place even though it acts after loss of bone density, and that the loss is greater maturation and ovulation and results in endo- As with other abortifacients that may have posed a danger the longer the drug is administered. This bone metrial thinning."1 When the endometrium, the to Western women, Depo-Provera was extensively tested on density loss may not be  completely revers- Third World women first. ible after  discontinuation of the drug.  Thus

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