In an op-ed appearing on CNSNews.com, Denise J. Hunnell, M.D., a Fellow of Human Life International, is decrying plans by Melinda Gates and attendees at her recent London summit to flood the developing world with contraceptives and abortifacients as a way to empower women and reduce poverty. The summit was convened earlier this week by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the United Kingdom's Department for International Development, along with International Planned Parenthood Federation and the UN Population Fund as a platform for government leaders and pharmaceutical companies to commit to supply funds and access to contraception.
As Dr. Hunnell explains: "A cornerstone of this effort is the development of a new injectable contraceptive that would be analogous to the currently available medroxyprogesterone acetate also known as DMPA, or by its brand name Depo-Provera. Unlike Depo Provera, which requires an intramuscular injection and must be administered by a medical professional, this new form is a self-administered subcutaneous injection. Ms. Gates hopes that her efforts will bring contraception to at least an additional 120 million women worldwide, with the primary focus being in sub-Saharan African and South Asia."
There are two mechanisms of action for injectable contraceptives like Depo Provera, Dr. Hunnell explains.
"The first is to prevent ovulation so that conception does not occur. However, if this mechanism is unsuccessful and conception does occur, Depo Provera keeps the lining of the uterus so thin that implantation will not occur. The result is that the newly conceived life is aborted."
But that's not the only problem with DMPA. Researchers from the University of Washington studied women in Africa and found that the use of this contraceptive doubled the transmission rates of HIV.
"They cited three mechanisms to account for this increase," Dr. Hunnell explains. "First, the hormonal contraceptives cause the vaginal lining to thin and develop small tears that increase the exposure to HIV during sex. Secondly, the hormonal contraceptives weaken the immune system and reduce a woman’s ability to repel HIV infection. Finally, women who are HIV positive and take hormonal contraceptives shed more HIV virus, making them more infectious."
Melinda Gates may want to improve the lives of these women, but she's on the wrong track, Dr. Hunnell says. " . . . (W)hat exactly is Ms. Gates offering these women? Her 'solution' will result in the death of countless newly conceived children, it may double the transmission rates of HIV and it will certainly increase the risks for breast cancer. In addition, progestin-only contraceptives are associated with a significant risk for blood clots and strokes."
Gates, a Catholic who was educated in Catholic schools in Dallas, has publicly admitted that she questioned whether or not the use of contraceptives is "really a sin" as the Church teaches. She claims that it's her Catholic commitment to social justice that drives her work in the field of population control, although she's very careful to avoid using those words. In fact, she even launched a website called "no-controversy.com" to try to change the narrative on birth control and white-wash it of anything negative.
“One of the reasons we have this huge discomfort talking about birth control is this lingering concern that if we separate sex from reproduction, we’re going to promote promiscuity," she says. "And I think it’s a reasonable question to be asked about contraception: ‘What is its impact on sexual morality?’ But like most women, my decision about birth control had nothing to do with promiscuity.”
In addition to insisting that she's not into population control, she also insists that her programs will have nothing to do with abortion. The only problem is that her partners in the effort, International Planned Parenthood Federation and the UN Population Fund are the world's biggest promoters of abortion and birth control. In fact, the founder of Planned Parenthood, Margaret Sanger, was a fierce promoter of various eugenics programs from birth control to euthanasia for the so-called "unfit."
In the end, $4.6 billion was pledged at Gates summit, with her foundation pledging to devote over $1 billion to contraception programs over the next eight years.
Unfortunately, this money will be poured into programs that cannot possibly lift the world's women out of poverty.
"The answer to poverty must be grounded in respecting the dignity of impoverished peoples – not in eliminating them," writes Dr. Hunnell. "Both men and women need to be educated in order to contribute to the public discussion and formulation of social policy, and this should include education in the harmful effects of the drugs Ms. Gates is proposing be used to lower fertility in the developing world. Motherhood should be considered a valuable vocation and not a drain on society. Only then can the real roots of poverty be addressed."
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