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‘No shot, no ticket’: Ethiopians decry Israeli birth control policies

RT | February 27, 2013

Ethiopian women have told RT that Israeli medics forced them to take the controversial Depo-Provera birth control vaccination without explaining the severe side effects of the drug, which can leave a woman unable to become pregnant for up to two years.

The birth control vaccination was reportedly a requirement for the women to immigrate to Israel: “They told me if you don’t take the shot, we won’t give you a ticket, so I took the shot, but I didn’t know that it would prevent pregnancies. I didn’t know,” one woman told RT correspondent Paula Slier.

The gruesome side effects of Depo-Provera are so severe that the drug is not recommended for most patients.

“We are talking about a contraception that has heavy medical and mental effects – period irregularities, vaginal bleeding, osteoporosis, alongside mental side effects like depression, mood swings, rage and more,” said Sharon Eliyahu-Chai of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel.

At least six organizations – such as Tebeka, an Ethiopian legal aid group – now aim to take the matter to court over alleged human rights violations.

Last month, the Israeli Health Ministry’s director general ordered gynecologists to cease administration of the drugs, bowing to public pressure after accusations that they had been forcing the birth control injections on Ethiopian women without their consent.

Israeli officials have denied that the birth control program was part of a plan to reduce the Ethiopian birthrate. The scandal has worn on, with the organizations involved all pinning blame on one another.

For more, watch Paula Slier’s report from Israel.

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February 27, 2013 Posted by | Deception, Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Video | , , , , , | 1 Comment

Israelis admit pushing long-term contraceptives on Ethiopian women

Al Akhbar – January 27, 2013

An Israeli official acknowledged the practice of injecting women of Ethiopian descent with long-acting contraceptive Depo-Provera, Haaretz reported Sunday.

The birth-rate of the Israeli Ethiopian community had declined by over 50 percent in the past 10 years.

Sharona Eliahu of the Israeli Association of Civil Rights in January wrote a letter saying an investigation into the practice should be launched and that the injections should cease.

In response, Health Ministry Director General Prof. Ron Gamzu asked translators to volunteer their time so that doctors might communicate with their patients.

He also told four health maintenance organizations to stop the injections if the women do not fully understand the consequences of the drug, according to the Israeli daily.

State agencies and ministries had previously denied knowing of the practice which had been reported for the first time five years ago.

Depo-Provera is administered every three months and clinical trials show a near-zero percent failure rate in preventing pregnancies.

Many of the women experienced abnormal uterine bleeding however, which interferes with sexual intimacy.

It has also been said to decrease women’s sex-drive.

Fifty percent of women on hormonal birth-control are said to stop having their period after a year. Even after discontinuing the medication, it can take a year for a woman’s period to regulate.

Beyond making the woman sterile for as long as they are on the drug, a common side-effect of the contraceptive is significantly decreased bone density.

Depo-Provera has also been used with male sex-offenders as a form of chemical castration, as it greatly reduces the male sex-drive.

January 27, 2013 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism | , , , , | 7 Comments