Read Betsy Hartmann’s article posted on ZNet, November 2006, about the importance of legal and accessible abortion to contraceptive choice.
Reviving Reproductive Safety: Series 1, Fall 2005
A series of DifferenTakes publications that critically examine issues of contraceptive safety, new reproductive technologies, population control and women's health. Reviving Reproductive Safety brings issues of health, safety and social justice to the forefront of the reproductive rights movement.
Depo-Provera (medroxyprogesterone acetate) is a provider-controlled, injectable, hormonal contraceptive for women. It prevents pregnancy by altering your normal hormonal cycles in order to keep your ovaries from releasing eggs and makes the cervical mucus less hospitable for sperm. Users must receive a Depo-Provera shot from a trained physician every three months.
There are critical questions about Depo Provera’s safety, especially its possible link to increased risk of osteoporosis and HIV infection and its known side effects of depression, menstrual irregularity, weight gain, and loss of libido. It has been used as a population control device around the world, including in the U.S., and is being heavily marketed toward young women, women of color, low-income women, and women in prison.
Depo-Provera: Old Concerns, New Risks
A Spring 2005 DifferenTakes on the increasing health risks of Depo-Provera
Time To Take A Critical Look At Depo-Provera
A 2000 DifferenTakes written by Sara Littlecrow-Russell critiquing Depo-Provera as a population control device and examining its risks for young women.
Hampshire Group Takes On Controversial Birth Control
By Emily Biuso. 4/10/2003. The Valley Advocate
A Closer Look At Depo Provera (pdf)
A printable 3-fold brochure detailing the history and side effects of Depo-Provera.
A Critical Look…Depo-Provera Sticker (jpg)
A great activist and public education tool! Download and print these 4.25” x 5.5” stickers.
New FHI Findings on Quinacrine Sterilization
View the results of a study on Quinacrine by Family Health International, which points to safety risks as well as a low effectiveness rate, leading FHI to cease development of Quinacrine Sterilization.
Quinacrine Update: April, 2005
The most recent alert sent out on the Quinacrine Alert Network on the use of quinacrine in the U.S. and India.
Quinacrine Brochure (pdf)
A printable 3-fold brochure detailing the history, effects, and use of Quinacrine sterilization.
Maternal Mortality, Population Control, and the War on Women’s Wombs: A Bioethical Analysis of Quinacrine Sterilizations
A 2002 DifferenTakes written by Judy Scully detailing the health and ethical issues surrounding quinacrine sterilizations.
Quinacrine Alert Network (QAN)
An email listserve to update activists around the world about the use of QS. Membership is restricted and all postings are moderated. Click on the link to subscribe.
Sex, Lies, and Contraceptives Packet
This packet of information and organizing tools, produced by the Committee on Women, Population and the Environment for activists, addresses how women's rights to safe and voluntary sex, birth control and motherhood are increasingly restricted, controlled, and criminalized. It contains a selection of useful fact sheets, issue papers, brochures, and calls to action. You can view and print individual pieces of the packet here or request a full hard copy packet at info@cwpe.org.
An investigative series of issue papers published by Pop/Dev, these articles provide alternative information and critical analysis on a wide range of reproductive rights and population concerns including militarism, immigration policy, coercive contraception and sterilization, queer and youth issues, and human rights in the U.S. and abroad.
The Civil Liberties and Public Policy Program (CLPP) is a national campus-based reproductive rights organization dedicated to educating, mentoring, and inspiring new generations of pro-choice advocates and supporters.
