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MORNING AFTER PILLS USED TO EXPLOIT WOMEN AND CREATE SERIOUS HEALTH RISKS

Confirms critics' predictions that excessive use of the morning after pill would become common

BANGKOK, June 10, 2002 (LSN.ca) - A disturbing report in the Bangkok Post reveals that Thai women, unaware of the risks of the abortifacient morning after pill, are taking the pills on a regular basis. Nattaya Boonpakdee, programme assistant at the Population Council - an avid promoter of the pill - admits that "The drug is not 100 percent pregnancy proof, (and) There are also health risks for the woman. Most importantly, both men and women are putting themselves at greater risk of contracting Aids and other sexually transmitted diseases.''

Records from local family planning clinics show that excessive use of the morning after pill is common and women are ignoring the maximum recommended monthly dose of four tablets which is to say two uses. Apart from regular side effects such as nausea, vomiting and dizziness, implantation of the unborn child may not be arrested with the pill and taking it after implantation may result in deformity to the child.

Dr Niyada Kiatying-Angsulee from the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Chulalongkorn University warned that some studies have shown links between constant high levels of progesterone, due to extended use of the pill, and breast, ovarian and uterine cancer as well as ectopic pregnancies.

The paper reports that several random studies have shown that men are the most frequent buyers of morning-after pills, using them to exploit women. Boonpakdee, from the Population Council notes, "They buy the pills for their girlfriends or wives, so that they don't have to wear condoms and feel they're at no risk of becoming a father afterwards. Some women I've spoken to said that they didn't even know what they were taking; that the guy just said it was a health supplement."

In its conclusion the paper comments: "Although many feminists believe that the morning-after pill gives them more control over their own bodies, it would seem, judging from the few studies conducted so far, that it is actually being used by men to exploit women."

See the report in the Post:
http://www.bangkokpost.com/en/Outlook/10Jun2002_out51.html

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