WASHINGTON, D.C., November 12, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) – The number of women who use long-acting abortifacient methods of birth control – such as intrauterine devices (IUDs) and implants – has doubled since 2010.
According to the National Center for Health Statistics, 11.6 percent of American women used IUDs in 2011-2012, up from six percent in 2006-2010 and 2.4 percent in 2002.
The statistics make potentially dangerous, abortion-inducing IUDs the fastest-growing method of birth control in the United States.
But Stephen Phelan of Human Life International told LifeSiteNews that IUDs often create an early abortion rather than prevent fertilization. “Despite what the sex profiteers say, IUDs can cause early abortions by making the uterine lining inhospitable to the implantation of the tiny embryonic human being,” he said.
The IUD stops implantation of the already-conceived baby up to 95 percent of the time, according to the Life Issue Institute, based in Cincinnati.
“The contraception lobby decades ago changed the definition of pregnancy to only beginning 'after implantation' in a nasty bit of verbal engineering, so that they could deny that their methods cause abortion,” Phelan told LifeSiteNews.
“There is no dispute over the physical effects of these methods, and a tiny human being often dies due to their use,” Phelan said. “This fact is usually hidden from those who use the method.”
The IUD has also harmed women's health since the days of the Dalkon Shield IUD, which was introduced in the 1970s. The Center for Disease Control estimated nearly 8,000 women were hospitalized in a six month period, and several women died. Some 300,000 women sued the makers of the Dalkon Shield, most for pelvic inflammatory disease and loss of fertility.
The fallout led the FDA to require IUDs to be tested and approved before use. However, the FDA testing process sometimes relies on manufacturer-controlled statistics and has at times been accused of producing falsified results.
The Dalkon Shield used a porous, multifilament string upon which bacteria could travel into the uterus, leading to infection, miscarriage, and death. Today's IUDs use monofilament strings, but observers say they still pose significant health risks for women.
Dr. Michael J. New, visiting associate professor of economics at Ave Maria University, told LifeSiteNews, “There is a substantial body of public health research which shows that IUD use can lead to various health problems. Specifically, IUD users have an increased risk of pelvic inflammatory disease and perforation of the uterus.”
IUDs also increase the risk of ectopic pregnancies and contribute to serious infections, and can cause other, serious complications. More than 70,000 Mirena IUD complications have been reported to the FDA since 2000. In New York and New Jersey alone, there are more than 1,000 lawsuits over IUD injuries.
“Long Acting Reversible Contraceptive (LARCs), such as IUDs, are being pushed as the methods of choice both domestically and internationally,” Phelan told LifeSiteNews. “This comforts those who push population control for poor women, but often leaves these poor women in much worse health.”
Dr. New, who is also an associate scholar at the Charlotte Lozier Institute, additionally noted that IUDs have “a high discontinuance rate.”
“A 2004 Guttmacher study analyzed a large survey that asked women about contraceptive use. It also found a significant percentage of Long Acting Reversible Contraceptive (LARCs) users were interested in switching methods of contraception,” he said.
“Even though contraceptive use has increased, the unintended pregnancy rate in the United States has also gone up since the mid-1990s,” Dr. New continued.
He said reliable research proves that “the reason why the abortion rate is falling is because a higher percentage of women with unintended pregnancies are carrying their pregnancy to term.”
“Pro-life efforts at changing hearts and minds have been quietly effective,” he concluded.
As LifeSiteNews has reported, the Obama administration promotes the use of abortifacient IUDs.
Last year, the American Academy of Pediatrics released a report promoting IUD use among adolescents, citing their “efficacy, safety and ease of use.”
Although such contraception is expensive, IUDs are paid for by tax dollars through the Obama administration's HHS mandate, a regulation not formally included in the Affordable Care Act.
The new government report found that approximately 62 percent of American women use some form of birth control, according to the government report. About 26 percent use the chemical birth control pill, and 15 percent use condoms.
