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TORONTO, November 28, 2002 (LifeSiteNews.com) – New research presented in Toronto today has found that women using popular abortifacient ‘contraceptive’ devices such as the birth control pill and Depo-Provera are at a greatly increased risk of infection for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.  Researchers from McMaster University found that the hormone progesterone, which is used in the abortifacients, impairs the immune system’s ability to fight viral infections.  Dr. Charu Kaushic a professor of pathology at McMaster presented the findings at an international meeting of AIDS researchers, organized by the Ontario HIV Treatment Network. In a study with mice, the risk of HIV infection was 100 times greater in animals given progesterone compared to those that did not receive the hormone.  The Toronto Star reports that the study is to be published in the American Journal of Epidemiology in early 2003.  (The Toronto Star Thu 28 Nov 2002 News A25 Prithi Yelaja)  (with files from Pro-Life E-News Canada)